52 XOTITIA VENATICA. 



deterioratiug the harmony or in any way augmenting the expense at- 

 tending the erection of the building ; and if I Avere enabled to build 

 another kennel, I woidd have it constructed upon such a plan, that I 

 coidd enter any one of the courts Avithout interfering with the others : 

 this might be easily effected by having the great drawing court to run 

 the whole length of the other courts. I woidd also have two courts at- 

 tached to the feeding-house for the sole purpose of di-awing the hounds 

 while feeding. This plan Avould be a great convenience, as not inter- 

 fering with hounds when at rest. Moreover, when hounds return very 

 late at night from hunting, and are put over into one of the courts at- 

 tached to the lodging-rooms after feeding, they invariably cause the floor 

 to be covered with grease ; which, if neglected to be washed off by a 

 cai'efid feeder (and such persons cannot be trusted at all times), will in- 

 duce the hounds to be hunting and licking the floor in the cold for an 

 hour, instead of retiring to their benches. 



The feeding-room should be so contrived that the pack may be drawn 

 in to feed from one court, and turned out through another door into a 

 second court ; by this means they can be fed much easier, and more 

 level, than by turning those which have been fed back amongst those 

 which arc waiting. The door through which they are drawn in should 

 be divided in the middle, the upper part being left open during the 

 time of feeding renders the operation much less difficult to the feeder. 

 The feeding-room should be always separate from the boiling-house, let 

 the size be ever so large, even in a temporary cub-hunting kennel, as the 

 heat of the furnaces Avill cause the puddings to ferment, to say nothing 

 of other inconveniences. Hounds seldom look clean in their coats when 

 the boiling-house is in the centre of the building, on account of the smut 

 falling continually upon them when in the court-yards. 



In Mr. Assheton Smith's kennel, at Tedworth, the boiling-house is 

 nearly 100 yards from tlie feeding-room, and unconnected Avith the build- 

 ing. The smell attending the preparation of the food is thus, no doubt, 

 got rid of ; but the labour, in my opinion, is unnecessarily increased by 

 the system, to say nothing of the frequent inconvenience of waiting for 

 small portions of the broth or feed. 



The eaves should be by all means spouted, and the water Avell drained 

 oft', Avhich will much contribute to the dryness of the place ; the gutters 

 of the courts should be all carried into one main drain, which should not 

 have access to the open air within at least one hundred ytirds of the 

 building, Avcll grated at each end to prevent the rats getting in. This 

 description of vermin will be found most troublesome guests in a kennel 

 if allowed to increase ; the food they destroy is perfectly incredible, to 

 say nothing of their leisure moments being employed in drilling loop- 

 holes through the doors, trough-lids, and meal sacks. There are various 

 Avays for extirpating these Avliolcsalc marauders. In the Puckeridge 

 kennels the top of the cooler for the pudding is covered Avith lattice- 

 work, with lifting doors resembling a rat-trap, Avhich the feeder in- 

 formed me ansAvcred well at times, but that after large catch of perhaps 

 ten or twelve brace, the rats became shy of entering for a time. I once 

 killed in and about my kennel in WarAvickshire three hundred old ones 



