98 SPORT IN EUROPE 



is found on the large properties with adjacent woodland, or, in some 

 cases, on the large wooded areas owned by the State 



Shooting on jj-^ j-j-^g north of Zealand or in Jutland. Besides the 



the Large 



Estates purely natural advantages afforded by the large estates, 



much is there done for the rearing and improvement of 



the game and for the suppression of poaching. On account of the 



very mild punishments fixed by the game laws, poachers are rather 



numerous, but most of them, and especially of those caught, are 



people who poach for pleasure rather than for a livelihood. The 



professional poacher, who is far more injurious and more difficult to 



catch, certainly exists, especially in places where the head of game 



is large and other conditions favourable, but the pecuniary result 



of his trade is often small. As remarked above, the penalties are 



very mild, and the game laws of Denmark suffer from the fact that 



the Danish Parliament is not concerned with sport, but only with 



party interests and general political matters. The result is often a 



democratic legislation, not in harmony with the interests of sport. 



Save in the deer parks, deer are found only where large and 



compact wooded areas, partly owned by the State 



and partly by private gentlemen, offer them sufficient 



room and shelter. 



Fallow deer are found in the wooded domains of the State in 



northern Zealand, as well as in the possession of private owners, 



_ whose woods and means are large enouQ-h to allow 



Fallow Deer. "= '^ 



such a luxury. That the red and fallow deer have 



been destroyed on many estates, and are now less numerous than of 



yore, is owing principally to the excessive culture of the ground, 



