246 SHOOTING THE PARTRIDGE 



is probably better that it should be so. But the 

 means of the man who cither owns or rents sporting 

 property need only be ample in proportion to the 

 amount of land he has rights over, the number of 

 men he employs, or of farmers and labourers he has 

 to deal with. As remarked before, shooting is 

 becoming daily more of a luxury, but luckily it is 

 more universally popular, and therefore more widely 

 demanded than ever. 



It naturally follows that it commands a more 

 certain price. It is eagerly sought and handsomely 

 paid for by all sorts and conditions of self-made and 

 hard-worked men. It is no longer the exclusive 

 privilege of aristocratic landowners of ancient family 

 and their friends or connections ; and it grows more 

 certain every day that the impoverished owner of a 

 purely agricultural estate, who has, after paying all 

 charges, to live upon the slender balance which may 

 remain, cannot afford it. This may be sad, but it is 

 true. The successful lawyer, doctor, stockbroker, or 

 ' business man,' of whatever shade of politics, seeks 

 nowadays the relaxation and distraction which his 

 hard-worked brain requires in shooting or fishing. 

 He comes into the market with his store of hard-won 

 guineas, hires the land from the family of long 

 descent, looks upon the whole thing as a luxury he 



