PARTRIDGE DOGS. 43 



become so wild as to be unapproachable in the day time; the 

 poacher also easily netting them at night. When wheat 

 was reaped, and the stubble fields were left unploughed till 

 November, partridges might be shot in the stubbles as late as 

 the end of October; but these fields are now shorn so close 

 in " bagging" them, or are so soon broken up, that the sport 

 cannot be protracted beyond the middle of September. 

 Some of the finest lands in England for partridge shooting 

 are those parts of our downs which are under the plough ; 

 for they are mostly planted with turnips sufficiently to hold 

 birds, while at the same time the plants are not high enough 

 to prevent a dog finding birds in them. In spite of this, 

 however, it is now the fashion to dispense with the use of 

 the pointer, and beaters are employed in partridge preserves 

 as well as in covert, by those who take the lead in fashionable 

 shooting circles. Here the " bag" is considered all important, 

 and if by the aid of beaters, without dogs, two or three 

 extra brace of birds can be brought down, the latter are voted 

 useless, and the modern style of slaughter which is called sport 

 is adopted. Throughout the country many farms are to be 

 met with which have a certain proportion of light land 

 mixed with other which is not suited to barley or turnips, 

 and on such a good head of partridges can almost always be 

 reared. Here, also, the shooting is good, but as the pro- 

 portion of turnips is not great, and the fields planted with 

 them are consequently not very extensive, they will not hold 

 a very large number of birds for the gun in the middle of 

 the day. 



PARTRIDGE DOGS. 



The pointer is generally selected as the dog for this kind 

 of shooting, for the reasons which have been alluded to at 

 page 23. As before remarked, however, many sportsmen 

 now dispense with dogs altogether (excepting retrievers) ; 

 and some of the best shots in England, and possessing the 

 best manors, have not a pointer or setter in their kennels. 

 When the choice falls upon the pointer, there is still an 

 opportunity for selection among the various breeds of this 

 dog which are to be met with, and which show at one extreme 

 the heaviness of the old Spanish dog, and at the other almost 



