One of the most important questions a Master may have to decide is the maintenance of his pack by breeding or by the purchase of drafts. It is a curious but well-known fact that some hunts never can "breed" with the slightest measure of success, and if the Master has a buyer upon whom he can depend, or has himself a natural eye for a hound and the means of obtaining reliable information, the purchase of drafts saves an infinite amount of trouble. A draft may consist either of unentered puppies (these can usually be seen and obtained at the annual puppy show of a leading pack, for often double the number required are then returned from their "walks ") or of working hounds discarded for being too fast, too slow, or for some other fault. Of course, in buying such it is of the utmost importance to obtain correct information as to the real reason.

Should the Master decide upon breeding his own hounds, he is adopting a most troublesome but most interesting course, and before attempting it he should make a careful study of the best Foxhound strains, observe results already obtained by others, and ever keep in mind that certain strains may be invaluable for one country but not at all suitable for his. Should he decide upon breeding from ten bitches and has at all a wide choice, let them be as good as he can find for the work they have to do. The dam has usually a great influence over the field qualities of her progeny, and if the bitch has peculiar value for the country in which she hunts, breed from her by all means, even if she in appearance leaves something to be desired; only in this case be careful to select a sire who in bodily conformation is extra strong in those points where the bitch is weak, and at the same time does not possess field peculiarities which would counter-balance the virtues of the bitch, for it is a lamentable fact that faults are more readily inherited than virtues. To make the point quite clear, for it is important, we will suppose you are hunting a cold plough country, and you have a bitch of rare value on those days when hounds seem almost unable to hunt-one who sticks to a line and picks it out when it has been foiled by sheep or made almost unacknowledgable by cold snow-showers, but this bitch is very slow, has wide open feet, and is wanting in bone. Well, naturally you will select for her a hound remarkable for his legs, good feet, and with some pace; but do not suppose that a "wild,' "skirting," "self-hunting," or "false," hound can be used with impunity, trusting to the bitch to correct these imperfections in the progeny. On the contrary, confirm her good points by an alliance with a true line-hunting hound, and so far as possible obliterate her faults by seeing that he has drive and speed in the field and irreproachable legs and feet, and also, what is still more important, see that such characteristics are inherent.

Puppies should always be whelped during the spring months, thus giving them the whole summer in which to grow, play about, and get strong. When weaned they are usually placed out ("walked," as it is termed) at farmhouses or other suitable quarters where they will enjoy plenty of liberty and good feeding. The following summer it is customary to have a puppy show, at which prizes are given to those who have reared the best hounds. When a bitch becomes heavy in young, she should never be hunted or indeed left in kennel with the pack; a capital system, when it can be arranged, is to place the bitch out some time before she whelps. Some hunting farmers are proud of being trusted with a favourite bitch, and have hit upon the excellent plan of cutting for her comfort and accommodation a hole in the side of the straw stack. This is always a favourite place, and the bitch rears her pups there far better than in any kennel.

The sooner a puppy begins to hunt the better-anything he may choose to find; time enough to talk about riot and to begin "rating" when the hunting spirit has caught hold of the hound and burns brightly within him. The wilder and more dashing the puppy, the better he is liked by many experienced huntsmen ; but a timid, slinking, frightened puppy, taking no notice of rabbit or hare is seldom of much use. It is not unusual to meet people who imagine that the Foxhound is designed by nature to hunt foxes exclusively. Of course, naturally the Foxhound would hunt any quarry leaving a scent; it is only by being "entered," "blooded" to fox, cheered when he hunts it, rated and flogged when he turns aside to other game, that he acquires the qualities of his race.

Before closing this chapter on the Foxhound, mention must be made of the Welsh Wire-coated Hound, because he is sometimes termed the Welsh Foxhound. In truth, he is simply a Welsh breed of hound used sometimes for hunting the fox, sometimes the hare, and often the otter. He is not now very often to be met with, but has at his best some valuable characteristics-a remarkably sensitive nose, great powers of endurance, considerable intelligence, and a wonderful natural aptitude for hunting, causing him to "enter" and to become, it is said, a valued member of the pack before an English Foxhound has seen a fox. On the other hand, he is reported to be seldom free from riot, to be very heady in the field and quarrelsome in kennel. A cross with the English Foxhound has been tried by some Masters. Opinions differ widely as to the result: it seems to be generally agreed that "appearances have not been improved by the experiment; but it is stoutly claimed that the music of the pack has been greatly increased, and more foxes killed on bad scenting days.

CHAPTER XX

THE HARRIER

THE Harrier is an unsatisfactory breed about which to write, for it has no real title to be called a "breed"; and yet we read of the Harrier ages before many now well established were even thought of. Some authors have been of opinion that the word "harrier" was the Norman equivalent to our word "hound," and that this accounts for the name being found in the works of very early writers. However this may be, as we shall see later, Caius gives a description of the Harrier, but it does not bear much resemblance to the modern hound.

The fact is that the Harrier of one part of the country always seems to have differed considerably from the Harrier of another part; and at the present time, if any uniformity can be said to exist, it is in favour of the Harrier being simply a Foxhound bred from Foxhounds. There is a "Harrier Stud Book," kept by the "Associated Masters of Harriers and Beagles"; but as purebred Foxhounds find ready admittance, its value as a preservative of Harrier blood is not very clear. Quite recently an American author bringing out a standard work upon the dog made application to the Master of an English pack well and favourably known in the field and at Peterborough (where only Stud-Book hounds. can be exhibited) for an authentic account and photograph of his Harriers. He has published the following reply: "I do not send you a photograph of my Harriers, for mine are all dwarf Foxhounds entered in the Harrier Stud Book. They are, however, the type that win at Peterborough Hound Show, and are my idea of Harriers." This is honest and straightforward, but does not help us in considering the Harrier as a breed.

Probably most Masters study their country and the wishes of their best supporters, forming their packs accordingly. The majority like a fast twenty-five minutes and a kill, consequently medium-sized Foxhounds are in general use; but a few consider that the very essence of hare-hunting consists in giving the quarry time to display all her consummate skill in throwing hounds off her line-they like

to see hare and hound fairly matched, they love to watch the pack "hunting," and are not anxious to total up at the end of the season an immense number of kills. In such packs the type of the old Southern Hound is generally conspicuous; sometimes slightly enlarged Beagles of 17in. to 18in. are clearly in evidence.

The Bexhill Harriers are a black-and-tan pack very striking in appearance. Some show pronounced old Southern Hound characteristics, but not all. They are as large and powerful as Foxhounds.

Probably the nearest approach to a distinct Harrier "breed " has been attained by some of the old-established Lancashire packs, a county in which hare-hunting has always been extremely popular. The Holcombe can, it is said, show hounds with a Harrier pedigree of over one hundred years; but of course this at once brings us back to the question of what is a "Harrier" pedigree. In size these Lancashire hounds (Fig. 49) usually equal Foxhounds (22in. to 23in.). A favourite colour is blue-mottle with some tan markings. This is never seen in the Foxhound, but is common enough in the Beagle, one of the most ancient breeds of our country. Although they are too big to suit some Hunts, or to be generally accepted as the ideal Harrier, they would doubtless afford the best and safest foundation on which a Master could build who had sufficient enthusiasm and skill to set before himself the task of establishing a Harrier pack free from the pottering of the old Southern Hound, and the dash, drive, and pace of the Foxhound. A few determined breeders, by forming themselves into a Club and acting together, could very soon revive a type of hare-hunting hound with characteristics of its own, suitable for most districts in which hares are hunted; and would help to save the Harrier from becoming only another name for "draft Foxhound."

Caius describes the Harrier as "that kind of dog which Nature hath endued with the virtue of smelling, whose property it is to use a justness, a readiness, and a courageousness in hunting "; and, further: "We may know these kind of dogs by their long, large, and bagging lippes, by their hanging ears, reaching down both sides of their chappes, and by the indifferent and measurable proportion of their making; this sort of dog we call Leverarius, Harriers."

Such a description, meagre as it is, applies more to the old Southern Hound than to the Harrier of to-day, for it is long since hare-hunting was revolutionised, and the slow, plodding hound that would dwell on the scent-giving vent to the keenness of his own enjoyment of the chase, and delighting the sportsman with melodious tongue whilst following puss in her every wile and double-has had to make way for the modern hound, possessing more dash and speed, thus forcing the hare to depend on her swiftness, rather than on cunning devices, for evading her pursuers.

Harriers, like other classes of hounds, have been bred and varied to suit the requirements of the country they are hunted in, and the taste, and even whims, of the owner. "Stonehenge," in his original work on the dog, says: "The true Harrier is a dwarf Southern Hound, with a very slight infusion of the Greyhound in him." But to get the increased speed required, it would seem to be quite unnecessary to go to the Greyhound. Beckford, a sportsman, and brilliant writer on sport, whose opinions were,

and still are, authoritative as far as applicable to the altered circumstances of our day, writing at the end of last century, says: "The hounds I think most likely to show you sport are between the large, slow-hunting Harrier and the little Fox-Beagle. . . . The first, it is true, have most excellent noses, and I make no doubt will kill their game at last if the day be long enough; but the days are short in winter, and it is bad hunting in the dark. The other, on the contrary, fling and dash, and are all alive; but every cold blast affects them, and if your country be deep