THE NEW FORESTRY. 2Q 



raising pheasants in the natural wild manner, and it is a mere 

 question of breeding stock, as in the case of rabbits in warrens. 

 It is an easy thing for a keeper to ascertain, near enough at 

 any rate, how many hens are left in any covert under his 

 charge after the shooting season is over. The question is, 

 how many should be left ? There is no doubt but that an 

 average number of possible young birds from each hen could 

 be struck, and we believe that that average might be put at 

 half-a-dozen or thereabouts under ordinarily favourable cir- 

 cumstances, and the number expected would determine the 

 number of hens to be left in the coverts. In Dumfriesshire, 

 where the climate is unfavourable, and the rainfall about fifty 

 inches, or just about double that of Norfolk, we used to con- 

 sider the average higher. We have often there seen, long 

 past the critical stage, clutches of nine or ten, and these 

 birds, in most instances, received no artificial assistance what- 

 ever. But putting the average lower than the above, we still 

 hardly get so low as the average reared on the artificial 

 system ; and look at the difference in the expense and trouble ! 

 There is no comparison. The question constantly asked 

 by a gentleman in search of a keeper is, " Can he rear 

 pheasants " ? Here, by the simple wild system, the employer 

 gets rid of the difficulty altogether, if only he can procure a 

 man who will exercise some intelligent care in the maintenance 

 of the wild stock. We commend this subject to the earnest 

 attention of owners of woods and preserves, feeling perfectly 

 sure that it can be dealt with in the way indicated by the 

 forester. 



In concluding this part of the subject, we may allude also 

 to a modification of the wild system lately recommended by 

 Mr. Tegetmeir, in the " Field " for July, 1 898, and described 

 by him as, " Pheasant Rearing Under Natural Conditions." 

 He writes : 



" I have just returned from visiting Mr. Ward's shooting, 

 where I find the pheasants are reared in accordance with 

 natural principles, in a manner totally opposed to the general 

 routine followed by keepers, and that the plan has been 

 attended with the greatest possible success. In a covert two 

 acres in extent, with close undergrowth and oak trees, which 

 was wired round against foxes, which are numerous in the 

 district, four hundred yards of two-inch wire netting being 

 utilised, I found the result of his first hatch on May 22nd, 

 when two hundred and sixty-five pheasants were obtained 

 from three hundred and twenty-five eggs, gathered in the open 



