FOX-HUNTING, FROM THE FARMER'S STAND-POINT 



PERCY SELOUS. 



Several years' residence in the United 

 States has not yet made me look on the 

 shooting or trapping of a fox without a 

 qualm. I know this is foolish, considering 

 the totally changed condition of things; 

 but I have never shot or trapped one my- 

 self, though I have been in the company of 

 those who have. 



Some time ago I was asked to give a talk 

 on the above subject and was more than 

 ever convinced, thereafter, that the average 

 American — except perhaps some few in 

 favored districts — is either absolutely igno- 

 rant of the sport of hunting foxes in the 

 English way, or is prejudiced against it al- 

 together; that is, he believes it unjust, to 

 the farmer especially. As a matter of fact, it 

 would be a bad day for the farmer if fox 

 hunting in England should cease to exist. 

 There are several hundred packs of fox- 

 hounds in England, to say nothing of Scot- 

 land, Ireland, and Wales. Some counties 

 maintain 3 or 4 packs and it costs quite a 

 lot of money to keep them up. Where I 

 resided, I was within easy access of 5 packs 

 — the Pytchley, the Grafton, the Warwick- 

 shire, the North Warwickshire and the 

 Atherstone. The great bulk of the money 

 needed is expended in the neighborhood; 

 but that is only a fraction of what is circu- 

 lated from other sources, pertaining to 

 hunting. Numbers of wealthy men have 

 hunting boxes, with large studs of horses. 

 These require quite an army of servants to 

 look after them. The stud grooms, almost 

 without an exception, have instructions to 

 purchase all the hay, oats, straw, etc., from 

 the farmers, and as they must have the best 

 of everything, in order to keep the horses 

 fit for the strain in the field, high prices are 

 paid. Not the least part of it is, that the 

 " middleman " is eliminated and the farmer 

 gets all the benefit. The store and shop 

 keepers also get much trade, as the wages 

 are spent in the villages and country towns. 

 But one of the chief advantages to the 

 farmer, accruing from fox-hunting, is the 

 inducement it holds out to him to breed 

 good horses. He rides his colts to hounds, 

 educates them and easily disposes of 

 them according to their merits; always at 

 substantial, often at fancy prices, to men who 

 are eagerly on the lookout and to whom 

 money is no object if they can only se- 

 cure the animal. One instance occurs 

 to me particularly. A young friend lent me 

 a young horse for my week's cavalry train- 

 ing, as my own horse had gone lame. He 

 had hunted him the season before, a little, 

 and he thought it might be as well to break 

 him in to cavalry work. He offered him to 



me for £40, or $200, but I was fool enough 

 not to buy him. Any way I got him steady 

 by the end of the training; took the Troop 

 Sword exercise on him and the Troop prize 

 for charges with him. Then I rode him in 

 the regimental steeplechase, and if he had 

 not gone the wrong side of a flag, should 

 have won. But this did not detract from his 

 jumping powers or endurance, and he 

 changed hands after the race for £300, or 

 $1,500; more for a hunter than a charger 

 though. I felt a bit mad with myself that 

 I hadn't paid the £40; but I had a good 

 time and my friend a good addition to his 

 banking account. 



Fox-hunting also brings the land owner 

 into direct contact with the tenant farmer. 

 They meet in the field as friends; ills, if any, 

 are redressed and that bugbear, the land 

 agent, is dispensed with. As to any harm 

 being done, that is not made good, that is 

 sheer nonsense. If crops are injured they 

 are paid for; if fences dilapidated, they are 

 put up again; if poultry are destroyed, they 

 are either replaced or the equivalent paid. 

 Once a year the Secretary of the Hunt 

 sends round to all the farmhouses for a 

 statement of poultry debited to Reynard. 

 Those who hunt, would generally not care 

 to make any return, though if they should 

 do so, restitution is as cheerfully made as if 

 they never followed the hounds. But they 

 must have foxes when the hounds come 

 around and consequently they are most 

 carefully protected. The Hunt don't care 

 what they pay provided the sport is there. 

 No foxes, would mean an exodus to Austria 

 or elsewhere, and with it would go all the 

 money which is circulated in the farmer's 

 district. From October until April money 

 is being lavishly spent, whereas the crops 

 are sometimes hardly enough to pay for the 

 planting. Then there are the Hunt balls, 

 the Tenant's balls, the point to point steeple 

 chases and other gala days, all bringing 

 emolument to the farmer. 



As to the Fox: it is different to the Amer- 

 ican or red fox, in many respects. Vulpes 

 vulgaris, or the European fox, has a skin al- 

 most as tough and thick as that of a wood- 

 chuck; whereas Vulpes rufus, has a skin 

 which is more like thin paper and equally 

 tender. The English species is also more 

 robust. I believe the American fox breeds 

 every year; that is the female brings forth 

 young annually. It is different with the 

 European, which never bring's forth often- 

 er than every other year; often less fre- 

 quently. It is a veritable survival of the 

 fittest with the English fox. Only the 

 stanchest are left to propagate their kind. 



