SHOOTING IN NEW FOREST 251 



Of course, when the matter came under the 

 control of a Public Department, it was placed on 

 a business-like not to say commercial footing. 



A comprehensive code of rules was compiled, 

 in order to secure that the shooting should be 

 carried on somewhat on the lines which it was 

 formerly a point of honour to follow. 



A fee of 20 was fixed as the consideration, 

 with a " double licence" at 30, which enables 

 the shooter to take with him a friend staying 

 in his house. This is the pleasantest feature of 

 the new arrangement, and much appreciated by 

 various men who reside in the Forest, or near 

 it, but have no shooting of their own. 



This new arrangement brought in about 800 

 a year to the Treasury, and, I suppose, a change 

 of the kind had become inevitable. 



Obviously one result was that the Forest 

 became far more heavily shot over. People who 

 had planked down 20 for their shooting privilege 

 which extended to over 50,000 acres of rough 

 shooting not a bad bargain, as the market for 

 shooting properties goes were not likely to 

 forego a single item of what they considered to 

 be their right. But the pressure on the stock 

 of game was great; when I came on the scene 

 in 1880, I found the Forest very bare indeed. 

 There had been a bad year for rabbits the 



