HEATHER-BURNING 349 



(3) That the patch or strip method of burning must as far 

 as possible be pursued in order to segregate the birds, 

 and thereby lessen the risk of infection by the Strongyle 

 worm and the Coccidium. 



In discussing the question of burning for food two difficulties 

 at once arise : 



(1) That of persuading the average moor-owner that by 



burning small patches with a small staff he cannot 

 possibly get over his moor. 



(2) That of persuading him that at any time of the year the 



birds can be short of food, or that there is any real 

 difference in the heather supply on well and on badly 

 burned moors. 



To convince him of these facts it is necessary to go into 

 figures, and those set out below may be taken as a reasonably 

 accurate statement of conditions that obtain on many average 

 if not model moors. 



On the ordinary 5,000 to 6,000 acre moor in England, and Estimate 

 the corresponding 10,000 acre moor in Scotland, on which one burned on 

 thousand to fifteen hundred brace are killed in a good average average 

 year, and on which two keepers and one or more watchers 

 are maintained, the landlord thinks he is doing all that can be 

 expected of him, if in addition to the keepers, six to eight extra 

 hands are employed in spring to burn the moor. 



Speaking generally, after a careful investigation of east and 

 west coast conditions, of high and low moors, a good spring- 

 burning season will give an average of ten whole days or twenty 

 half days on which the hill can be fired. Taking into considera- 

 tion dry and windy weather when the fire goes well but requires 

 great control, and wetter conditions or less wind when the 

 fire does not " run " so fast and may be managed by a couple 

 of men, it may be calculated that on an average each keeper, 

 dividing his gang to the best advantage (each gang consisting 

 of not less than two parties), will not burn more than thirty, 

 or at the very outside forty patches or strips in a full working 

 day. That is to say, if the small patch or narrow strip method 



