EXPENSES 299 



consideration, and the friction caused by dealings 

 with money of whatever sort remembered, my advice 

 to the ordinary man, in the interests of both himself 

 and hunting would be, that he should buy his forage 

 from the local corn-dealer, who, after all, must have 

 procured it from a farmer somewhere. 



This one rule, however, every hunting man ought 

 to make, that under no circumstances and on no 

 pretext will he buy foreign produce for the hunting 

 stable. That gives offence, and just offence, to farmers, 

 who have a right to expect support and favour in 

 every possible way for the agricultural interest from 

 the people who ride over their land. Russian oats 

 and Canadian hay should be rigidly barred. There 

 is a very infinitesimal present saving to be made by 

 using these articles, and horses fed on them are never 

 within many pounds as fit as those foraged on old 

 oats and old English hay well saved. No foreign 

 stuff should ever come into the stables on any plea 

 whatever. Its exclusion is a simple duty we owe 

 to the farmers. 



Another vexed question is that of dealing with local 

 tradesmen, and with the friendliest feelings towards 

 this class I feel that we are not the only people to 

 blame if a great deal of custom goes away from the 

 town in or near which we live and is absorbed by big 

 shops and stores in large towns. It is well known 

 that many of these huge retail stores lay themselves 

 out for country custom and that they have profited 

 largely by doing this. In dealing with them it is 

 not, however, nearly so much a question of price 

 as the fact that country tradesmen will not or cannot 

 give people what they want. I have known a whole 

 family's custom taken away from a country grocer, 

 because nothing would induce him to supply certain 



