434 THE GROUSE IN HEALTH AND IN DISEASE 



and spring, hunt up his assistants and keep them employed, watch his 

 moor when poaching is probable, be at his master's command early and 

 late, and at the same time look after his traps, must be a man in the full 

 vigour of life. Hardy as the race of keepers is, the time must come when 

 retirement falls to the lot of even the most resolute. 



There is no objection to the head-keeper being a man of mature judgment and 

 of riper years. The very fact that he has reached a time of life when he 

 realises that he is unable to do all the work himself, will make him delegate 

 his command, and by increased attention to his subordinates see that the 

 work of all is efficiently carried out. For the under-keeper who has neither 

 the grit nor the brains to climb to the top of his profession a change to 

 some low - ground beat or to the gate - keeper's lodge will often quickly repay 

 the cost of transfer. 



There is some difference of opinion as to the number of under-keepers required 



for a given area of Grouse ground. Speaking generally, the Committee hold that 



many English moors, and most Scottish moors, are under -keepered. 



keepers This finding may not be readily accepted by the parsimonious, but a 



necessary. . . 



little study of the financial aspect may bring conviction. Ihere 

 are many moors of 6,000 to 10,000 acres in extent with one keeper in sole 

 charge. An area of this size can hardly be looked over every week, far less 

 trapped, burned, and watched by a single man. On many such moors even 

 one section of 1,000 acres, properly administered, may easily yield a permanent 

 increase of one hundred brace, which, if translated into money value, would 

 represent considerably more than the yearly wage of an under-keeper. 



The loss arising from bad or insufficient keepering is often not 



fully appreciated. A very small number of stoats or hooded crows do an 



amount of damage which would exceed the annual cost of an extra 



Dangers of . 



insufficient hand. If we realise that cases can be quoted where a single 

 pair of " hoodies " have been responsible for the destruction of a 

 hundred eggs, or where individual foxes and peregrines have killed a score 

 of paired birds (equivalent to the loss of fifty brace in the shooting season), 

 it is no exaggeration to say that on good Grouse ground adequate super- 

 vision must be obtained at any cost. It is difficult to lay down exactly 

 the extent of ground for which an under-keeper can be responsible. This 

 varies with the shape of the beat, the character of the ground, the stock 

 of birds, the quantity of vermin, the amount of night watching required, and 



