PHEASANT REARING 85 



her of these, and does not plough to any considerable extent, 

 but alternates, letting them lie idle for a year to recover. 

 For three or four years, however, at first, when the land is 

 new, he finds he can use fields continuously if only a moder- 

 ate number of birds are kept on the land. He says that 

 after a time not so many birds can be kept upon the land as 

 when it was virgin soil. Insect life, moreover, becomes ex- 

 terminated, and it is important to give this time to recover. 



Control. To control the birds and keep them in pens he 

 trims slightly a wing of each, cutting back only three or four 

 primary quills. This is not enough to prevent flight, but 

 just enough to impede high flying, so that they do not get 

 over the fences. It has to be repeated every three weeks, 

 or up to about the first of November. The birds become 

 accustomed to catching, and are reasonably tame. By 

 erecting strips of wire mesh it is easy to steer them into 

 pens to catch them up. 



At Five Weeks. When they are about five weeks old he 

 combines two batches of about the same size and puts them 

 in a fresh field where there is good grass and insect life has 

 caught up. He uses only half the number of hens, about one 

 hen to thirty young. These do not then need brooding, but 

 the hens keep them more contented and lead them into 

 coops at night. Later he removes the hens. 



Other Details. In case a batch in some particular field 

 do not grow well or some die, he transfers them to fresh 

 ground, which gives them a new start. It is noteworthy 

 that certain ground, even though it may produce luxuriant 

 clover or other crops, is not so good for the birds as some 

 other land, apparently similar, nearby. Mr. Rogers showed 

 me some apparently fine plots, with splendid clover, on 

 which he said the birds, though they did not die, never grew 

 so fast or did so well. The cause may be the composition 



