122 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS 



principle is to breed from the best young bitch of 

 the year, putting her to the dog that appears to be 

 most sought after. " Volatile," mother of " Vagabond," 

 won her home cup at the puppy show as the best 

 bitch of her year, so I sent her to the Warwickshire 

 " Hermit," who happened at the time to be exactly her 

 own age. I have always regarded this similarity in 

 years as a point of the greatest moment, for it is and 

 always must be absolute folly mating an old bitch with 

 a vigorous young dog. She will probably carry a good 

 many puppies, but even if, as is extremely improbable, 

 these are all born alive, they are certain to be a weakly 

 lot. Even if such a miracle happened as the birth of a 

 dozen healthy whelps, it is equally certain that the old 

 bitch would not have milk enough to rear a couple, and 

 the strain would in all probability kill her. A lar 

 better combination, if there must be disparity in years, 

 is to mate a young bitch and a moderately old dog, for 

 at any rate the female will be in full possession of her 

 powers and may therefore be relied on to bring up any 

 quantity in reason. Wet nurses are, however, an 

 advantage, for it is a known fact that under such 

 conditions the whelps grow up much stronger and 

 healthier. 



No other animal of such value is perhaps bred as 

 cheaply as the foxhound. In nearly every sporting 

 breed, say pointers, setters, retrievers, or indeed in the 

 case of borzois or deerhounds for the show bench, 

 the services of the sire alone cost a good round 

 sum, while the production of the foxhound puppy, 

 usually one of a large litter, has only cost a sovereign 



