8b CARE NECESSARY IN THE 



I was told the other day by a sportsman, 

 that he considers the management of hounds as a 

 regular system of education, from the time when 

 they are first taken into the kennel : I perfectly 

 agree with that gentleman ; and am well con- 

 vinced that if you expect sagacity in your hound 

 when he is old, you must be mindful what in- 

 struction he receives from you in his youth ; for 

 as he is of all animals the most docile, he is also 

 most liable to bad habits. A diversity of cha- 

 racter, constitution, and disposition, are to be ob- 

 served among them ; which, to be made the most 

 of, must be carefully attended to, and treated 

 differently. I do not pretend to have succeeded 

 in it myself; yet you will perceive, perhaps, 

 that I have paid some attention to it. 



I begin to hunt my young hounds in August. 

 The employment of my huntsman the preced- 

 ing months is to keep his old hounds healthy 

 and quiet, by giving them proper exercise, and 

 to get his young hounds forward.* They are 

 called over often in the kennel : it uses them to 



the kennel, the whipper-in following them, and rating them 

 after the huntsman : this, and the sending them out (aiter 

 they have been fed) with the people on foot, contribute 

 greatly to make them handy. 



* Nothing will answer this purpose so well as taking them 

 out often. Let your huntsman lounge about with them : 



