326 HUNTING PRELIMINARIES. 



During the present season of 1900-1, there are, according 

 to the Field, 163 packs of fox-hounds in England ; 23 in 

 Ireland ; and 10 in Scotland. The respective number of 

 harrier packs are : 99, 26, and 3. There are 18 packs c^ 

 stag-hounds in England, and 4 in Ireland. 



In that good b'ook, Unasked Advice, " Impecuniosus" justly 

 remarks that there is "' a great deal of nonsense talked about 

 fast and slow hounds. I am no friend of the old Towlers, but 

 surely almost all hounds of the present day are well bred 

 enough to go, with a good scent, fast enough for any horse. 

 It is the keeping on going that stops the horses. Bluecap and 

 Wanton would be no farther from the horses than the slowest 

 old blue mottles, if they had over-run the scent and were cast- 

 ing about to recover it. It is going steadily on that reaches 

 a given point in quick time- — not flying for five minutes, and 

 checking for ten." 



As a rule, fox-hound puppies should be whelped during the 

 first quarter, and certainly not later than the first half of the 

 year, so that they may have as much time as practicable for 

 their early development, which m ght be seriously checked by 

 the cold of winter. Autumn puppies are often undersized and 

 delicate. 



Puppies go to their walks when they are weaned, say, after 

 they are two months old, provided that the bleak weather of 

 January, February and March is over. They are usually 

 taken back to the kennel during the following March. 



Persons who walk puppies should be prepared, for the 

 sake of the good cause of hunting, to bear with patience their 

 extremely mischievous though playful ways. If practicable, 

 it is better to walk two than one, because they do much 

 better in company than singly. Like all other young animals, 

 they require good feeding, plenty of exercise, and abundance 

 of fresh air. As food, they may get new milk ; scraps from 

 the table, including green vegetables ; a boileci paunch now 



