182 GORSE COVERTS 



staunch supporter of the Hunt, that, of course, is 

 best, because there no trespass need be feared. 

 There the vixen may safely attend to her domestic 

 duties, and there, if "certainty" be possible, should 

 be the certain find. But no matter where the gorse 

 covert is placed, it will require attention and cutting 

 down in due season. And here I may remark that 

 in reality there should be no cutting down; the 

 cutting should be done with an upivar^d stroke of 

 the bill-hook, and the cut should be clean. Cut 

 down, and you splinter the wood. I have known 

 one covert to be completely ruined by that 

 treatment. 



Nothing makes a better covert than gorse at its 

 best, but when hollow there is no place that foxes 

 more dislike after a windy night, with the stems 

 rattling and the foliage blowing open. The odds 

 against a find ought to be long ; and yet, we shall 

 be asked, what substitute can be found to equal the 

 evergreen plant ? 



Where the land is wet, osiers form dry lying ; 

 pampas grass, privet, laurel, have all been tried ; 

 perhaps a mixture of anything that will grow on a 

 poor soil ; some of the newer conifers, to be ruth- 

 lessly " headed " when they attain three feet six inches 

 might succeed. An artificial covert need not be large, 

 as those who have seen the late Mr. Jack Gubbins's 

 famous little nook at Bruree know well — it is just 

 as carefully looked after by the owner of Prospector, 

 by the by — and when sheltered from wet and wind, 

 if quiet prevails, a fox does not want much more if 

 his food supply be tolerably handy. 



