306 THE BOOK OF rim DOG. 



" It should be the peculiar care of every huntsman to prevent, as much as possible, 

 his hounds from chopping hares in their forms ; huntsmen are, in general, too fond of get- 

 ting blood at any rate, and when hounds are used to it, it is surprising to see how anxious 

 they are to find opportunities. In many instances a hare must be very wild or very nimble 

 to escape them. Mr. Beckford remembers, in a furzy country, his hounds to have chopped 

 three hares in one morning ; for it is the nature of those animals either to leap up and steal 

 away before the hounds come near them, or else to lie close, till they put their very noses 

 upon them. Hedges also are dangerous in this respect, particularly if the huntsman beats the 

 hedge himself, which is too much the practice ; the hounds in such case are always upon the 

 watch, and a hare must be exceeding lucky to escape them all. The best way to prevent it 

 is to have the hedge well beaten at some distance before the hounds. 



" Old dogs should never be warded to old or enfeebled bitches ; such extreme should 

 be avoided ; when there is age on one side there should be youth on the other ; and this 

 experience seems with justice to have been decided in favour of the masculine gender. 

 Both sire and dam should be healthy, or there can be no great probability of a healthy 

 offspring. If a hound who in other respects be excellent, and a well-founded favourite, 

 should be a little inclined to skirting, with too much dash in his disposition, such dog 

 should be crossed with a close-tongued, thorough-line hunting bitch, from both which an 

 admirable hit may probably ensue. The great and most substantial reason for not breeding 

 from either a skirting-hound or a babbler is that they are too often seen to acquire one or 

 the other, by imitation or practice, and it may be better not to render it natural by pro- 

 pagating habitual defects with the blood. 



"Where it can be so managed, puppies are best produced in the spring months ; 

 late whelps thrive in an equal degree ; at least, they all require the best walks and the 

 greater attention. Bitches should not be permitted to hunt in the advanced stages of 

 gestation : it frequently debilitates the puppies, and sometimes proves fatal to the bitch herself ; 

 nor is it altogether prudent to leave them in the kennel when the time of parturition is 

 approaching. A bitch having many puppies (of whose future excellence great expectation 

 is formed) may have them occasionally preserved by transferring a part to any other bitch 

 happening to be in a similar state at the same time. This particular race seems to prove, 

 upon the general scale, more prolific than most of the species, having sometimes an 

 extraordinary number ; they have been known to bring forth fifteen, and even sixteen, 

 all alive. 



" When breeding from a favourite sort, it is matter of convenience if another bitch can be 

 warded at or about the same time ; by which the whole of both litters (if required) can be 

 saved. At this period the bitches should be amply furnished with flesh, and by no means 

 stinted in milk. The whelps should not be taken away till they are very well able to take 

 care of themselves : they will soon learn to lap by example, and the mother will be the 

 sooner relieved. When the puppies are taken away, the bitches should have each three doses 

 of physic, that no humours may be produced by the absorption of the milk. The distemper 

 makes such a dreadful havoc amongst young hounds that too much attention cannot be 

 bestowed upon its counteraction. Numbers of young hounds perish at their walks under the 

 effects of disease, and this probably happens from the little care taken of them upon such 

 occasions. 



" You ask how many hounds a pack of Harriers should consist of, and what kind of 

 hound is best suited to that diversion. You should never exceed twenty couple in the field 



