170 THE HUNTING FIELD 



a man keeps a horse for the cup, it is not very likely that he 

 will keep him for the legitimate purposes of hunting. Hence 

 these prizes too often fall into the hands of itinerant black-legs 

 and leather-platers, or men in league with some skirtmg, 

 nicking, road-riding, fox-heading fellow, who is always getting 

 among the hounds at the death, or grinning in the Master's or 

 Huntsman's face at a check, to draw their attention to the 

 fact of his being up. 



If we could be certain of seeing these trophies go into the 

 hands of the real Foxhunting Farmers of the hunt, if we could 

 think that each succeeding year was adding a fresh rivet to the 

 chain of foxhunting, by drawing the recipient in closer union 

 with the members of the hunt, nothing could be more 

 desirable than the encouragement of such prizes ; but when, 

 instead of their going to grace the sideboard of some true 

 lovers of the sport, to show by their inscription to their 

 descendants and friends that their zeal was appreciated and 

 rewarded, they fall into hands who merely value them for 

 their weight, and who are read}- to sell their unprized prizes 

 for the next year's contest, it raises a question whether some 

 more suitable acknowledgment could not be devised that 

 should be exclusively beneficial to Farmers, and incapable of 

 diversion from the right course. Prizes for the best colts or 

 hunters bred in the limits of the hunt, prizes for the best sheep, 

 or indeed for anything exclusi\elj- in the province of Farmers, 

 might, we think, be advantageously substituted, especially 

 now, when every district has its agricultural association or 

 Farmer's club. 



We like to see a good lot of Farmers in the hunting field. 

 People may talk of the Excise and the Stamp Offices, 

 indicating the prosperity of the country, but to our minds, 

 there is nothing so convincing as seeing plenty of Farmers out 

 hunting. Farmers are not improvident people ; they live too 

 retired to be improvident, and it may be laid down as a 



