3 Introductory. 



mystery as surrounding his calling, in the present day 

 nothing but sheer efficiency in every detail and branch of 

 his business commands patronage. Without this he cannot 

 prove successful. In the same way, unless the preserver 

 be intimately acquainted with every point which leads to 

 success, he cannot expect to be properly served. It is, 

 however, abundantly true that to the latter-day preserver 

 there is very little unknown in connection with the details 

 of the work, and he is able to exercise a salutary super- 

 vision over his servant and his servant's doings. Thus it 

 is that in modern game-preserving the owner of the estate 

 and his keeper are inseparably interested. 



Obviously, no particular and precise system is applicable 

 to every estate. It is in the application of general 

 principles to peculiar circumstances that successful results 

 can accrue. They require modification here, amplification 

 there ; but in any case they require working out from start 

 to finish with a full knowledge of each individual require- 

 ment. To be able to accomplish this successfully, the 

 game-preserver, whether in himself or his keeper, must be 

 thoroughly intimate with the life-history, the necessities 

 of food, protection, and shelter, of each and all of the 

 birds and animals that come under his charge. He must 

 know how to foster them, guard them against natural 

 enemies, against disease, and inclemencies of weather. 

 Not only must he know what to do, but when to do it, and 

 be able to employ an intelligent anticipation of coming 

 events in the application of the very numerous resources 

 which are nowadays at his command. Partial knowledge, 

 the inability to link cause with effect, and the lack of 

 means or power to remedy or to prevent evil when it 

 threatens, are bound to lead to failure, and failure in one 

 direction begets it in others, and, with that, great and 

 increasing expense. 



B 2 



