STOCK 455 



For the purposes of this chapter the term " stock " will be used in the 

 latter sense only. 



It has been shown in previous chapters that it is in the early spring that 

 disease invariably appears, it is therefore at that period, and the period 

 immediately preceding it, that the question of numbers is of real significance. 



The reason for this is not far to seek ; during the months of May, June, 

 and July the fresh young shoots of heather are probably more nourishing than 

 at any other time of the year — even the oldest and most useless p,,^^ ^^^_ 

 heather is not without some food value. In July, August and '^'^'o"'*- 

 September berries are added to the Grouse's diet, and in the late autumn 

 and early winter the seed or fruit of the heather is largely eaten. In 

 fact it may be said that from the beginning of May to the middle of the 

 following January the food supply, even on the worst moors, is almost 

 inexhaustible, and during this period the ground is capable of supporting a 

 stock far larger than it could possibly carry during the subsequent three 

 months. If, therefore, a limit of stock is fixed for March and April, it is 

 sufiiciently plain that that limit can be carried with safety all through the 

 year. 



While it is impossible to give any exact number of pairs of birds that 

 a particular 1,000 aci-es will carry in any specified district, as this varies 

 with such matters as climate, shooting, etc., it will probably be interest- 



1 • 1 statistics. 



ing to many of our readers to learn that, broadly speaking, the 

 number of birds to the acre is curiously constant over wide tracts of similarly 

 situated ground. In Yorkshire and Lancashire there are exceptional moors 

 which carry a pair of Grouse to 2 acres; but in the north of England, stock of 

 generally, one pair to 4 or 6 acres is considered a safe winter '^^''^^^e- 

 stock on fully -developed moors. In Scotland the proportion is about one 

 pair to 8 or 10 acres, except on the west coast, where the normal winter 

 stock is often only one pair to 20, 30, or 40 acres. This generalisation 

 can only be regarded as true of the aggregate, and not of individual 

 moors, and it must be borne in mind that the bags obtained will show 

 a much higher ratio. In a normal season the bag will usually be about 

 double the numbers of the winter stock, and in a very good year it may be 

 possible to kill as many as five birds for every nesting pair. 



The similarity of results obtained by a comparison of bags on great stretches 

 of moorland enables several important deductions to be made. 



