116 PARTRIDGES 



In my own opinion, rearing partridges 

 by hand where soil and local conditions 

 are favourable to the wild birds must 

 always even on a small scale after a 

 succession of bad seasons be a short- 

 sighted policy, eventually defeating its 

 own ends. For while it certainly pro- 

 duces an increased number of birds for 

 the one year, at the same time a number 

 of birds, unlikely to make good parents 

 in the future and unduly susceptible to 

 disease, are turned out to lower the 

 standard of the whole stock. 



It would seem that the same rule 

 applies to partridges as to pheasants rear 

 once and you are committed to rear 

 always. If the truth of this be allowed, 

 the profitable adoption of hand-rearing 

 for partridges is limited to estates where 

 a cold clay soil, a strict preservation of 

 foxes, or other untoward local circum- 

 stances make it hopeless to look for any 

 number of partridges under natural con- 

 ditions. Here if 1000 eggs be bought 

 every year, and 60 to 70 per cent hatched 



