STOCK 427 



both in the bags and in the stock, for the bags were increased 

 owing to the increased facilities for bringing the birds to the 

 gun, and the stock was improved owing to the possibility of 

 killing off the old and undesirable birds, and leaving the 

 younger and more vigorous to form a breeding stock. 



But once the system of Grouse driving had been fully 

 established the improvement came to an end. Moors whose 

 annual yield had been improved by several hundred per cent, 

 ceased to improve when they reached the higher level, for the 

 beneficial results of driving had been exhausted. The question 

 is very fully discussed by Mr Teasdale-Buckell in " The 

 Complete Shot." This writer draws attention to a condition 

 which he describes as one of " stagnation," which followed the 

 establishment of Grouse driving. The stocks on many moors 

 had been very much increased, it is true, but were no longer 

 increasing. He quotes the figures from various moors in 

 England in support of his argument, and gives examples of 

 moors in Scotland which have not been improved by the 

 introduction of driving. 1 



Mr Teasdale-Buckell seems inclined to think that on the 

 whole the records do not point to any great increase of stock 

 as a result of Grouse driving. He probably does not give 

 sufficient weight to the cases where it was followed by a very 

 marked improvement, for these cases occurred chiefly in 

 England as long ago as 1872 and 1873. He also does not 

 notice that while the introduction of driving in Scotland in 

 more recent years has not had such a marked effect, it has 

 proved an effective method of regulating the stock in " big " 

 years, and has tended to equalise, and, in the main, to raise 

 the average yield on those moors on which it has been given 

 a fair trial. 



There can be no doubt that driving has greatly increased 

 the stock of Grouse on practically every moor in England, as 

 may be seen by comparison of the records before and after 

 its introduction. On many moors in Yorkshire, where before 



1 "The Complete Shot," pp. 232-233. 



