172 PHEASANTS 



become in the future, most people being 

 satisfied if they serve their immediate 

 purpose. So much can be done at such 

 trifling expense to keep woods in good 

 condition for the purposes of shooting, if 

 only the matter be taken in hand before 

 they have gone too long untended to 

 make an easy or quick recovery possible. 

 In no case is the proverb of * a stitch in 

 time' more true, for once woods have 

 been allowed to become really hollow, 

 bare and draughty, the problem of what 

 to do with them becomes serious, and 

 only a free hand with the three things 

 most people can least afford — time, labour, 

 and money, will then make good the 

 years of neglect. Good under-cover is 

 the one essential, and nothing is more 

 difficult to provide where it does not 

 naturally flourish or has never been care- 

 fully cultivated. 



There seems to be only one book in 

 existence on the subject of planting 

 coverts for game ; it shall remain nameless 

 here, for the writer must honestly confess 



