58 TJie Course, the Cmnp, the Chase 



only grass. This is caused by burning " white ground " 

 when sheep are thick upon the moor. Black peaty soil 

 may be burned with impunity, for the heather will grow 

 again, but if " white ground," i.e. loam or gravel, is burned, 

 and sheep feed there, the grass will come up so 

 luxuriantly as to partially choke the young heather. 

 The sheep also being attracted by the grass keep nibbling 

 the young shoots of the heather, and the latter never 

 gets a chance of making any growth, so that it gradually 

 disappears. With the great fall in the value of wool, 

 sheep farming is not nearly so paying an industry as it 

 formerly was, and in some cases, where moors are 

 particularly favourable for grouse, the value of the 

 shooting may be double the rent of the sheep farm. It 

 is then wiser to make every effort to preserve the 

 shooting at its best rather than to sacrifice it for the 

 sheep, for the area of first-rate grouse ground is very 

 limited, and from various causes tends to diminish every 

 year. 



A very curious cross — at least it was believed to be 

 so — was one between a grouse and a hen, that lived with 

 the rest of the poultry at the farmer's house adjoining the 

 shooting lodge at Auchnafree. M'Diarmid, the farmer, 

 felt no doubt on the point, and called attention to the 

 fact that the bird carried its tail down like a grouse 

 instead of up like a hen, and it was very dark in colour. 

 It unfortunately got destroyed before attaining its full 

 growth, as we intended to present it to the York Museum. 



The blue hares were then so numerous that it was 

 necessary to resort to " driving " them to thin their 

 numbers, and most charming mixed bags we used to make. 

 The "stands" were generally on the highest tops, and 



