326 Tally ho, 



it is necessary that the hands of the M. F. H. should 

 be strengthened, and his efforts supported by every 

 real sportsman. That much can be done by culti- 

 vating the friendship of tenant farmers, and treating 

 them with courtesy and consideration, I am perfectly 

 assured. It is to their kindness we owe the privilege 

 of riding across their lands, causing frequent eyesore 

 and not unfrequent damage and loss. It is to their 

 friendly oflBces we must look for the preservation of 

 foxes, and it is only right that we should recognise 

 the extent of our dependence on their good will. At 

 the same time it will be well for the farming interest 

 to remember the importance of helping, by every 

 means in their power, to keep up the efficiency of the 

 342 packs of hounds that are maintained at the cost 

 to the Masters and subscribers of the large sum 

 of £750,000 to £800,000 per annum, giving employ- 

 ment to 10,000 persons, and requiring no less than 

 100,000 horses to be provided for the use of the large 

 number of men riding to hounds. Nor must it be 

 forgotten that no better means exist of securing 

 " resident landlords " than by upholding the sports 

 of the country. There can be no two opinions as to 

 the benefit that arises to tenants from their being 

 brought into direct contact with the proprietors of the 

 soil, rather than with the lawyer or the agent. It is 

 clearly, therefore, to the interest of all concerned that 

 the most friendly relations should be fully maintained. 

 I speak with some knowledge of the subject when I 

 say that sufficient consideration is not always shown 

 to the tenant farmers, and by a letter just received 

 from Mr. H. W. Nevill, a gentleman well known with 

 the Eoyal Buckhounds, I am well pleased to learn 



