296 FOX-HUNTING IN THE SHIRES 



ance at the Ranelagh Club, but I am told that 5s. 

 allowance for lodging is paid by some officers when in 

 garrison towns. Helpers, as a rule, in Leicestershire 

 receive i8s. a week, and one to about every three 

 horses is a fair average staff for the stable. Thus with 

 seven horses and a pony and cart I should say that 

 a working stud groom and two helpers was sufficient. 

 I am bound, however, to say that in some stables a 

 man to every two horses is the rule, though I fail 

 to see that anything is gained by this. In small 

 establishments the head groom or one of the helpers 

 often acts as second horseman, but it is of course 

 more usual to have a second horseman who makes 

 that his principal duty, and his wages I should put 

 down at 22s. per week, though I have known a man 

 complain that he could not live on this sum. The 

 stud groom and the second horseman are generally 

 permanent servants, the helpers being local men 

 who are taken on as required. There always seems 

 to be a supply of them, and I have often wondered 

 what they do in the summer. 



Forage is an item which is variable, but I think 

 that prices are somewhat higher in the Midlands 

 than elsewhere. This is not a district that produces 

 a great deal of hay or corn, and most of its supplies 

 therefore are drawn from elsewhere. If, however, 

 the prices are high, the quality is excellent ; and I 

 never had better forage than from the leading dealers 

 at Melton and Harborough. When I first went to 

 dwell in a certain hunt in Leicestershire, I inquired 

 of the secretary where he would like the forage bought, 

 and he advised me to go to the corn-dealer of the 

 place. We hear a great deal, it is true, about buying 

 hay and com from farmers, but my experience is 

 that the comparatively small quantities that are 



