SOME HUNTING CHANGES 139 



composition of the field, that it is small wonder 

 that farmers at times look askance and grumble at 

 the damage that is done. The growth of the 

 railway system has enabled men who live in 

 crowded centres to get their hunting far afield ; 

 they run down from London to the shires, to 

 Essex, to Berkshire, and other hunting centres, 

 and hunts which now number their fields by 

 hundreds were wont formerly to number them by 

 scores. It has been said by some that no man 

 should hunt save he who owns or occupies land, 

 but that is manifest of so churlish a spirit that it is 

 not worth consideration. True, in the early part 

 of the century and pre-railway days the bulk or 

 the fields consisted of men who lived on the land 

 or by the land, but it has been one of the great 

 principles of fox-hunters to welcome every man as 

 a brotht^portsman, no matter what his rank and 

 calling,^R^ong as he conducted himself in a 

 sportsmanlike manner. At the same time it must 

 be recognised that the introduction into the hunt- 

 ing field of merchants, tradesmen, and professional 

 men in large numbers is a source of danger 

 to hunting. Naturally they know little about 

 country life ; their lives have been spent amidst 

 the bustle of noisy cities, and they are likely to 

 err frequently from ignorance and to do harm 

 unwittingly. They may, however, soon learn to 

 discriminate between new seeds and a two years' 

 clover ley, and learn how to avoid riding over 

 crops which are damageable, and that without 

 losing their place in a run. But equally important 

 as the avoidance of doing damage is the cultivation 

 of friendly relations with the farmers and residents 

 of the country or countries in which strangers 



