NOVEMBER 253 



of a breeder of horses and cattle who killed every good 

 animal he bred, and only kept the trash 1 And yet this is 

 just the way most Scottish forests are managed.' 



Unluckily, it would be almost as practicable to alter 

 the climatic conditions of the Highlands as to estab- 

 lish a rational and provident system of deer-stalking. 

 Very few owners of forests are able to keep them for 

 their own sport ; the great majority of forests are hired 

 by strangers who have no permanent interest in them, 

 and naturally wish to carry away as many good heads 

 as possible in token of their prowess. Emulation is a 

 fair element in all field sports is, indeed, inseparable 

 from the spirit of them but so soon as it is allowed 

 to degenerate into competition, the blight of record- 

 breaking sets in, prevailing over sportsmanlike forbear- 

 ance alike in stalkers and in those put under their 

 guidance on the hill. 



At the present time of writing the conditions affect- 

 ing ownership alike of deer forests and deer parks have 

 been profoundly affected by the Great War. The para- 

 mount interest of food supply has been brought home to 

 us more urgently than ever before in the history of the 

 United Kingdom, and every other interest must yield 

 to the necessity of turning land to the best account. 

 First, as to deer forests : it is doubtful whether much 

 of the land now cleared for deer is capable of producing 

 more meat from sheep or cattle than it might be made 

 to do under deer. There is no more nourishing and 

 palatable flesh than that of red hinds and fallow does 

 in winter, or of stags and bucks in summer, yet it is 

 practically unsaleable. It is difficult to account for 



