THE FOX AS OUTLAW 159 



cost about 12/. io.f. Twenty years later, the sum rose 

 to 26/. per head, and at the present day is 36/. This 

 allows nothing for the expenditure on hunting by the 

 followers of the chase, but is simply the money spent 

 by the Master and members of the Hunt on horses, 

 hounds, food, and wages, before the fox is brought 

 to hand. Thus a hundred pheasants represent 100/. 

 of expenditure, while fifty foxes mean 1,150/. circu- 

 lated in the neighbourhood. 



Again, if we accept Mr. Sargent's figures given 

 in ' Thoughts on Sport,' the annual cost of hunting in 

 England, Ireland, and Scotland totals up at 4,250,000/. 

 in round numbers. Suppose 30,000 foxes are killed 

 every year, the average cost of each fox is rather over 

 140/. I have selected these figures because I am 

 convinced that Mr. Sargent rather understates the 

 expenditure than over-estimates it. 



Thus the outlawry of the fox in countries where 

 he can be hunted is a mistake from a pecuniary 

 point of view. To suppose that the money would 

 find its way by other channels into the same pockets 

 if there was no hunting is an error. Besides these 

 direct benefits, the fox is a principal agent in keeping 

 up the breed of horses. There is a continual ten- 

 dency to make our thoroughbreds mere sprinters, 

 which is kept in check by the steady demand for 



