VALUE OF GROUSE SHOOTINGS IN GREAT BRITAIN 501 



proportion of heather is an advantage on all sheep farms. Whether the ground 

 which naturally goes back to green ground after burning is more profitably 

 occupied by sheep, or by sheep and Grouse, is a matter which is outside the 

 scope of this Inquiry, and each proprieter must decide the question for himself. 

 If, however, the landowner does wjsh to keep both sheep and Grouse on his 

 moor, he must make up his mind to one of two alternatives, either to reduce 

 his sheep stock to such a limit as will enable the heather to grow after burning, 

 or to fence temporarily blocks of newly-burned ground. 



On the subject of a stock controlled within reasonable limits, very interest- 

 ing facts have come to the notice of the Committee, and without entering too 

 far into the theory and practice of sheep farming, they feel they Control of 

 have got enough evidence to satisfy themselves that not a few s heep sheepstock- 

 runs, especially those occupied by a joint stock ("storting" or common grazing), 

 would be benefited rather than injured by close control. 



Cases have come under the observation of the Committee, in which lessees 

 of Grouse moors have leased the grazing rights in order to regulate the sheep 

 stock, with the result that not only was the yield of Grouse increased, but 

 also a marked improvement was effected in the health of the sheep stock. 



As an alternative to placing a limit on the stock, a practice has been adopted 

 in certain districts in the south of Scotland, of devoting a separate farm or 

 grazing to the ewe "hoggs" and "gimmers" before drafting theni (( 

 into the breeding flock. This class of young sheep, like feeding 

 wethers, is much less hard on heather than ewes, and there is evidence to show 

 that ground devoted to " hogging," will produce much more heather than 

 precisely similar ground carrying a ewe stock. The practice may be tried as 

 a palliative when the heather shows indications of dying out, but it is doubtful 

 whether "hogging" is possible except on the larger sheep farms of the Borders. 



On the subject of fencing newly-burned ground, a good many interesting 

 experiments have been investigated by the Committee. The exact number 

 of years for which it is necessary to fence areas of burned ground, and p enc ; n g 

 the size of the patches which it is advisable to enclose (so as to burntareas> 

 keep down expense in fencing, and at the same time not to cut off too large 

 a proportion of the moor from sheep), must be suited to local circumstances. 

 On an average area of hard moor ground where heather of not over twenty 

 years has been burned, three years' enclosure from sheep is sufficient to get 

 the heather seedlings fairly established. In the case of grassy ground, especially 



