138 LETTERS TO YOUNG SHOOTERS LETTER 



birds indeed, and you will not have many rabbits or 

 partridges to assist the game accounts. 



Woods near the centre of an estate, instead of 

 round its outside, are much in favour of keeping a 

 stock of pheasants. 



Oaks in the coverts, from the acorns they afford, 

 will also assist to keep pheasants at home, and the 

 natural food thus supplied will lessen the amount of 

 corn put down by hand, and hence reduce the cost of 

 feeding. 



If an estate is chiefly tillage (a grass country is 

 bad for pheasant preserving, and generally hopeless 

 for partridge shooting), and if the woods especially 

 are surrounded by barley, oat, and wheat fields, your 

 pheasants will not wander far from where they roost, 

 but will be found at home when wanted. Besides 

 which, the large quantity of food the birds pick up on 

 the stubbles you do not pay for will decrease your corn 

 bill considerably. 



Fir woods (though never equal to woods with a 

 variety of trees), when encompassed by grain fields, 

 are suitable for pheasants ; but if fir woods are sur- 

 rounded by grass, expenses are heavy, as the birds 

 will require feeding with a lavish hand, and even then 

 they will wander to a distance unless constantly driven 



