SHOOTING THE PHEASANT 



of high feeding an enormous quantity of the corn in- 

 tended for the birds, and troublesome because it is very 

 difficult to trap or destroy them in any effectual way 

 without injury or alarm to your young birds. I have 

 seen them in scores along a ride calmly feeding with the 

 young pheasants. I can only suggest that the keepers, 

 combining with the farmers, should pay more attention 

 to ferreting and destroying them out of the stacks and 

 hedgerows during the autumn and winter months than 

 is commonly done. 



It will be observed how all these questions bring 

 us back to the same point — namely, the qualities of 

 your head keeper, and, through him, of his assistants. 

 He must in these difficult days intelligently interpret 

 and loyally carry out the liberality of your policy. He 

 must also observe that high-class game preserving is 

 nowadays an important industry and a valuable ac- 

 cessory and stimulus to trade, and that consequently 

 he must maintain sensible and friendly relations 

 towards those with whom his business brings him in 

 contact. 



The old-fashioned second-rate keeper, who was 

 like a survival of the private companies of men-at-arms 

 kept by the feudal barons, and as such was too often 

 a by-word for brutal and licentious conduct, and the 

 enemy of everybody for miles around, is quite played out. 



