206 A GAMEKEEPER'S NOTE-BOOK 



natural instinct for understanding birds, as others for 

 handling dogs, horses, or snakes. 



The truffle-hunter, roaming with his little dogs over 

 park lands and other pleasant places, seems to lead a 



fine, independent life. And he confesses 

 Truffles _ . 



to making money on no mean scale. His 



professional fee is a pound a day, with all expenses 

 to be paid. The truffles are sold at 3s. the pound ; 

 but each truffle may cost the consumer fully half a 

 guinea, stewed, as it should be, in rich wine. The 

 truffle-hunter may tell you that his dogs are of the 

 original truffle-hunting breed. Yet we have no doubt 

 that any dog with a good nose could be trained to find 

 truffles as easily as a retriever can be broken to 

 hedgehogs. 



The gamekeeper's retriever will learn to discover the 



whereabouts of every hedgehog in a ditch. A clever 



dog will find in a few hours as many hedge - 



Retrie- hogs as a week of trapping will secure 



ver'sUse- .? . , , 



fulness miles of hedges may be cleared in a day in 



the summer. The dog must be kept under 

 absolute control, lest he disturb sitting birds, thereby, 

 perhaps, doing as much damage as might the hedge- 

 hogs. Almost any dog may be trained to a particular 

 work, such as playing the bloodhound's part, and 

 following the trail of men, whether friends or stranger 



