In kennel management Lady Gifford takes the keenest interest, and her system appears so excellent, that all engaged in hound breeding may find something to learn from it. "I always think," writes Lady Gifford, "that when hounds are in work, they are often given their food too wet. This, I am sure, is a mistake. I give my hounds the best oatmeal that can be got, and too much care cannot be given to the making of the porridge. It must be boiled just right, or it is worse than useless. There is a biscuit known as bread biscuit, which I find extremely good for hounds, though it is a little difficult to get. It is made, I understand, from the dinner rolls and bread left at London parties, and so you may be sure it is made of the best meal. I always find, however, that my meal merchant is anxious for me to have any kind of biscuit except this. The washing and grooming of hounds is, I think, a point in the kennel not sufficiently thought of. All the summer months I have my hounds thoroughly washed with soap and warm water, and of course thoroughly dried, and though no doubt this takes a long time, the result well repays you. If hounds are well groomed every day, they will keep twice as healthy, and their coats will have a shine like satin, exactly like a well-groomed horse. As to exercising, I take them out on the road every morning about six o'clock, for two hours, and in consequence they never really get out of condition, but by the time August comes round they are quite ready for 'cubbing' so to speak."
Another point on which Lady Gifford gives information which others may find valuable, is concerning a cure for that "kennel dread," distemper, which she learnt from the great veterinary surgeon, Professor Pritchard. She advises a preparation of coffee and milk in equal parts, exactly as you would have it made for your own consumption, then to drench the puppy continually with it, allowing him to touch nothing else, and while the treatment lasts to keep the puppy in an even temperature. The results of this treatment, in Lady Gifford's kennel, has been all that could be wished, and though previously she had had heavy losses from this cause, she has never since lost one that she has tried it on. Is it possible that as this simple remedy becomes better known, we may find that cruel scourge, distemper, disarmed of its terrors?
MRS. PRYSE-RICE'S KENNELS.
ALDENHAM BITCHES.
Beagles. Beside the harrier, there is sport and good sport too, to be had with the beagle after hare, and those who are young and active and to whom the merry cry of hounds is a delight, will find a never-ending source of interest in hunting with these little hounds. This sport has too the advantage of being inexpensive, for it not only requires but a small outlay to start with, but necessitates a very moderate sum for the keeping up of the pack. Of course there are degrees of expenditure both in the management and hunting of beagles, to be determined by the means at your command, but a sportswoman can have a good and efficient pack of beagles in the field for very much less than she could have other hounds.
The first necessity, if you wish to hunt your own beagles, is to have a country to hunt over, and you must get leave to pursue your quarry over a farm or farms where there is a fair proportion of hares. The number of hares, indeed, need not be very great, as not very many will fall before beagles. Neither do you require a large extent of country to hunt over, as a hare is not likely to be driven right away, but in a majority of cases will circle round the place where she is found. Yet there is a charm in beagling, which lies in the open air, the active exercise, the music of the hounds, and the working out by them of the puzzles set by the hare.
When you have secured a country—or before, if you are so inclined—you will need to get together your pack. If a good pack of beagles should come into the market, you would do well to buy them, provided you do not mind the expense to start with. If, however, you do not object to trouble, and do mind the outlay, then, even before you think about country, you will buy some well-bred bitches and set to work to build up a pack. In any case, if you mean to have beagles, have them, and do not have dwarf harriers. The Beagle Stud-book will help you in your choice of strains. Go to good beagle kennels such as those of Sir Marteine Lloyd, or the Caledon, and having decided on the type for which you intend to breed, keep true to it.
Having succeeded, either by buying or breeding, in getting a pack, you will then have to keep your hounds up to a certain number. From about six to twelve couple will be all that you will want to take out, but this of course will mean that you want at least two couple more in reserve. You should breed a certain number of puppies every year, and in this you must be regulated to a great extent by the walks at your command. You might keep one couple at home, giving them a free run of the stables, yards and paddocks, and though you will find them troublesome and as mischievous as monkeys, their small size will prevent them being the unmitigated trouble that foxhound puppies undoubtedly are. Still, the infant beagle has a marvellous appetite for sponges, brushes, and all sorts of indigestible household requisites, and he will besides be credited by the servants with even more mischief than he really works. You will find some, or perhaps most of your field, ready to undertake the charge of a few couple—and those who come out regularly ought to look upon this as a duty—and for a small payment you can secure homes in cottages, with those who will look after the puppies carefully and intelligently, and who will, indeed, treat them so well that you will not improbably have a very sulky lot of little dogs to deal with, when they first come under kennel discipline.