HUNTING THE FOX 227 



condition chiefly through this cause. Given a weak 

 landlord, an inefficient keeper, and indifferent 

 farmers, and foxes may soon disappear from a whole 

 estate, to the great detriment of a hunt. Since, after 

 all, prudent motives have very little to do with 

 human actions, it is not much use to suggest that if, 

 as Mr. Sargent states, about 100,000 horses are kept 

 for hunting alone, that would give a consumption of 

 1,200,000 lbs. of oats per diem during the hunting 

 season. This would again be 8,400,000 in a week, and, 

 allowing thirty weeks as the time hunters are in con- 

 dition, would give a consumption of 252,000,000 lbs. 

 (6,300,000 bushels) of oats. I have allowed 12 lbs. 

 per day per horse, which seems to me to be rather 

 under than over the quantity consumed by a horse in 

 full work. 



This is a digression, but in a book on the fox 

 and a chapter on foxhunting it is not irrelevant, see- 

 ing that rabbit-trapping in the cruel and systematic 

 way it is now carried on is incompatible with the 

 existence of the fox. If trapping were of more bene- 

 fit to farmers than hunting we should be sorry, but 

 we could not complain. But the market for oats and 

 hay is of much more importance than the market 

 for trapped rabbits. Whatever other view we may 

 take of foxes, they are a great agricultural interest to 



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