20 AFFORESTATION IN SCOTLAND. 



that large woods aftbrd shelter to various kinds of vermin which 

 are less easily destroyed in woods than in the open. 



In the recent inquiry by the Grouse Disease Committee, the 

 question of the value to grouse of shelter in plantations was 

 thoroughly investigated. The Committee arrived at the con- 

 clusion that, on the whole, grouse benefited by the afforestation 

 of the land fringing the grouse moor, provided that the vermin 

 were destroyed. The Committee were of opinion that, both from 

 young and from old plantations, grouse received an appreciable 

 benefit in times of storm through feeding on the shoots and seeds 

 of the long heather often found there, as well as through the 

 shelter of the trees. 



2. Rabbits. — The great amount of damage done by rabbits is 

 now so generally recognised that few people will doubt the 

 necessity for the condition that rabbits must be exterminated 

 both in the plantations and on the ground adjoining them. 



In deer forests no less than in shee[) farms, the disappearance 

 of rabbits brings nothing but gain. Where rabbit killing is 

 neglected, tlie wintering suffers, and it will improve in proportion 

 to the extent to which it had been eaten down and fouled 

 by rabbits. 



On grouse moors, rabbits are generally regarded as a nuisance ; 

 and where they are numerous they do serious damage to young 

 heather. 



On the smaller shootings the case is different. Rabbits have 

 a distinct sporting value on ground which may be of very little 

 use for grouse or other game. Where the letting value of a 

 shooting is reduced by the obligation to keep down the rabbit.s, 

 compensation for the reduction may have to be allowed. On the 

 other hand, the loss in sporting rent may be compensated for by 

 the improvement of the pasture. 



3 Mountain /lares. — To avoid the great expense of fixing 

 wire-netting \.o the fences between the plantations and the hill 

 ground, the hares must be killed down. The absence of hares is 

 a positive advantage to moors where grouse are shot over dogs, 

 and it is certain that a heavy stock of hares does appreciable 

 damage to young heather. It can hardly be said that the 

 disappearance of hares will make a difference which can be 

 expressed as a percentage of the shooting rent, except perhaps in 

 the case of small shootings. 



4. Roe deer. — The ordinary form of deer fencing will hardly 



