Game in Allotment Gardens, 1 75 



person or by proxy the keeper is very frequently seen 

 looking over the close-cropped hedge which sur- 

 rounds the spot, and now and then he takes a walk 

 up and down the narrow paths between the plots. 

 His dog sniffs about among the heaps of rubbish or 

 under the potato-vines. The men at work are 

 remarkably civil and courteous to the gentleman in 

 the velveteen jacket, who, on his side, is equally 

 chatty with them ; but both in their hearts know 

 very well the why and wherefore of this interest in 

 agriculture. Almost all kinds of game are attracted 

 by gardens, presupposing, of course, that they are 

 situated at a distance from houses, as these allotments 

 are. There is a supply of fresh, succulent, food of 

 various kinds : often too, after a large plot has been 

 worked for garden produce, the tenant will sow it for 

 barley or beans or oats, on the principle of rotation ; 

 and these small areas of grain have a singular fasci- 

 nation for pheasants, and hares linger in them. 

 ' Rabbits, if undisturbed, are particularly fond of 

 garden vegetables. In spring and early summer they 

 will make those short holes in which they bring forth 

 their young under the potato-vines, finding the soil 

 easy to work, dry, and the spot sheltered by the thick 

 green stems and leaves. Both rabbits and hares do 

 considerable damage if they are permitted the run of 



