88 DEER-STALKING 



the high green slopes and deep corries which we all 

 thought more suitable for their lords and masters. 

 But after a few years, and under the careful and wise 

 treatment to which it was subjected, the advantages of 

 the ground were discovered and appreciated by stags, 

 and it was here that the famous twenty-pointer of 

 1893 was killed. Nor has this desirable result been 

 accompanied by any corresponding deterioration in 

 the forest which is retained in my own hands. But 

 it is none the less puzzling. 



There are, of course, numerous minor points which 

 should receive consideration in determining whether 

 ground proposed to be afforested would prove suitable 

 for the purpose. Thus, if you get a high flat corrie 

 full of springs, nothing can be better, unless at the 

 bottom of the corrie you find a large flat moss 

 growing plenty of the spring bent or cotton grass 

 the earliest and most useful of all the grasses. This 

 is best of all, and such a moss will hold deer at all 

 times of the year. Deer are very fond of old natural 

 birch wood, even though trees may be gnarled and 

 decayed and few in number. The grass is generally 

 very sweet under them, and stags especially love to 

 have something to play with and rub their horns 

 against. Such situations, moreover, are generally well 

 sheltered. 



