Hounds at Work 



of kings that it would be mere redundancy 

 for me to say more here, but perhaps a few 

 words upon the economic aspect may not be 

 out of place. The upkeep of a pack is a 

 costly affair when we take into consideration 

 the staff of hunt servants, the large stud of 

 horses necessary, the provision of compen- 

 sation to farmers, stopping earths, etc., in 

 addition to the actual maintenance of the 

 hounds themselves. You will read of Masters 

 being guaranteed a minimum of £2000 a 

 year, and it is doubtful if this would meet 

 all the outlay. "Nimrod," in The Chace, 

 which first appeared in 1832, quotes a 

 contemporary writer as estimating the 

 annual cost of a pack at £2235, and he 

 declares that in the best establishments at 

 that period very little was left out of £4000 

 per year. Then we have to remember the 

 expenses of the followers of the hunt, com- 

 puting the cost of a stud of hunters and the 

 money spent on railway fares, hotel bills, 

 hunting boxes, etc., and we can arrive at a 



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