RED DEER 165 



for English deer parks is twenty stones for stags 

 and fourteen for hinds. In the Highlands of 

 Scotland the Deer do not often get so heavy. 



Much has been said of late years about the 

 deterioration of heads in the Highlands. No 

 doubt the chief cause of this is overstocking on 

 poor soil and killing the best stags without due 

 respect to future stock. Owners of Scotch forests 

 have introduced stags from English parks, nearly 

 always selecting Deer from parks where the heads 

 are exceptionally fine in hopes of breeding animals 

 with fine heads; but this is usually disappointing, 

 for big heads are produced on good land, and to 

 take Deer from a rich feeding park to a poverty- 

 stricken Scotch forest is sure to fail in the desired 

 result unless artificial feeding is resorted to, and 

 even this is not often a success. Change of blood 

 is a step in the right direction, but to get the 

 greatest success Deer must be brought from poor 

 1 and to better. Good Winter feeding is, no doubt, 

 an aid to the production of fine heads, but the 

 soil has most to do with it. 



Strange to say the span of life with Deer of both 

 species on poor land is longer than on rich soil. 



In some parks there may be seen a white or 

 cream-coloured variety of Red Deer. They are 

 quite as heavy and carry as fine heads as those of 

 normal colour. Whence this variety was derived 

 is uncertain; some say they are German and 



