NECESSITY OF BLOOD. 283 



LETTER XXII. 



Abe not your expectations somewhat too san- 

 guine, when you think you shall have no oc- 

 casion for bag-foxes to keep your hounds in 

 blood the first season? It may be as well, 

 perhaps, not to turn them all out till you are 

 more certain that your young pack will keep 

 good and steady without them. When blood 

 is much wanted, and they are tired with a hard 

 day, one of these foxes will put them into spi- 

 rits, and give them, as it were, new strength 

 and vigour. 



You desire to know what I call being out of 

 blood 9 In answer to which, I must tell you 

 that, in my judgment, no fox-hound can fail of 

 killing more than three or four times follow- 

 ing, without being visibly the worse for it. 

 When hounds are out of blood, there is a 

 kind of evil genius attending all they do ; 

 and though they may seem to hunt as well 

 as ever, they do not get forward : whilst a 

 pack of fox-hounds well in blood, like troops 



