THE MASTER'S EXPENSES loi 



what according to locality, yet I do not think that there 

 will be any marked departure from these sums. 



All these servants get their cottage, or part of a 

 cottage, as well as coals. Such at least was the practice 

 in my time, and I also gave them presents of meat at 

 Christmas according to the number they had to feed at 

 home. 



Stable wages are another matter altogether. There 

 must in the first place be no economy in the matter of 

 a good stud groom, for that official should be of the 

 best procurable, with a smattering or more of veterinary 

 science, sufficient at any rate to keep the more expen- 

 sive vet. as much as possible out of the stable. The 

 wages of the stud groom vary from 25s. to 30s. a 

 week with cottage and coals. It is his business to 

 detail the different horses for the day's hunting. It is 

 his business to know which horses are fit and which, 

 on the other hand, require a rest. If this be left to 

 the huntsman, that gentleman will not scruple about 

 picking his favourite horses for certain meets, irre- 

 spective of their fitness at the moment. The groom 

 must know how to mount the men properly in the 

 various kinds of country that they may have to hunt, 

 and at the same time to see that the animals are 

 ridden fairly, and to get rid of any that are not up to 

 the country in which they are intended to work. It is 

 no uncommon experience to find the huntsman and 

 stud groom at daggers drawn, and I am not sure in- 

 deed that such diversity of opinion is not the best 

 thing for the Master, who thereby has both of them in 

 check and knows what is going on in either depart- 



