FAMOUS MASTERS 79 



" As well as shape, full well he knows, 

 To kill their fox they must have nose." 



Mr. Smith was a great advocate for spaying young 

 light and weedy bitches. He declared that it improved 

 the nose, and that the spayed bitches often became the 

 best cold hunters in the pack, although very indifferent 

 before, and far better than the sisters which were not 

 spayed, while they hunt generally several years longer 

 than open bitches. Moreover, the cheapest pack of 

 foxhounds to keep is a pack of spayed bitches, as they 

 do more work with less food than any others. I do 

 not dispute it for a moment, but what would be the 

 value of such a pack ? Besides, most M.F.H.s are 

 anxious to become famous for breeding good hounds. 

 Mr. Smith also advocated cutting dog-hounds which 

 are slight and weedy, maintaining that it improves their 

 nose. 



By way of change, Mr. Smith tried cub-hunting in 

 the afternoon instead of in the early morning, leaving 

 the kennels about 4 p.m. and commencing about 5 p.m., 

 which certainly is more agreeable than getting up in 

 the middle of the night. I will relate his experience in 

 his own words {vide " Extracts from the Diary of a 

 Huntsman," second edition, p. 52) : 



"The consequence is the cubs are by that time 

 moving, and soon found ; and the longer you run the 

 cooler it is, instead of getting broiled with heat at nine 

 or ten in the morning. The result was the cubs took 

 more time to kill than in the morning, probably owing 

 to their being more fit to run, being lighter. But the 

 later it was the cooler it was also ; and, consequently, 



