BY MANY HANDS 149 



Partridges ought to be fed in hard weather, principally 

 with wheat. Partridge-shooting, if possible, should end by 

 the second week of November. Of course, if possible, it is 

 good to leave a brace of birds to the acre for stock, but 

 practically one thinks the ground well stocked if you have 

 a brace to 3 or 4 acres. 



There is no doubt that too many old birds on a beat is 

 a very bad thing, and I believe the best thing to do is to 

 kill down your stock of old birds fairly well and re-stock 

 with Hungarians. 



Our best day at Welbeck was in 1906, when we killed 

 739 brace on the Blue Barn beat, some 1000 to 1200 acres in 

 extent, and of a light and sandy soil. That year the total 

 bag for this beat was 1669 partridges. Since then, owing 

 to the wet summers, we have only shot lightly, but there 

 is a good stock on the ground, and with a good breeding 

 season we ought to do as well as ever. 



PATSHULL, STAFFORDSHIRE 



(Notes by the Hon. G. LEGGE.) 



About 4000 acres, of which nearly 1000 is grass or 

 plantations. The rotation of crops is on a four years' 

 course, and barley is grown extensively. 



Ninety per cent of the birds nest in the hedgerows ; no 

 artificial nesting places are provided, though scattered 

 young plantations afford good nesting ground. 



I certainly believe in finding all nests possible, especially 

 in a fox country. They should be visited frequently until 

 the bird has been sitting for eight or ten days, after which 

 they should be seen every day ; then, if the bird has been 

 put off through any cause, the eggs can often be saved 

 before they get cold. They are then added to nests of 

 birds which have been sitting for same length of time, or, 

 failing them, put in the incubator, and, when hatched, 

 taken out and put to an old bird with young of the same 



