Sunday morning globe., 1901-11-24
FOX HOUNDS.
What It Costs to Write M. F. H.
After a Name.
IN MERRY ENGLAND, YOU KNOW
Tho Cost and Maintenance Of a Pack Of
Hounds, Horses, and tho Pay LOdgeneni
and Clolhlng Of Servants, a Sma tune
Annually In England.

AWA |ANAWNWb " WI lAWANf q aA'sa.a WV
Annually In England.
More than most others hunting
men are bewailing the rise in prices
forced on up by the war. Hunters
can usually be picked up in the spring
at $500 to $3.50 each GOOD seasoned
beasts, too which, after a summer
of ease are fit for another hard sea
sons work Last April the master Of
fox hounds, commonly known as IN.
f. H." on the lookout for bargains to
fill his stables against the coming
winter, found prices up 10 to 20 per
cent.
The man who is about to take charge
of a pack of fox hounds must be pre-.
pared to spend a lump sum Of $4,000
on his horses. He viii need for himself
a stud Of five to nine, really good ami.
mails which, II he is a middle-weight,
will cost him about S7OO a piece in
the provinces"
If he is taking over a pack in the
fiat country Of Central England known
as the "shires,' he will need better
and faster stamp of horses, for which
he will pay $3.50 to 5000. OF course.
he has to buy the mounts, too, for
the huntsman, whippers-in and all the
hunts servants. Each horse must be
provided with a loose-box, and in sum-
mer two feeds Of grain daily. The
regular cavalry allowance for a horse
is 1 2 pounds of hay, 10 pounds Of oats
and 8 pounds of straw daily. This
costs, if brought in large quantities.
| $3.50 to $500 a week for each horse
| during the summer, and about $3.50
in winter Put the amount at 5000 a
head for twenty horses and the total
is $4,000.
Wages are the next most important
| item, The huntsman gets about 5000
year, the first whippers-in S4OO, the
second $500. Grooms and second
! horsemen get So a week, and get all
house room, firing and clothes The
M. r. II. must expect to spend at
| clothes. Frequently this amount is
| doubled. There are also generally a
couple Of feeders to look after the
| hounds who get about $3.50 a week
each, The wages Of the stan necessar-
lily run to $4,000 a year, and clothing
$1,000,
To buy a pack Of hounds ready made
| is a most expensive business. To hunt
| three days a week it is necessary to
have at least fifty couples OF hounds
| If you wish to buy these ready trained
and old enough to begin work at once
you viii probably have to pay $4,000 to
| $4,000. The best method Is to pur-
chase drafts from other kennels. The
| price per couple Of such hounds will be
about S2625; though II you want them
| from a fast and fashionable pack you
will have to pay double that money.
Hounds as well as horses must be
| fed. Meal is the chief staple and it
costs 800 a ton. A pack Of fifty
couples will get through nearly twenty
tons OF meal in the year, costing about
! $1,000 and require also seven or eight
/ horse or COW carcasses a month
! For these you must expect to pay IS
piece, making a total Of $4,000 a
year,
These are the heaviest items of ex-
! penditure; but there are many smaller
| ones. Shoeing will cost SIS for each
horse a year. $500 in all. If you keep
up an average stud of twenty animals
lnere is the vets bill and medicines,
another $3.50 a year. Taxes and IL
censes will come up to fully $500; and
1t is customary to give an annual din
ner to the keepers in the neighbor-
hood in return for their good services
which, with extras and tips, will come
to another $500. Earths must be
stopped and this will add another
S400 year to expenses.
Besides all this, there is the question
OF compensation to the farmer across
whose land the hunt has ridden. His
crops are ridden over. his fences dam
aged. his gates left wide open. Turf,
especially when lowlying and wet, is
cut into a quagmire by hundreds Of
hoofs Winter wheat, too and fields
Of roots are sometimes badly injured.
Some hunts have to pay as much as
S2,5OO to $500 a year in compensation
for such damages. There is also a
regular fund for compensating farmers
for poultry taken by foxes. This will
perhaps be covered by 5000 a year,
Exclusive, then, Of any initial ex-
penses, and putting aside such minor
expenses as tips, repairs, saddlery,
stationery and travelling, the future
master must be prepared to spend
S16S50 a year for writing M. F. H.
afer his name.