Fox-hunting 63 



hunting season. Probably not much more 

 than half the entry will be worth keeping ; 

 which is not to be wondered at when one 

 considers the manifold qualities required in 

 order to produce a first-rate hound — nose, 

 speed, stamina, good looks ; all should be 

 there. Well might the breeding of fox- 

 hounds be regarded as a separate and distinct 

 profession, so great is the demand upon a 

 man's knowledge, experience, and skill, so 

 onerous the task of producing a truly good 

 hound. "Like produces like" in many cases, 

 as we know ; but in hound-breeding, perhaps 

 more than in anything else, nature oft-times 

 seems to take a pleasure in defying and 

 setting at naught all the " well-laid schemes 

 of men and mice." It has been well said 

 that to get a perfect pack means fifty years 

 of work. 



A somewhat curious custom, but one which 

 has been attended with success, is that of 

 cub-hunting in the evening instead of at 

 early dawn. The present and the late Lords 

 Yarborough have, inter alia, practised this 



