RELATION TO HEATHER 101 



universal among those interested in sport, 

 that the system of burning in narrow 

 strips or in numerous small patches, in 

 no case exceeding ten acres, and if only 

 half that size so much the better, the 

 total area burnt being, of course, not 

 reduced, is the much better way. Some 

 sportsmen have a decided preference to 

 irregular patchy burning over straight- 

 edged strips. As one writer puts it : — 



Neither grouse nor sheep have any clear 

 conception of mathematics, and a great waste of 

 time and labour is caused by burning heather in 

 even lines. Straight edges afford certainly poor 

 shelter in wild weather to broods of young birds. 



The following observations by a lifetime 

 observer may also be quoted : — 



The smaller and more numerous the patches 

 of heather burnt the better. This applies to 

 both sheep and forest ground. The burning of 

 large patches should be put down with a firm 

 hand, except in the case of ground that has been 

 neglected when wholesale burning of old and 

 useless heather is the shortest road to a better 

 state of things ; and as the young heather comes 

 on, it should be broken up into smaller patches, 

 and brought into a regular rotation. The object 



