92 RED DEER. 



The damage they do to crops is so exten- 

 sive that without the goodwill of the farmers 

 stag-hunting could not last a single season. 

 Nothing could demonstrate more thoroughly 

 the enthusiasm which hunting the red deer 

 inspires in those who follow it than the fact 

 that the fanners over such an immense 

 breadth of country should unanimously agree 

 to endure these losses. 



Compensation is of course paid, but even 

 compensation may fail to recoup. Beyond 

 the loss of a crop there is the loss of the 

 fertilisation which would ensue from the 

 stock fed on it, and it is not always possible 

 in times of scarcity even with money to pur- 

 chase fodder. Three losses fall on the farmer, 

 whose crop is ruined. First, the market value 

 of the crop ; next, the loss to the ground of 

 the fertilisation that would have been ob- 

 tained from its consumption ; thirdly, the 

 difficulty, perhaps impossibility, of replacing 

 the material destroyed. Loss of time might 

 be added, since another crop cannot be 



