FARMERS AND WIRE. 371 



a crowd ; and cattle, as a rule, lose their heads from 

 fright, and career madly about their fields, sometimes 

 for two or three days after the sudden passing of a hunt. 

 When a gate is negligently left open, and the terrified 

 animals avail themselves of this method of escape, the 

 unfortunate farmer will generally have great trouble in 

 finding and bringing them back, because they often go 

 long distances, and he has seldom any means of knowing 

 what route they have taken. Horses give him far 

 more trouble than cattle in this respect, because they 

 can travel faster and farther. I have seen ladies who 

 have the interests of hunting deeply at heart — Mrs. 

 James Hornsby, for instance — ride back and fasten 

 gates which have been carelessly left open. 



One grievance which lies very near the heart of a 

 farmer, because I suppose it frequently touches his 

 pocket, is the damage done to his fences, especially 

 during a check, by people who unnecessarily potter 

 through small gaps, which, after they have finished, 

 resemble open spaces. The farmer who has to get 

 them mended speaks very bitterly about fox-hunting, 

 especially if he has to do the repairing at his own 

 expense, as he argues that if it was necessary to work 

 a passage in this manner through his hedge, the field 

 might have been content with one open door instead 

 of making several. A farmer in the North Cheshire 

 country was so irate on this point that on one occasion 

 when the hunt wanted to cross his land, he and his men 

 gave us a welcome with pitchforks ! 



A kind of farmer whom I despise is the man that 



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