I30 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS 



go ill and lie up. It should be borne in mind that the 

 hour for stopping-out is not the same in February or 

 March as in the earlier part of the season ; it should 

 not be done at night. The proper plan is just to " put- 

 to," as it is called, in the morning, always leaving the 

 main earth open after February lo. Any Master coming 

 to a new country and finding that the stopping-out is 

 badly done will do well to have these and other necessary 

 maxims neatly printed on cards. Half a dozen of these 

 may then be sent round to the neighbouring keepers 

 for distribution among their satellites. Coming to the 

 actual system of payments for stopping as prescribed 

 in the different Hunts some variation is found. In the 

 Craven country we pay by the acreage of the estate. 

 Thus, a keeper on a large place may get ;^io, while on 

 a smaller place he would get only ;^5. Some of the 

 quite small estates would run to no more than a couple 

 of guineas apiece, and below even these, on a regular 

 descending scale, there are numbers of very small 

 people, with perhaps one earth to look after, who 

 get just their 5s. and their earth-stopping dinner once 

 a year. 



The payment for litters is, of course, a good plan if 

 properly worked, but there must be an understanding, 

 or even a stipulation, that these are seen at regular 

 hunting-time. Any fool of a keeper can have a litter 

 or so to show the Master at the period of cub-hunting ; 

 that once over, they are seen no more. Such as these 

 are not the litters that a Master wishes to encourage. 



As to payment for finds, I personally never did, and 

 never in any circumstances would, encourage it. Some 



