192 SHOOTING THE PHEASANT 



worse courses by taking away his character, but give 

 him the lesson which may be the turning point in his 

 hfe, and suit yourself with another man who can and 

 does produce adequate results. 



A large number of people, in this matter of rear- 

 ing game, as in so many other things, ruin their depen- 

 dants by their own carelessness, ignorance, or dislike 

 to taking any sort of trouble. They shoot their woods 

 lightly, spare the hens the second time over, and 

 leave an enormous stock of the latter at the end of 

 the season ; yet they are quite content when the next 

 year comes round to find only about half as many 

 pheasants to deal with as this number of hens ought 

 to have produced. 



For instance, one hundred hens are left in and 

 about a certain wood. Of these let us suppose ten to 

 die or turn out barren for some reason or other. The 

 remaining ninety, in a fair game country, should lay 

 fifteen eggs apiece as an average. This gives 1,350 

 eggs, of which, with good management, 1,000 should, 

 excepting in a very unfavourable year, be produced 

 for shooting purposes. Add to these the original 

 ninety and what wild cocks were left, say thirty — and 

 you find that when you go to shoot your wood there 

 should be 1,120 pheasants, more or less, to deal with. 

 If all goes well you ought to kill 650 or 700 of these 



