A COSTLY'SPORT.'

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 253, 1 September 1879, Page 2

A COSTLY'SPORT.'

A gentleman by no to " sport" in any form, has published some curious statistics on the subject of foxhunting, There are, he says, about 170 packs maintained at present in the United Kingdom, aggregating some fourteen thousands of hounds. Let us look, with him at their cost, which is n'rieasy to estimate, Fifteen years ago(%arm admirer of the late Mr Assheton i||ith put the total expense of hunting a county three days a week for a season at £1348 14s. How he arrived at his fractions it v&'. ■ hard to tell. But he went on and we. went with him. The Earl of Wiiton, nearer to the present time, increases the estimate to £1625, with an additional £3OO if a huntsmad be kept—mark how an - huntsman is valued adove an ordinary curate. The Cotswold Hunt has of late been costing £2500 per annnm, " and there is no doubt the former figure must be largely raised to meet the enhanced cost of wages and horseflesh." But the the cream of the cream of our sportsman's delightful calculation is yet to come. " Let the average cost," he says, " of the above packs be put at £BOO per-annum, which is certainly below the truth, and even then their annual cost it over £134, 000." But the money actually spent on