MOOR MANAGEMENT 333 



The next question that has to be considered is whether there Remedial 

 is any proof that the liability to " Disease " can be artificially 

 controlled. Can it be shown that more birds can be carried 

 on a moor if they are well distributed, and if their Vitality and 

 weight are raised by an increased supply of food at all times 

 of the year ? The answer to this is undoubtedly Yes ! and the 

 four following examples are put forward to show what results 

 have been obtained on well-managed moors. 



Bolton Abbey Moors, Yorkshire. 



These are high well-burned moors with good grit ; they are 

 well watered and considerable attention has been paid to drain- 

 ing ; the patches burned on the moors every year are very large ; 

 they have probably not always been so well burned as they are 

 to-day, and the older heather takes three or more years to 

 spring from seed after burning. The average annual rainfall 

 is about 38 inches. The record given below is a very remark- 

 able one, extending as it does over a century. The following 

 points should be noted : 



(1) That the yield of Grouse has increased from a minimum 



of two hundred to a maximum of over three thousand 

 brace. 



(2) That for the first twenty years any year in which over 



three hundred brace was killed was invariably followed 

 by disease, that is to say, that the same ground which 

 now yields three thousand brace with safety, could not 

 then give a bag of more than two hundred brace 

 without risk from disease. 



(3) The difference in the time required for the moors to 



recover from the epidemic under the new and old con- 

 ditions is very marked. When the moors were badly 

 burned it used to take three to four years to get over 

 an outbreak of disease ; in the last two outbreaks the 

 season following the attack has shown an average 

 yield. 



