THE MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS 



A drag pack of six couple is plenty large 

 enough for ordinary occasions ; holidays and fete 

 days you may turn out the whole lot of ten 

 couple or thereabout. A big lot of such hounds, 

 which is bound to contain some stragglers, gets 

 under horses' feet at the fences, and is a nuisance 

 generally, and besides it is far easier to get a small 

 lot to " pack " well and run properly than a large 

 one, and as galloping and jumping is the main 

 issue, superfluous hounds should be avoided. 

 There is nothing to be gained by a big pack, and 

 ten couple will easily give you a working detail 

 of six or seven couple for three days a week, or 

 more if you have time, for after all, there was 

 something in the oft-quoted remark of the hard- 

 riding English lordling, after a " lark home " fol- 

 lowing a blank day : " There ! you see what fun 

 we might have if it wasn't for those d — d 

 hounds ! " For, of course, in America, hounds 

 must be but the material means to^ the end of a 

 good gallop, that being, alas ! about all we, most 

 of us, have either time, Inclination, or opportunity 

 to accomplish, nor would the average impetuous 

 national character have patience to potter about 

 all day. 



As to kennels, hounds do well in very rough- 

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