" TO FINISH THE SEASON " .sx By Ralph Greaves .sx THOSE FAMILIAR WORDS will now have appeared on the fixture-card , and the last entry made in the hunting diary for 1960-61- a season which will go down in history not only as the most open , but as the wettest " since the memory of man runneth not to the contrary .sx " Even before the season started , the land was saturated ; and so it remained throughout , with never a chance of drying out , until the fantastically dry and sunny spell that set in at the beginning of March .sx Fortunately this will obviate cuckoo corn for the farmer ; but as regards foxhunting , there have been days lately when one might as well have expected hounds to be able to run in June , for all the scent there has been .sx Strangely enough , despite all the wet , the earlier part of the season was not as good scenting as might have been expected , scent being literally washed away .sx But from December onwards there came reports from every quarter of sport well above the ordinary , and with the drains full of water , more foxes killed above ground .sx Stoppages from snow and frost have been practically nil .sx But the season has been marred in many countries by disastrous outbreaks of foot-and-mouth , which are always more frequent in a mild season .sx Signs of Wear .sx Though always reluctant to leave off , Masters and hunt servants may sometimes regard the finish of the season with mixed feelings , especially when it peters out in a blaze of scentless sunshine .sx Horses and hounds have had a hard time in going like porridge , and exceptionally long days , and even in the bigger establishments there are signs of wear-and-tear .sx Horses , though still sound , may be running up a bit light , and there are probably quite a number of lame hounds , due to cuts from wire or flints .sx On chalky downlands these flints have become an increasing menace , the South and West Wilts having been particular sufferers in this respect .sx The plough has brought the flints to the surface , and they cut like razors , not only into hounds' feet but horses' heels .sx Another source of trouble is pig-netting , in which hounds are liable to get hung up and pull their stifles .sx What with casualties , and bitches in hot kennel , a huntsman in a small establishment of up to 25 couple may sometimes have difficulty in drawing a sizeable pack for two days a week .sx But apart from these domestic problems the question of the prolongation of the season depends on agriculture .sx Foxhunting , after all , is a " trespass by courtesy " and since the courtesy is on the part of the farmer , it is the latter's interests that finally decide the matter .sx Those countries that have a bit of hill or downland are often able to continue operations after the vale is closed .sx The Berkeley , for instance , are usually invited to retire to the slopes of the Cotswolds for a bit of spring hunting .sx Most moorland packs can also remain in session , taking advantage of which , that inveterate foxcatcher , Captain Ronnie Wallace , is accustomed to wind up his season by taking the Heythrop hounds on a visit to Exmoor , while in the Southdown country the killing of a brace or two of May foxes on their open downlands is almost traditional , though in the vale hounds have long ago shut up shop .sx A Favourite Dodge .sx One of the most insistent end-of-the-season problems is that of lambing ewes .sx However carefully the Master may arrange his draw , it is always at the back of his mind that hounds may run in their direction , and will have to be stopped .sx One of the favourite dodges in the repertoire of the hunted fox is to run through sheep foul .sx And , in fact , with ewes and lambs all over the place , it is sometimes difficult for the Master to make a day of it .sx Damage , too , is a word that weighs heavily on the hearts of Master , Field Master and Secretary .sx It is fair to say that damage to grassland- or at any rate permanent grass- in the earlier part of the season , even when as wet as this one , is unlikely to be particularly serious .sx It will all wash back with the next rain .sx But no farmer wants to see his fields cut up in February or March , especially if he has just rolled them .sx Even on old pasture with plenty of bottom , the mark is there for the summer , and it will certainly put paid to any leys- and ley farming has made the problem more acute .sx Had the wet weather continued , there is no doubt that most Hunts would have had to stop a good deal earlier than usual .sx Hounds would no doubt have continued to run as though tied to their fox , and we would have started worrying about the prospects for the Point-to-Point .sx But what a mark we should have made !sx And the faster we galloped , especially downhill , the worse it would have been .sx Even now , after three weeks of sun , there is , as I write , only a top crust on the clays , under which the land is like a glue pot .sx And the damage then will be worse than ever .sx Nor would it take much rain to reduce it once more to the porridge stage .sx In Leicestershire .sx Elsewhere , however , as in Leicester , for instance , the land really has dried out , and the arable was mostly in tilth by the middle of March .sx But only a few short weeks ago it was a different story .sx Let's look back and remember .sx . Hounds are scudding over the grass like a covey of grouse before the wind .sx You've got away on terms and the old horse is pulling a double handful ; you give him his head and let him stride on .sx What else would you do when hounds are running ?sx It's either go on or go home .sx The ground squelches under foot , but he can go through the dirt all day- and what a feel he does give you !sx But by Gad , it is deep !sx Horses in front are throwing up clods of turf in your face , as they go in fetlock deep .sx Better take him up to the front and have first cut at that fence before the others start bashing it .sx The old horse heaves himself out of the mud and jumps it cleanly .sx On you go , in the wake of the flying pack .sx . Well , the hunt has only started , and you've only crossed the first field .sx Go back the next day and walk round that farm after the Hunt has been over it .sx What would you say if you were the farmer ?sx There is more owed to him than we foxhunters sometimes realise .sx That is the thought with which to finish the season .sx AN EASY-GOING SPRING .sx By Dr. E. A. R. Ennion .sx Equinoxial Tides .sx . Unexpected Finds .sx . Tree-Sparrows and Rock-Sparrows .sx THE SHORE is settling down to its everyday ways again .sx We had , three-parts of the way through March , a series of exceptionally high spring tides , even for the equinox .sx Scudding seas and flying sand , sheets of spray sweeping high over cliffs and across roads where I never remember having to drive through spray before , were the order of the day .sx . Bedlam outside as well as in , with curtains flapping and doors banging .sx The waders along the tideline hardly knew whether they were on their heads or on their heels , what with the driven spume , the blinding spray and both wind and water playing tricks and taking them at unexpected speeds and angles .sx Co-ordination of Muscle and Eye .sx In the ordinary way a dunlin knows to a T how far a wave is going to ripple up a beach , how long he can wait before turning and running back before it to avoid , as it were , getting his knickers wet .sx A redshank knows exactly when to check his speed to alight at the right spot at the right moment to snatch a titbit sweeping out to sea again on the undertow .sx Such instant co-ordination of muscle and eye is commonplace for them ; swift movements and decisions that , for us , would require the skill of a juggler , the practised fingers of a pianist .sx On it , indeed , depends their livelihood , for the prey they catch is less than a split second slower off the mark .sx So gusty winds and unexpected draughts , freakish ripples and drenching waves must be darned annoying while they last .sx And they lasted , off and on , for days .sx But now it's over .sx The waves , their fury spent , are plashing lazily on the beach as if they couldn't get tough if they tried .sx The wind has dwindled to a gentle breeze .sx There are no white horses , though there is a thin white line wherever wave meets rock along the island shores and , beyond them , a slow heave along the line of the horizon which shows that , away out there , a fair swell must be running , still .sx Like the deep breathing of an athlete resting after his exertions , it takes time for normal rhythm and speed to supervene .sx But in shallower waters near the shore there is only the gentlest rise and fall .sx And there are little groups of waders resting , preening , bathing , stretching wings and legs , and yawning- doing all the jobs there's been no time to do in the last few days .sx The dunlin and the oystercatchers seem especially content to laze and just enjoy the sunshine and the calm after the storm .sx Turnstones , restless as ever , keep wandering about .sx No sooner does one of them run into the ripples of the burn that spreads across the beach , to bathe , than others tear across the sand to join him , regardless of the fact that most of them have bathed before , not once but ten times , within the last half-hour .sx They can't need to- they are like those over-fussy women who must be forever cleaning , cleaning , cleaning when there isn't a speck of dirt about that a man can see .sx And redshanks , as ever at this time of year , too , are chasing each other about .sx It's the spring in their blood .sx No cock redshank worthy of his coral legs can bear to see another within twenty yards of him without running to drive the other fellow off .sx I've known them keep this rival-chasing up for hours at a stretch when the chasee couldn't , or wouldn't , get away :sx no wonder , when you handle them , redshanks are so surprisingly thin and scrawny .sx Wagtails in the Trap .sx What with one thing and another we have had little time or opportunity since we returned home to do much trapping , even in the garden :sx it is our leanest spring in this respect for ten busy years .sx But the other day , while I was digging a trench for some cuttings , my wife looked up and saw half a dozen pied wagtails fluttering in or around the Heligoland trap .sx It was just before dusk and , all unknown to us , this small party of them must have been using the willow bushes beside it for their roost .sx We slipped down and caught three :sx a beautiful silky-white and ebony cock and two hens , one adult and one a de@2butante .sx At least two more were flitting around overhead .sx We shall now know them if we meet them on the beach .sx The trap is kept out of action , in case a bird might find its way in and get imprisoned , but it is possible to " set " it again instantly , and now and then I cannot for the life of me resist temptation .sx One such occasion happened a week or so ago when I noticed that the bushes round its mouth were teeming with sparrows .sx We have long since given up ringing them , i.e. , house-sparrows .sx From well over 800 ringed , we had not had a single recovery from beyond a mile radius !sx But there were starlings among the sparrows ( which provide many and often most interesting records ) and also , unless my eyes and ears were failing me , a good many tree-sparrows .sx