THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
on examination, not to have themselves tried it, and to have 
based their opinion either on general reasons or second-hand 
information. 
(7) That on 95 per cent of the moors in England on which autumn 
burning had been tried, the practice had been continued with the 
full sanction and approval of the farmers interested. 
(8) That at least 75 per cent of the larger moors examined are in- 
sufficiently burned, and that in many cases an extension of the 
burning period would enable a larger stock of both sheep and 
grouse to be maintained. 
(9) That autumn burning is necessary in the interests of the health 
of the grouse and sheep, and that legislation in Scotland, making 
it permissible to burn after October 1 should be introduced into 
Parliament without delay. 
The sheep farmers were consulted on this question very thoroughly, 
and they drew attention to the following additional points : 
(1) That where heather is allowed to grow too old, there is a danger 
of its place being taken by bracken after burning, whereas if the 
heather is burned young, the fresh growth has more vitality, 
and usually defeats the bracken. 
(2) That old heather is undesirable, because after burning many 
“barrens” or bare sticks are left, which tear the wool off the 
sheep’s bellies. 
(3) That sheep farmers prefer the heather to be burned in large patches 
— ^because otherwise a large enough area is not burned each year ; 
but that they have no objection to the heather being burned in 
strips and patches provided the total area burned reaches the 
full proportion of the moor. This proportion was estimated from 
one -ninth to one -twelfth of the moor. 
As things are at present, on the majority of moors nothing like the 
right proportion is annually burned. In the few days available, generally 
estimated at ten full days or twenty half days per year, it would take a 
very large number of men to burn say 1,000 acres of a 15,000 acre moor, 
and the first expense is likely to deter many owners. But as regards 
this financial side of the question, this first cost would soon be more 
than recouped by the increased yield of both grouse and sheep, and 
therefore the rents obtainable — and once the old stick heather has been 
got rid of, it is much easier to burn twelve or fifteen years* growth. 
84 
