MANAGEMENT OF KENNELS. 267 



wards. Close to the door of the kennel let there be always a quantity of little switches, 

 which three narrow boards nailed to one of the posts will easily contain. 



" My kennel is close to the road-side, but it was unavoidable. This is the reason why 

 my front pale is closed, and only the side ones open. It is a great fault; avoid it if you 

 can, and your hounds will be the quieter. 



" Upon looking over my letter I find I begin recommending, with Mr. Somervile, a high 

 situation for the kennel, and afterwards talk of a brook running through the middle of it. 

 I am afraid you will not be able to unite these two advantages, in which case there is no 

 doubt that water should be preferred. The mound I have mentioned will answer all the 

 purposes of an eminence. Besides, there should be movable stages on wheels for the hounds 

 to lie upon. At any rate, however, let your soil be a dry one. 



" You will think, perhaps, my lodging-rooms higher than is necessary. I know they are 

 considerably higher than is usual, the intention of which is to give more air to the hounds ; and 

 I have not the least doubt but they are better for it. I will no longer persecute you with 

 this unentertaining subject, but send you the plan of my own kennel, and take my leave 

 of you." 



It is customary for arrangements to be made by the master with neighbouring farmers 

 and the occupiers of premises in the vicinity of the kennel, to "walk" young hounds from the 

 time the latter leave their mothers, until they are old enough to be taken up and entered. On 

 the subject of kennel management, feeding, and the subsequent entering of young hounds, 

 Mr. Beckford has the following practical and judicious remarks : 



" If you find they take a dislike to any particular hound, the safest way will be to remove 

 him, or it is very probable they will kill him at last. When a feeder hears the hounds quarrel in 

 the kennel, he halloos to them, to stop them. He then goes in amongst them, and flogs every 

 hound he can come near. How much more reasonable as well as more efficacious would it 

 be were he to see which were the combatants before he speaks to them ! Punishment would 

 then fall, as it ought, on the guilty only. In all packs there are some hounds more quarrel- 

 some than the rest, and it is to them we owe all the mischief that is done. If you find 

 chastisement cannot quiet them, it may be prudent to break their holders; for since they are 

 not necessary to them for the meat they have to eat, they are not likely to serve them in 

 any good purpose. 



"Young hounds should be fed twice a day, as they seldom take kindly at first to the 

 kennel-meat, and the distemper is very apt to seize them at this time. It is better not to 

 round them till they are thoroughly settled ; nor should it be put off till the hot weather, 

 for then they would bleed too much. If any of the dogs are thin over the back, or any more 

 quarrelsome than the rest, it will be of use to cut them. I also spay such bitches as I think 

 I shall not want to breed from ; they are more useful, are stouter, and are always in better 

 order. Besides, it is absolutely necessary if you hunt late in the spring, or your pack will be 

 very short for want of it. It may be right to tell you that the latter operation does not 

 always succeed ; it will be necessary, therefore, to employ a skilful person, and one on whom 

 you can depend ; for if it is ill done, though they cannot have puppies, they will go to heat 

 notwithstanding, of which I have known many instances ; and that, I apprehend, would not 

 answer at any rate. 



" It without doubt is best, when you air your hounds, to take them out separately the 



