THE CONDITIONS OF HUNTING. 239 



old gentleman was up in anns in a momemt, replying that in 

 an enormous number of the best runs the fox got to ground 

 beyond the country that was " stopped." " In those days," 

 he v/ent on, " a professional earth-stopper did almost all the 

 stopping, and, though he was at work all night, he could only 

 travel the district nearest to where hounds were going to 

 draw." This is very true, for I have seen a diary of hunting 

 in that country in the late 'thirties and early 'forties of last 

 century in which good runs, with long points, to ground were 

 very frequent. This, however, does not apply everywhere, 

 and most certainly not where there are " stub bred " foxes, 

 as in some of the home and southern counties. 



But to return to the Master. He has in these days heavier 

 expenses to meet than his predecessor of a generation or two 

 ago, a larger field to govern on hunting days, a dozen claims 

 for poultry or other damage where there used to be one, and 

 the always insistent question of the fox supply. For although 

 there were more foxes than ever in the aggregate a few years 

 ago, thejy were unevenly distributed, and while there were 

 too many for sport in one hunt, they might easily be far too 

 few in the neighbouring country. Much depended on whether 

 the hunting or the shooting interests were strongest from a 

 social point of view, and much also depended upon the tact 

 and geniality of the Master. A too liberal Master, like Mr. 

 Pufiington, is bad for a country, but a really mean Master, 

 like Sir Moses Mainchaiice, is literally a curse. And the happy 

 medium is not always forthcoming; but a genial manner, and 

 ample tact will often succeed where largesse will fail, and in 

 these days a popular Master is just as essential as an unpopular 

 Master is dangerous. The Master of a generation or two ago 

 had a far simpler task than the Master of the present day, 

 for not only was the price of horses much lower, but so too 

 were forage, wages, rates, and a whole host of incidentals. I 

 am writing, of course, of the days before the war, and taking 

 no account of the inflated prices which the war brought about. 

 And I do not know that the stopping was any 

 worse in the days of the professional, for many 

 keepers have always been too lazy, and scores of 

 foxes are constantly missed because earths have been put 

 to before dark in the evening or early in the morning of a 



