PRACTICAL PHEASANT REARING. 



battue." I venture, therefore, to think, and " Stone- 

 henge" is kind enough to agree, that there is room 

 at the present moment for a small and inexpensive 

 treatise upon the subject, setting forth in the plainest 

 of language the many little dodges and wrinkles 

 which come by experience to those much interested 

 in the production and increase of that most noble of 

 our acclimatised game birds, " the Phasianus col- 

 chicus," or, as we call him in plain English, " the 

 pheasant." 



And here, as before long the accusation is sure to 

 be hurled at my devoted head, I had best confess 

 that, in giving to my readers the benefit of a some- 

 what extended experience in all that appertains unto 

 the pheasant, I am acting partially from motives of 

 self-interest, and for this reason : As the proprietor 

 of a large game farm, from which during the past few 

 years many thousands of pen-laid eggs have been 

 despatched to all parts of the British Islands, the 

 Continent, and even America, it has been impossible 

 to avoid observing the lamentable ignorance that too 

 often exists amongst the purchasers as to how to pro- 

 perly treat the eggs they have invested in. The silly 

 letters we constantly receive, the foolish questions 

 that are continually committed to paper, conclusively 

 prove that, although, of course, there are scores of 

 clever gamekeepers to whom the following advice 

 will be as A B C, there are more to whom it will be 

 beneficial ; and the adoption of a sound and well- 



