126 NOTITIA VENATICA. 



As to artificial fox-covers, tliey may be classed under the heads of 

 gorse, broom, osiers, and stick or faggot covers. 



The oldest artificial gorse cover in the Pytchley country, as I have 

 been informed upon good authority by several sportsmen who have 

 hunted in Northamptonshire all their lives, was a cover in Yelvertoft- 

 field ; there were two, but the one known as Lord Spencer's cover was 

 the oldest, and to which I now allude. Since those days, the numerous 

 covers which have been made (and if half of which were destroyed would 

 be aU the better for sport), would fill a roll which might reach from 

 Melion to Brixworth ; but a quick find and a sharp burst are all now 

 required ; and whether seven minutes and a half racing is sport or 

 not, I leave for others better quahned than myself to pronounce judg- 

 ment upon, where the amalgamation of horses and hounds will scarcely 

 allow of determining which are leading, and to which the powers of 

 scent may by nature belong. Producing a cover by means of sowing 

 or planting gorse has always been a favourite substitute for the absence 

 of a natural asylum for foxes, and the old and well-known toast of 

 " The Evergreen," alluding to the never-faihng exuberance of that 

 plant, is a striking proof of the estimation in which it has always been 

 held by sportsmen. The beautifid eft'ect which a large patch of gorse 

 in full bloom, like burnished gold, gives to rural scenery, can never be 

 surpassed amidst the numerous attractions of spring, and which, even to 

 a certain extent, is to be met with during the whole year, and which 

 was the origin of the old saying, " When gorse is out of bloom, kissing 

 is out of fashion," For the sake, then, of the best and fairest of our 

 species, as well as ourselves, let it be hoped that fox-hunting and " the 

 evergreen" may flourish for ever ! 



The best spot to fix upon for making an artificial gorse cover is, if 

 possible, upon rather a lightish soU, wliich is rendered the more chfiicult 

 from the country, in which it is most desirable being grass, and conse- 

 quently, more frequently than not, a stifle clay ; however, let the soil 

 be what it may, it should be in the very best state of cultivation previous 

 to the seed being sown ; it shoidd be fallowed and well cleaned, and 

 prepared in every respect as for a crop of tm-nips. The seed shoidd 

 then be sown by drill ; about seven or ten pounds of seed to the acre 

 is sufficient : and it should be ke2)t well hoed and hand-weeded twice a 

 year, until the gorse has out-topped the grass and Avceds. From the 

 nature of the soil being more genial to this kind of plant, some covers 

 will hold a fox in three years, while others will scarcely hide a rabbit in 

 double that time. April is the best month for sowing the seed, which 

 may be procured, at any of the first rate seedsmen in town, at two 

 shillings per pound ; and it may not perhaps be generally known that 

 nearly all the gorse-seed sold in this country is imported from France. 

 Some persons have recommended mixing broom with the gorse in equal 

 quantities ; but it has been found not to answer, as the broom comes to 

 its growth some years before the gorse, and consequently requires cut- 

 ting at an earlier period, wliich not being practicable, it perishes, leaving 

 large patches cither bare or so thin and weak as to be of little use for 



