118 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 ] 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 rzar fewer birds than he can manage con- 
venizntly. A few birds are just as much a tie to 
him as many; he has ‘got to be there’ just the 
