Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1938-11-10

joyed. Today there are many good
private small packs in the County,
and annual hound trials are held
under the auspices of the Maryland
Fox Hunters Association. Rivalry
among hound owners is keen but
good natured.
In the past seven or eight years
there has developed in the section
of Montgomery, near Washington, a
kind fof fox hunting new to this
County; that of organized and rec
ognized hunts with large packs of
carefully bred hounds with enthusi-
astic hunters, mounted on finely
bred and trained horses. On any
Tuesday or Saturday afternoon
from the last of October to near the
end of March, you will see scarlet
coats and sleek horses of the
Potomac Hunt formerly Riding
and Hunt Club Hounds) hunting
foxes in the vicinity of Potomac or
Travilah and soon the music of
hound voices fills the air and eager
horses and horsemen dash in hot
pursuit.
On any Wednesday or Saturday
afternoon during the same period
the same story is duplicated by the
Redland Hunt in the vicinity of
Redland, Olney, and Muncaster's
Mill, section over which my grand
father hunted foxes many years ago.
referred in the early part of
this letter to the advantage fox
hunting is to land owners. In so
doing, I am referring particularly
to the organized Hunt, similar to
the Potomac or Redland Hunts.
The section of Virginia where fox
hunting and the raising of fine
horses is almost definite industry,
such as around Middleburg, Upper
vile, Warrenton and adjacent sec
tons, finds its most valuable asset
the presence of weI-to-do fox hunt
ing clubs. am informed that fifty
years ago, before fox hunting started
there, fifty to sixty dollars an acre
was top price for good farm land.
Today the prices of the same land
run from $4,000 and up per acre
for almost any kind of land. Mil
lions have been spent in the erection
of magnificent homes and landscap-
ing of beautiful estates. / can see
no possible reason why this condition
cannot be duplicated in Montgomery
County with proper cooperation Of
the farmers, and they have, for the
most part, been most cooperative
in the Potomac and Travilah neigh
borhood. / am informed by Mr..
Mott, the genial Master of the Red
land Hunt, that the same thing pre-
walls in his territory. These hunts
areare located within the shadow of
City of six hundred thousand peo-
ple,-the Nations Capital-and the
number in Washington and vicinity
who are interested in horses and
hunting is surprising, and is increas-
ing every year.
have inquired of other cities and
find the Virginia situation is dupli-
Gated in the Worthington Valley,
Green Spring Valley and Hartford
sections, which are suburbs Of Bal
timore. The same thing has &C.
CURED in the Radnor, Devon, Rose
Tree and Bryn Mar sections, sub
urbs of Philadelphia. In all these
Baltimore and Philadelphia suburbs
are large, well organized, hunts, and
invariably land values have in
creased enormously. Stately estates
now fill the places of once vacant
fields. In one of the Philadelphia
suburbs, hunt members have bought
1000 of the land over which they
hunt. 1t is my confident prediction
the same thing will ultimately hap
pen in the County suburbs, where
the farmers are far-sighted enough
to encourage organized fox hunting.
The fact of the matter is the
movement toward our hunt territory
near Potomac and Travillah has
already started. This Spring a
check was made and it was found
that in that neighborhood in the last
four years since we have been hunt
ing there, twenty-six farms and
smaller tracts have been sold, prin-
cipally to hunting people or people
interested in horses. A number of
older properties have been bought
and modernized. A great deal Of
interest is now shown in this Sec
ton, and we gladly pass this infor-
nation on to farmers with property
for sale.
Unfortunately, there is an i'm
preston among many Land owners