HEATHER - BURNING 397 



(2) That the early spring food-supply is the index of the carrying capacity 



of a moor, and that therefore heather - burning must be so ordered 

 as to insure the maximum yield of food in February, March, April, 

 and May. 



(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 foregoing 

 conditions that obtain on many average if not model moors. 



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

 ing 10,000 acre moor in Scotland, on which one thousand to one 

 thousand five hundred brace are killed in a good average year, and area 

 on which two keepers and one or more watchers are maintained, the average 

 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 consideration 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 ^he 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 of burning is followed (i.e., burning in 



