276 THE SPORT OF KINGS 



did not pull my fences down." Though the 

 mending of a gap is not a considerable expense, the 

 unnecessary multiplication of gaps causes annoyance 

 to a farmer even if he be one of the keenest of 

 the keen. 



What is the best way of paying for the damage 

 that is done by large fields, and what is the best 

 way to get hunting men to buy their provender 

 direct from farmers, are questions which have been 

 much discussed, and many plans have been suggested. 

 The plan as to damage which has been adopted in 

 some countries, and which works fairly well, indeed 

 better than any other that I know, is to divide the 

 country into districts, and appoint in each district 

 one or two farmers of position to assess the damage 

 that is done, which, when certified by the proper 

 party, is at once paid by the secretary of the 

 Damage Fund. There are some people who make 

 an outcry about their accounts of damage being 

 scrutinised, and assert that it is an infringement of 

 their veracity. In other words, there are certain 

 ill-conditioned people who think they have a right 

 to charge anything they like for damage incurred, 

 and ill-advised friends are at times to be found 

 who advocate their cause in print. I think it does 

 not admit of question that no profit should be 

 made out of a payment for damages, whilst the 

 actual damage done should in some way be made 

 good. But only the actual damage should be paid 

 for, and the apparent or imaginary damage should 

 be left out of the reckoning. The man who is 

 best fitted to assess the damage is, it stands to 

 reason, a man resident in the neighbourhood, who 

 knows all the circumstances of the case as no one 

 else can know them, and where the plan is adopted 



