PRESERVATION 129 



the French system, is simply waste of 

 money. 



In the present state of agriculture 

 more land passes out of cultivation every 

 year, and farms which once carried a fine 

 head of game soon become useless for 

 purposes of sport when laid down in grass. 

 The fact that the occasional covey met 

 with on grazing land is almost always a 

 peculiarly large and strong one would 

 seem to show that partridges can do well 

 enough on grass if they like, but no in- 

 ducement will persuade them to stay in 

 any appreciable numbers where the land 

 is unbroken. 



The only way to keep up a respectable 

 stock under these conditions is to plough 

 a certain proportion of the land about 

 10 acres to every 200 acres of grass is 

 sufficient and grow some cereal crop 

 for the exclusive benefit of the game. 

 Where fields run large, the cost of fencing 

 these patches is a serious consideration, 

 otherwise the whole expense of ploughing, 

 harrowing, sowing, and paying compensa- 



