VALUE OF MOORS WHEN LET FOR SHOOTLNG 259 



have referred to. There will, too, be increased 

 employment ; more gillies will be required, etc., and 

 consequently more money expended, and to be earned, 

 than can be obtained off a whole mountain which a 

 couple of shepherds and their dogs can farm. Then, 

 again, for at least six months in the year, every 

 shooting-lodge will require a staff of assistants, both 

 young and old. Forest land is useless for anything 

 but grazing ; and it has been known for years that 

 nothing pays on it save deer and grouse ; therefore, 

 the more numerous the shootings, the more people 

 will be in a position to obtain good wages, which will 

 enable them and their families to live comfortably 

 through the winter. Agitators, ' the curse of the 

 period,' endeavour to prove that the case is not so, 

 thereby seeking to feather their own nests at the 

 expense of the Highland crofter. 



When it is necessary to burn heather, the keepers 

 should be entrusted with the sole control of the opera- 

 tion, and no shepherd should ever be allowed to 

 interfere. I have known cases where the best portion 

 of the cover on moors has been destroyed through 

 careless burning, in high wind, of some of the best 

 ot our moors in Perth and Inverness. 



If the stock of sheep kept on a hill Is no larger than 

 such ground can well support, they will do no harm to 

 the grouse; but where the stock is excessive, the young 

 heather must suffer in consequence. If a keeper is 

 worth anything, he should be able to at once report 

 if the feeding for the grouse is suffering. Grouse object 

 to eat old heather if they can procure the young shoots; 

 nor can they be blamed for it, since the old heather is 

 fatal to them. Artificial manures, and washing of sheep 



