ed the better.

For hunting, nothing will do but boots and breeches, unless you
condescend to gaiters--for trousers wet, draggled and torn, are
uncomfortable and expensive wear. Leathers are pleasant, except in wet
weather, and economical wear if you have a man who can clean them; but
if they have to go weekly to the breeches-maker they become expensive,
and are not to be had when wanted; besides, wet leather breeches are
troublesome things to travel with. White cord breeches have one great
convenience; they wash well, although not so elastic, warm, and
comfortable as woollen cords. It is essential for comfort that
hunting-breeches should be built by a tailor who knows that particular
branch of business, _and tried on sitting down_ if not on horseback, for
half your comfort depends on their fit. Many schneiders who are
first-rate at ordinary garments, have no idea of riding clothes. Poole,
of Saville Row, makes hunting-dress a special study, and supplies more
hunting-men and masters of hounds than any tailor in London, but his
customers must be prepared to pay for perfection.

In the coats, since the modern shooting jacket fashion came in, there is
great scope for variety. The fashion does not much matter so long as it
is fit for riding--ample enough to cover the chest and stomach in wet
weather, easy enough to allow full play for the arms and shoulders, and
not so long as to catch in hedgerows and brambles. Our forefathers in
some counties rode in coats like scarlet dressing-gowns. There is one
still to be seen in Surrey. For appearance, for wear, and as a universal
passport to civility in a strange country, there is nothing like
scarlet, provided the horseman can afford to wear it without offending
the prejudices of valuable patrons, friends or landlords. In
Lincolnshire, farmers are expected to appear in pink. In
Northamptonshire a yeoman farming his own 400 acres would be thought
presumptuous if he followed the Lincolnshire example. Near London you
may see the "pals" of fighting men and hell-keepers in pink and velvet.
A scarlet coat should never be assumed until the rider's experience in
the field is such that he is in no danger of becoming at once
conspicuous and ridiculous.

A cap is to be preferred to a hat because it fits closer, is less in the
way when riding through cover, protects the head better from a bough or
a fall, and will wear out two or three hats. It should be ventilated by
a good hole at the top