184 THE KEEPERS BOOK 



duty, the butts suffer first ; after the butts, the springs 

 and the drains everything, in fact, that seems to the 

 lazy or half-stupid keeper to have little bearing on the 

 number of birds killed. 



(8) It has been suggested by some writers that the 

 heather should be burnt for some distance round the 

 butts, so that the birds may be found without difficulty 

 after the drive. The two great objections to this are 

 (a) That the butts would stand out more conspicuously 

 than when surrounded by heather ; and (6) the birds 

 are apt to be badly broken up in falling on to hard 

 ground only protected by burnt heather. 



The Drive 



There are general principles in regulating the dis- 

 position and movement of the drivers which may be 

 enumerated : 



(1) Where men are easily obtainable and it is pro- 

 posed to carry out the drive in as complete and elaborate 

 a manner as possible, two companies of drivers should 

 be employed, one taking up their position at the far end 

 of the second drive, ready to come forward as soon as 

 the first drive is over, and the birds are picked up. 



(2) In a first-rate drive there should be sixteen 

 to twenty drivers, the best men being on the flanks. 

 The centre man of the horseshoe should also be an 

 experienced man, while, to save expense, the main 

 curve of the horseshoe may be made up of intelligent 

 boys. 



