POACHERS DOGS, AND HOW TO KILL THEM. 227 



them in the field or woods so as to make the 

 dog commit suicide, but the same drawback 

 applies to this as well as the doses — a fox may 

 get killed as well as a poacher's dog. It is far 

 better to set them merely as alarm guns, and 

 not load them with shot at all, as a man might 

 possibly get entangled in them. 



A great thing in preserving hares is to keep 

 your covers quiet, and not shoot and hunt 

 them continually, thus disturbing the hares. 

 Some keepers cannot make out how it is they 

 have so few hares in their woods, although 

 they are well looked after. John Lawrence, 

 of the Brick Kiln, is as good a keeper to 

 ' look out ' as you can well have, as anyone 

 who knows him will tell you, and yet he hasn't 

 many hares. This is because he is always 

 pottering about and disturbing his hares, so 

 they shift to some other run, where they can 

 lay quiet, and do lay quiet. 



This is a very important point in preserving 

 hares : you may drive the game clean off your 

 estate simply by disturbing them frequently. 

 Say you have a plantation an acre and a half 



