There are no hounds so full of faults, both of make and disposition, as harriers, and it is never an easy matter to buy a pack ready made. The best way, therefore, to begin is with unentered drafts from known kennels, such as the Boddington, the Aldenham, and the Bath and County, and then to breed and buy as opportunity offers.
I would remorselessly draft hounds that do not throw their tongues, and this in spite of the fact that mute hounds are often good in other ways, and the rest of the pack will fly to a trustworthy one directly it begins to feather on the line. This recalls the amusing hypothesis recently made by a brilliant writer on sport, that hounds have a system of signalling with their sterns, analogous to the "flag wagging" of our army. Did the original idea of signalling, this writer asks, come to some gallant officer while he was watching hounds feather on a scent? If not, many will agree that the system _might_ have originated in this way.
But to return. Worse hound faults, even than muteness, are jealousy, skirting and babbling, any one of which should be at once met by drafting. The last--babbling--is incurable, but the other failings often appear in good hounds after they have lost their pace. As these habits are very catching, the only remedy is to draft the hounds directly they show symptoms of them, and you will find that you need to be constantly drafting from the head and tail of your pack, and you will be wise to keep few hounds over four seasons.
The first thing in the training of hounds is to get them perfectly handy and under control, and to do this will mean time and trouble. You must win their affection, and consequently must spend much time with them, both in the kennel and on the road. In this way you will soon get to know the character of each hound, and you will take out the docile ones first in couples, and then when you can trust these, the wilder and more headstrong hounds. You should take notice of the hounds continually on the road, speaking to them of course by name, and your whipper-in should be ready with his thong whenever it is wanted. Not that the whip should be much used, this will not be necessary if you study your hounds' dispositions, and treat each one according to the peculiarities you have noted. But all the same, chastisement should be prompt for any attempt at rebellion after due warning given, and then you must harden your heart to the piteous cries that will follow. Always keep a watchful eye on the hounds when you have them out, and never let them break away if you can possibly help it. If, however, such a thing does happen, it will add greatly to your comfort it the ringleaders be transferred at once to another kennel. At the same time when on the road, or out for exercise, you should give hounds plenty of room, for it is bad for them and certainly does not look well, to have them packed close round your horse's heels.