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CHAPTER V 



GROUND, STOCK, AND POACHING 



IT is beginning to be generally understood that a 

 moor, whether English or Scotch, will not produce the 

 stock of grouse demanded by modern ideas, or to 

 satisfy appetites whetted by the experience of excep- 

 tional seasons and results, without due attention to the 

 management of the ground, and to the nourishment of 

 a healthy stock of birds. The old system of treat- 

 ing grouse entirely as fenc naturce, and trusting 

 them and the ground on which they breed to 

 the development of nature, may leave you always a 

 sprinkling of birds, but will not give you the stock you 

 have a right to expect after paying the high value 

 which such shooting now commands, nor satisfy the 

 requirements of your friends. Further, it is found 

 that however large the supply, the demand for these, 

 the best of all game birds for the table, increases pro- 

 portionately, and that it is possible to throw away 

 a great deal of good money and food supply by 



