THE KEEPER'S GARDEN 9 



do their work. Or two keepers would combine to 

 defraud the hunt. One would show a litter and 

 pocket his sovereign, then shift the litter to the pre- 

 serves of his friend, who in turn would call in the 

 huntsman and pocket his reward, then return the 

 cubs whence they came ; and so the game would go on. 

 Luck plays a great part in this matter of fox-rewards. 

 It often happens that foxes which have been harboured 

 honestly by one keeper are found in the preserves of 

 another who is a vulpicide, yet is not above accepting 

 the reward which really is the due of his scrupulous 

 friend in the next parish. How to show foxes to 

 the hunt and pheasants to a shooting party is the 

 prickliest of all the manifold problems of the game- 

 keeper's life. 



The gamekeeper, like many a countryman, would 



be at a loss without his garden. His little plot of 



land means much to him : green food for 



The his table, tonic foods for his pheasants, and 



Keepers , , . .. . . 



Garden a P lace where, by digging, he may bury 



some of his cares. He knows no such exer- 

 cise as digging for keeping away ill-humours. He 

 believes that the more a man sows the more he will 

 reap it is a lesson daily brought home to him. So 

 he puts his best work into his garden, which is often 

 the model plot of a rural community. In March he 

 divides his time between spade work and his never- 

 ending war on vermin. If he has a pen of stock 



