32 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND. 



the forest, the return is forty-five calves to every 

 hundred hinds ; in arriving at this result, Mr. 

 Evans has reckoned as "hinds" all the female 

 deer of one year old and upwards, and it is to one 

 hundred of these that the rate has been calculated, 

 as it was thought this method of reckoning was less 

 liable to error than attempting to deduct the yearlings 

 and two-year-old hinds and ascribing the calves to 

 the balance left, though, of course, the calves must 

 be due to that balance, whatever it may be. 



In Jura hinds usually breed when twenty-eight 

 months old, and present the forest with their first 

 fruits when three years old, and I believe the same 

 rule holds good for the deer forests of the mainland. 

 With regard to woods for winter shelter, Jura is 

 not too plentifully provided, the sheep-ground of 

 Ardfin being best off in this respect. In the early 

 Jura winter the sea blasts wither up the herbage, 

 while, on the other hand, the spring feeding is ready 

 much earlier than in the mainland forests. March 

 and April are, however, the months most fatal to 



