402 THE GROUSE IN HEALTH AND IN DISEASE 



little or no protection but everything possible must be done to 

 keep it on the ground, and if snow should cover the heather 

 for long periods at a time, the keeper must spare no pains with 

 rake and harrow to tide the hungry birds over the time of 

 privation, and, if necessary, provide them with artificial food 

 and grit. But perhaps the most important duty in the winter 

 is that of vermin inspection. Whenever there is a fresh fall of 

 snow the gamekeeper should be early on his beat to search for 

 the tracks of weasels, stoats, and foxes, and thus he will gain 

 the preliminary information necessary for the destruction of 

 these dangerous pests. 



The months of February, March, and April put the game- 

 keeper's efficiency to the test, for it is principally during those 

 months that it is his duty to provide his stock with food for 

 future years. The good game-keeper must be a far-seeing man, 

 who, like the forester, lives not merely for the morrow but for 

 the day after, and he must burn his moor with a view to improved 

 results many years ahead. 1 



It will be said that the various duties enumerated above repre- 

 sent a far greater volume of work than any man can be expected 

 to perform. It may be admitted that the average gamekeeper 

 is not expected to do so much, but this is rather the fault of 

 the system than of the man, for there is nothing in the foregoing 

 list which may not be overtaken in the course of a year of three 

 hundred and sixty-five days, for even Sundays count where 

 game-preserving is concerned. It is true that for heather - 

 burning, bracken-cutting, and moor-draining the keeper will 

 require temporary assistance ; but this assistance should be 

 given ungrudgingly, for the results will yield a handsome return 

 upon the outlay incurred. 



Before leaving the subject it is only fair to say that game- 

 keepers as a class represent one of the finest types of the com- 

 munity ; the healthy, open-air life they have to live seems to 

 develop in them the primitive virtues of honesty, loyalty, and 

 content, while the responsibility of their position leads them to 



1 Vide chap. xii. pp. 343 d sty. 



