THE MASTER'S EXPENSES 137 



Master has, at any rate, the satisfaction of knowing 

 himself protected against heavy loss. In some Hunts, 

 indeed, it is the custom to give the Master his half- 

 yearly subscription in advance, and this is certainly a 

 great convenience, as the money is just as safe in the 

 bank, and the Master is thereby saved the necessity of 

 drawing on his private account. I have always strongly 

 favoured the keeping separate of the Hunt account. 



Concluding Hints. — I have already laid stress on the 

 advantages of entering every item of expenditure in a 

 large ledger, with the pages numbered and marked for 

 reference. Only with such regular book-keeping can 

 the Master hope to see at a glance how everything is 

 going on, whether either the huntsman or stud-groom 

 is extravagant, how the price of corn and other pro- 

 vender is fluctuating, and other such matters of financial 

 interest as I have been called upon to estimate in this 

 chapter. Only by reference to such a ledger have I 

 been able to accept the editor's invitation. It must be 

 admitted that such cut-and-dried business habits com- 

 mend themselves very little to most Hunt establish- 

 ments, in which there is, as a rule, about as much 

 business method as there is in a Government office. 



The quantity of waste that goes on in all large stables 

 and kennels might easily be checked if it were only 

 done in the proper way and at the proper moment. It 

 is the worst policy to economise in the quality of the 

 animals' food, for the best is, in the long run, also the 

 cheapest. I do not mean this policy of large-handed- 

 ness to extend to every department. There is, for 

 instance, nothing to gain by giving a guinea a-piece for 



