142 THE FOX 



But the most stringent methods are the best, 

 and for this end all must work together — landlords, 

 farmers, keepers, and members of the hunt. 



Nor should we forget that Masters of Hounds must 

 themselves exercise self-denial. Two excellent coun- 

 tries I have known in which wealthy Masters intro- 

 duced mange by turning down foxes. In one case, 

 the Master wanted to have his country better than 

 good, and in the other the M.F.H. had made up his 

 mind to hunt more days in the week than his area 

 of covert justified. 



There can be no doubt that it is far better for 

 sport to be content with the natural supply of foxes 

 which the country affords. It may be repeated here 

 once more that //"—and alas ! it is a large ' if ' — we 

 can have our fox-coverts kept quiet and left alone, 

 there will be plenty of foxes. Artificial earths, and 

 indeed all interference with nature, are expedients : 

 they are not the best way. I only except what are 

 called artificial coverts, for there is really no such 

 thing. All coverts, when once started, are natural 

 enough. What we mean is that we have made 

 judicious use of nature to assist our sport, by placing 

 the coverts as links between one section of the 

 country and another. 



