GROUND, STOCK, AND POACHING 207 
be the result. Yet in many places the shooting goes 
on exactly the same in good and bad seasons, without 
regard to the amount of stock on the ground. 
The question whether a large or only moderate 
stock should be left on the land is one which has 
divided the best authorities. In my humble opinion, 
there is no doubt that the verdict should be given in 
favour of maintaining always a large stock. I base 
this upon what I have actually seen on different 
estates, having noted that on those where the biggest 
bags are consistently made the ground is shot over 
lightly—practically only once in the season—every- 
thing, however, being done on that one occasion to 
realise heavily. 
I do not wish, not being fortunate enough to 
possess an estate of my own, to lay down the law on 
this point, especially as I have found a difference of 
opinion between two such undeniable authorities as 
Lord Walsingham! and Marlowe, the latter holding 
that you can hardly leave too large a stock. I quite 
agree that the moment disease appears you cannot do 
better than follow the example of Lord Leicester, and 
kill off every bird on the diseased ground. But the 
kind of disease here alluded to is rare, and has 
nothing to do with ‘the ordinary malady of gapes, 
' Badminton Library, Shooting, vol. i. p. 155. 
