THE CHASE OF A HIND. 127 



not a little to the health and strength, and conse- 

 quently to the fertility, of the hinds. It may be true, 

 that at one time when corn was at what would now 

 be considered famine prices, there was more land 

 under corn than there is at present. The period of 

 harvest, however, was not appreciably longer, so that 

 there was not really more corn for the deer to eat, 

 while at this period, as far as the rough hill farms 

 are concerned, the turnip was an unknown crop, 

 and the deer are far more dependent on their turnips, 

 which are eaten later in the season, than they are 

 on their corn for their winter reserve of strength. 

 It is now the practice, as has been told elsewhere, 

 to bring almost the whole of the sheep into the 

 ingrounds for the winter, and consequently there 

 are fewer mouths to compete for the scanty herbage 

 on the moors and commons where the deer mostly 

 lie, than when the sheep were allowed to run out 

 for years and look after themselves. 



