CHAPTER IX

FOX COVERTS AND THEIR CARE WITH A NOTE ON EARTHSTOPPING

By Sir Charles Frederick, baronet

NO hunting country will yield its full measure of sport, however richly endowed it be by Nature, unless the fox coverts are maintained in proper order. Responsibility for this rests in the first place with the Master of the Hounds, but, seeing that the charge is met out of the Hunt Funds he will probably be asked to submit to the Hunt Committee an annual programme of the work that he considers necessary so that they may sanction the expenditure. All the important coverts should be down on a list and their claims will come forward in due rotation. Financial reasons may necessitate curtailment from time to time, and work, however necessary, may be held over for another year, but to allow coverts to get into bad order will prove the reverse of an economy in the long run. Directly a covert becomes hollow and fails to give a fox the warmth and security which he expects he will take to lying out, and it is the foxes who lie out who are responsible for nearly all the poultry-keeper’s claims and grumbles. The out-lier is a nuisance in other ways besides, for he is scarcely ever to be found when wanted, and has a tiresome knack of jumping up in front of hounds and complicating matters in the critical stages of a hunt. The problem, therefore, is to confine Reynard to his rightful haunts, where the M.F.H. can go to look for him without wasting time and feel reasonably confident of finding him at home. Any knowledge that I can lay claim to of fox coverts and their care I owe mainly to the late Mr. Willie Wroughton, a recognised expert in all such matters, and were it not for his precept and his little book, The Management of Fox Coverts (Messrs. Vinton and Co.), a copy of which every Master of Hounds should possess, I could hardly presume to write this chapter. A fox covert can never be too thick, and if hounds cannot get their fox away from it some other reason must be sought. The Field, or some members of it, may be stationed at the point where the fox is trying to make his exit, or the whipper-in may be badly posted. The majority of coverts in the Midlands consist of blackthorn, of gorse, or of privet. A blackthorn covert should hold for ten years if properly looked after, and the tops splashed off from time to time, but will then require cutting. Once the decision has been made, work should be put in hand early, by the end of January at latest. One advantage of starting in good time is that labour is easier to obtain then than later in the spring, when there is more work to be done on the farm. The operations need personal supervision, and if the Hunt Secretary is too busy to attend to them personally he must arrange for someone else to do so. The work may be done by contract at so much per acre, or men can be employed by the week under a reliable foreman. I would prefer the latter method when one is not pressed for time. An ideal plan is to get a local farmer to undertake the entire job and let him send in his bill to the Hunt. He may not be averse to having work found for his labourers at a time of year when he himself has little for them to do. A good woodman will not split the stubs with his axe but will cut through them with an upward stroke. Elder, which is sown by starlings and other birds, is a perpetual curse to the covert-owner and cutting it would be waste of time. It must be “stocked up” by the roots, and the bare places thus created where it has killed the surrounding thorns, need to be replanted. Privet will usually be found suitable for this purpose, for it is a hardy plant and rabbits do not meddle with it to the same extent as they do with other plants.

It is customary in the country where I live, when a covert of this nature is being cut, to allow the neighbouring farmers to fetch away any thorns that they require for mending their fences. The bulk of them, however, will need to be burnt in the covert, care being taken to light no more fires than are necessary. When the size of a covert renders it necessary to cut a riding for the use of the huntsman, it is well to cut it in a zig-zag fashion as being less conducive to the operations of a poacher with a gun. The fence surrounding a fox covert should be maintained in good order and not allowed to grow too high and thus shut out the sun and light. The gate must be kept padlocked throughout the off-season, and may be bushed up with thorns to discourage trespassers from climbing over. Twelve months after a thorn covert has been cut the tops of the tall plants should be splashed with a billhook about three feet from the ground, and the operation may be repeated the following year. This will promote a thicker growth below and prolong the life of the covert.

Gorse Coverts.

Gorse coverts usually need cutting every six or seven years. If the plants are worn out they should be cut close to the ground; otherwise they may be cut off eighteen inches or so above it and left to sprout. The success or failure of your covert, however, depends upon two things; firstly, keeping the ground clean after cutting in order that the young gorse may not be choked by grass or weeds; and secondly, upon excluding all rabbits. Wild gorse, as we know, will spread over a whole hillside whether the owner takes objection or not, and all the rabbits in the parish do not stop its growth, but when cultivated it needs most careful attention. When cutting the covert the old gorse should be heaped together and burnt and all sticks and rubbish may be raked up and burnt where the fires have been, the purpose being to leave the ground absolutely clean. From the time the covert is cut until the end of June the ground must be kept absolutely clear of weeds like a garden. By that time if the weather has been favourable the seedling gorse should be three or four inches high and able to fend for itself.

Rabbits.

If there are any rabbits they must all be killed and the holes dug in. The young gorse must be protected by wire-netting, four feet high of which eight inches should be underground. An experience of my own may be mentioned in the light of a caution. Finding the quantity of netting on the spot insufficient to enclose a gorse covert that had been cut, it was eked out with some that I happened to have by me, although it fell short of the prescribed measurement. The result was that rabbits got in and before their presence was discovered, serious damage had been done to the seedling gorse. The economy known as “spoiling the ship for a ha’porth of tar” is specially to be avoided when engaged on work of this nature. Mr. Wroughton recommended that the wire netting should remain up for eighteen months at least, and stated that in the light of his experience there need be no fear of chopping foxes by reason of it.

In addition to those already noted, fox coverts are frequently composed either wholly or partly of evergreen privet, which affords excellent lying for a fox. When such a covert becomes hollow and ceases to hold properly it should be cut off close to the ground and fresh plants will need to be put in, to replace any that have died. Whitethorn and the wild plum are also to be found in well known coverts that occur to mind, but neither is entirely satisfactory, and would not be recommended if a new covert were being planted. Where such exist one must make the best of them, and I know of no better plan than to “layer” them just high enough from the ground to enable a hound to move underneath.

One disadvantage of “layering” coverts is that when they become beaten down by the weather, more especially by snow, a solid shelf is formed, after the manner of a hound bench, and foxes lying thereon elude the hounds when they are drawing the covert below them. Foxes greatly dislike damp, and coverts need to be carefully drained by means of deep open dykes to carry off any water.

The cost of cutting a covert, which is mainly labour, of course depends upon the state that it is in. The stocking up and removal of big elder trees, for example, can be a lengthy operation. A thorn covert which was recently cut cost £14 10s. per acre inclusive of the fence surrounding it. Allowing something for a little work which would be necessary afterwards, we may call it £15 per acre. Reference to the balance-sheet of a Midland Hunt shows about £450 spent on the planting and maintenance of coverts in a normal year. This would probably allow for cutting down two coverts and subsidiary work on others.

EARTHSTOPPING

Allied with the well-being of coverts is the importance of efficient earthstopping. However many foxes you may have it avails nothing if you cannot, as the keepers say, “show” them when hounds pay them a visit. On estates where they (gamekeepers) are employed it is upon them that the duty devolves, but when land and coverts are sold and the responsibility is placed in new and, likely enough, less experienced hands, the Master of Hounds may not feel so confident that the work will be properly done. Earths and holes used by foxes that lie well away from the coverts should be stunk out at the beginning of the season, and in a few days they can be permanently stopped until the season is over or until a vixen opens them out. The object of this permanent stopping is not only to prevent hounds from running to ground, but also to make foxes resort to the coverts and use the earths therein. It is most difficult to get the earthstopper to go and inspect these earths from time to time as he should do with a view to making sure that they have not been opened, and reminders are constantly necessary.

A weekly card of the meets of Hounds will be sent to all earthstoppers, and on it will be marked the days for which each one should stop his earth or earths overnight, and the days on which they should be “put to” in the morning. In the former category come those coverts which the Master normally expects to draw and in the latter those which are sufficiently near to render it likely that hounds will run into them. Earths should not be stopped out before 10 p.m. as otherwise the fox may not have emerged and may be stopped in instead of out. The huntsman or whoever sends out the cards will know pretty well what coverts are likely to be drawn, and only these coverts should be stopped out overnight. Other earths within a radius which must be determined by local conditions, let us say, eight miles, should be “put to” in the morning. Foxes in those coverts through which hounds are likely to run are best underground and out of the way.

All earths other than those which were permanently stopped must be unstopped again in the evening after hounds have gone away. This, needless to say, is most important. Suitable material for stopping should be kept on the spot ready for use. A faggot that fits the hole and about three feet long is best for the purpose, one reason being that it permits of ventilation.

Gratings over drains need to be inspected at the beginning of every season so that they may be refitted or renewed when necessary.

Earthstoppers, I believe, are as a whole conscientious folk, and well earn the small pittance that is their reward. Impostors exist here and there no doubt. I well remember an occasion when a very famous covert was drawn blank and the huntsman’s sharp eye noted in the soft mud the marks of the earthstopper’s boots on the track leading up to the earth. As it happened, however, the night had been fine and dry, and the only rain that had fallen was a sharp shower at about 9 a.m. It therefore needed no Sherlock Holmes to determine the time of the earthstopper’s visit. In some countries it is the custom to pay the earthstoppers at a fixed rate and in others they are paid by results. For stopping earths which lie outside the coverts the former method must obviously be employed. To a man in charge of the covert itself a present of £1 for a litter bred there, and 10s. for every find during the regular season is not an exorbitant fee. It is sometimes, I believe, the custom to impose a fine when through alleged carelessness on the part of the earthstopper a fox gets to ground. Personally I am opposed to the idea as likely to engender grievances where goodwill is of paramount importance.

Badgers, which are far more numerous than is generally supposed, are often blamed when a fox gets to ground. No doubt they often scratch open an earth when they wish to return home after their nightly prowl, and it will need to be stopped again in the morning. At the same time they are frequently made the scapegoat when the earthstopper’s own carelessness is really responsible. If a covert owner finds that badgers are becoming a nuisance his best plan is to stink out their earths, when the tenants will betake themselves elsewhere. I have no sympathy with the digging out and wholesale murder of these poor harmless creatures, as practised in some countries.

Foxes will not make their home in a covert permanently unless there is an earth in or near it where they can seek shelter from poaching dogs and other enemies. If there is a natural earth so much the better, but should there not be one it may be decided to make an artificial earth. The method of doing so recommended by Mr. Wroughton is as follows.

The simplest way is with 9-inch red drain pipes laid in a trench dug 2½ feet deep. If the soil is not light and absolutely dry it is necessary to lay 2½-inch red drain pipes underneath the 9-inch pipes and through the “dens” to carry away all moisture. The shape of the artificial earth or dry drain must depend on the ground selected, which should be high and dry, but the total length of the dry drain should be nearly 50 yards: the shape is not important. The “den” or “dens” should be 3ft. long by 1 ft. 6 ins. wide and 9 ins. high, built in cement brickwork three courses in depth, and each “den” must be covered with two or three stone slabs and must not be higher than 9 inches. The entrances (to the drain) 10 inches wide must be built up in cement brickwork, with two oak squares driven into the ground, these having a “rabbet” to receive iron gratings for closing the entrances when required.

Material used: 2100 common bricks, 1 load of rough stones, 7 slabs, 1 load of sand, a little cement.

Another and cheaper way is to use common bricks instead of 9-inch drain pipes. It is necessary to dig out the drain 15 inches wide and 2 feet deep, lay the bricks lengthways three high each side the whole length of the drain with one brick across the top to cover it, which will make the drain 6 or 7 inches wide inside and 9 inches high. To keep these cover bricks in their places lay one brick flat on each side of the cover bricks the opposite way. Make the “den” or “dens” 9 inches high, as in the former plan and also the entrances. This will take 40 bricks to a yard.

THE RIGHT WAY TO CUT A BLACKTHORN HEDGE

By Reginald B. Loder

The operation of laying a hedge may be thus described:

The bank and every part of the hedge having been cleared from rubbish and the irregular and outside stems removed, dead stakes, about six inches in circumference, of thorn, ash, or any hard and straight-grown wood, are cut from four feet to six feet long, according to the height desired for the hedge, pointed at one end and neatly trimmed at the other end. These stakes are driven into the ground at as regular intervals as the growth of the fence will allow at from two feet to three feet apart. The thorns are laid and “plashed” in or interwoven among the upright stakes to form the fence, the spaces between the “layers” or laid branches being as regular as possible, but not too close to prevent the sun and air freely penetrating, as this would tend to restrain their after-growth. To make a good fence at the time is only half the battle. A good hedge-cutter must try and endeavour to encourage the growth of plenty of straight good shoots from the bottom to make the fence of the future.

Summary

1. Dead rubbish should be raked out of the hedge.

2. Old layers should be all cut out.

3. All Elder to be grubbed out completely.

4. The hedge should be cut as near to the ground as possible.

5. The first “layers” should be laid close to the ground.

6. The “brush” should be thick all the way up for a cattle fence, and as a rule laid on the side away from the ditch. N.B.—Cattle dislike pricking their knees and noses.

7. The hedge should be laid sloping well away from the roots and the ditch so as to let the new shoots have light and air.

8. The “stool” should be well pared off with a clean upward stroke.

9. The binder should be strong and put on level.

10. The ditch should be well dug out, but none of the mould should be put on the stools on any account whatever.

11. The hedge on the ditch side should be well “hung” with thorns in such a way as to protect (without smothering) the young shoots from the danger of cattle and sheep biting them off.