STOCK 463 



A great deal has been written, even by those in authority, to the effect 

 that driving i)er se does not add to the yield of a moor. The 

 Committee cannot endorse this view, and in this connection it would driving on 

 not be out of place to trace the history of Grouse driving, and to °^ ^"^'^' 

 study the results which have attended its introduction in different parts of the 

 country. 



Grouse driving was first introduced in Yorkshire, where, owing to the wild- 

 ness of the Grouse in that country, it was found difficult to obtain a satis- 

 factory bag by any other means. Naturally the innovation resulted 



r.". • T-11T1- • Introduced 



at lirst in an increased yield, and this gave rise to an exaggerated from York- 



shire 



belief in the merits of driving Grouse as a means for increasing the 

 productiveness of all moors. As a result driving was introduced on many moors 

 where the same conditions did not exist, in other words, when the birds were 

 not so wild as to necessitate this method of killing them. On these 



. . _ . Driving not 



moors it was found that driving did not have the same satisfactory universally 



results as in Yorkshire, and that in some districts the bags obtained 



by driving were actually smaller than they had been in the old dogging 



days. 



Hence there arose a school of sportsmen who condemned driving as an 

 undesirable institution, and never ceased to lament the fact that moors which 

 were once good dogging moors had been converted into inferior driving moors, 

 for it is well known that once a moor has been systematically driven its value 

 for dogging is greatly impaired. 



The solution of the problem is perfectly simple. On all the moors, both in 

 England and Scotland, when Grouse were naturally wild, the introduction of 

 driving was followed by an increase both in the bags and in the stock, for 

 the bags were increased owing to the increased facilities for bringing the birds 

 to the gun, and the stock was improved owing to the possibility of killing 

 off the old and undesirable birds, and leaving the younger and more vigorous 

 to form a breeding stock. 



But once the system of Grouse driving had been fully established the 

 improvement came to an end. Moors whose annual yield had been improved by 

 several hundred per cent, ceased to improve when they reached the 



^ . ^ . . -^ Benefits of 



higher level, for the beneficial results of driving had been exhausted, driving 



, . . . . limited. 



The question is very fully discussed by Mr Teasdale-Buckell in " The 

 Complete Shot." This writer draws attention to a condition which he describes 



