100 THE GROUSE 



then came an interval for rest and tobacco, 

 while as often as not the fire romped over 

 and ruined some nice patches of young 

 succulent heather of only two or three 

 years' growth. This, it must be admitted, 

 is a picture of the past rather than the 

 present, for nowadays both gamekeepers 

 and shepherds are more alive to the fact 

 that both grouse and sheep, and deer also, 

 it may be added, should have heather of 

 the same quality, and in a regularised 

 supply. 



Very great importance is now attached 

 to the size, shape, and frequency of the 

 areas burnt. In former times large fires 

 were common, and thought necessary 

 indeed for grazing purposes at least. It 

 would be making a hazard to say that 

 there are not some survivals of this view 

 among pastoral farmers, at least, who 

 count anything under sixty to a hundred 

 acres in one place as insufficient and of 

 little use. But there has been a great 

 conversion even among them to the belief, 

 confirmed by observation, and now all but 



