FOX-HUNTING AND ITS FUTURE 



Public opinion, of which he has a wholesome dread, 

 would not at present tolerate such an open avowal. 

 But the wild fox knows his woodlands no more, and 

 miserable imported beasts, kept in hand and turned 

 down periodically against the coming of the hounds, 

 are offered in its place. From these imported foxes, 

 confined in some filthy kennel till they are foul with 

 disease, has been spread the fell plague of mange, which 

 nowadays devastates whole districts and threatens 

 even to exterminate wild-bred foxes altogether. In 

 some countries foxes have become so scarce from the 

 ravages of mange that even masters of hounds are 

 compelled to import fresh stock and turn them down. 

 These importations again are, from confinement, often 

 liable to disease, and are very poor substitutes for the 

 aboriginal wild fox of the district. 



Some owners of large pheasant coverts have lately 

 become so emboldened as to refuse the entrance of 

 hounds into their woods until after mid-December or 

 even January. This is not an absolutely new develop- 

 ment. It has been known in a few instances for fifty or 

 sixty years past. But it is a steadily growing evil, 

 which must have some limit if fox-hunting is to con- 

 tinue. If these and other selfish tactics are persisted in, 

 fox-hunting must and will disappear, as some masters 

 of hounds predict that it will, in certain parts of 

 England. 



In the struggle which is going forward between the 

 pheasant preserver and fox-hunter, it may be safely said 

 that public opinion is strongly upon the side of the 

 ancient and far more manly sport of fox-hunting. And 

 in the long run the great fox-hunting interest may be 

 trusted to find a remedy for the evils wrought by over- 

 much pheasant culture. Combination can do a good 

 deal; and, without advocating the " boycott," a com- 



141 



