n8 TEN YEARS OF GAME-KEEPING 



of chloroform to two shillings' worth of best linseed 

 oil. Of course, there is no cure for the broken-leg 

 stage of cramp, but I have proved that the following 

 treatment, if used when the first signs of lameness 

 appear, will check an outbreak of cramp : Boil 

 Cayenne pepper with rice about enough of the 

 pepper to allow a grain of it to a grain of rice. 

 Give a liberal allowance of rice so treated for a 

 few feeds. It is curious to note that the sprinkling 

 of raw Cayenne on the bird's food does not do 

 any good. It is something in the boiling that 

 works the charm. 



Some people who had taken a shoot next to 

 the one I was on came down one July day to 

 inspect their hand-reared pheasants. All had gone 

 well, and the keeper looked forward with genuine 

 pleasure to showing them his birds. The ' gents/ 

 however, did not say much beyond ' Yes-yes ' and 

 * Just so ' in answer to the keeper's hints for some 

 appreciative expression. Nor did the keeper under- 

 stand the reason till he heard one of the ' gents ' 

 say to another that he thought the birds were 

 'nice and numerous, but that their tails were 

 absurdly short for pheasants.' 



If there is any other game to be considered, it 

 is most unsatisfactory for a keeper to be ordered 

 to rear fewer birds than he can manage con- 

 veniently. A few birds are just as much a tie to 

 him as many ; he has * got to be there ' just the 



