288 PARTRIDGES 



a few minutes in order to stimulate their 

 interest in the proceedings, yet as a rule 

 they should be well on their way to 

 take up their position for the next drive 

 while picking up is still going on. Neglect 

 of this point often means waste of many 

 precious half-hours in an already short 

 enough day. 



8. Until the driving has been reduced 

 to a working system, owner and keeper 

 must hammer away at mastering the 

 rudiments of the business together ; the 

 former will have cheerfully to leave his 

 gun at home, resign his place in the line, 

 and personally supervise the driving and 

 the beaters, until it is clear that the 

 business is started on the right lines. 



If any one can honestly say that he 

 has given driving a fair and extended 

 trial, observing strictly these cardinal 

 rules, and still found it a failure, there 

 is fair reason to suppose that his ground 

 is not * drivable ' ; but a few casual essays 

 in a new and difficult practice warrant 

 no such off-hand conclusion. 



