PARTRIDGE REARING 
no reason why, with careful management and good keepering, a satis- 
factory result should not be obtained, both by walking up or driving. 
Of course the larger the area the easier it will be to plan the beats, the 
direction and strength of the wind not being quite so important a factor. 
Where the soil is light and fields large, one man can look after 2000 acres 
of partridge ground, and this may be divided into two beats. Where the 
soil is heavy, the fields small, 1200 acres is about as much as one man 
can look after properly, and this acreage may be divided into two beats. 
If fences are scarce or bad, it is wise to plant belts of gorse, broom, 
and larch. These will come in very useful for nesting purposes, and when 
they have grown up, of course they will be splendid to drive over. 
In counties such as certain parts of Kent, where fences are almost 
non-existent, the best plan is to put up hurdles, permanently if possible, 
in the form of a wide V reversed, filling up the interstices with 
bracken, reeds, or gorse, being careful not to make these “ hides ” too 
high. Many a short or moderate -sized man has found it impossible to shoot 
over these improvised shelters, they should therefore be not much over 
four feet in height. A man can then sit on his shooting seat well out of 
sight of an approaching covey until it is within range, and then rise 
quietly and get off both barrels in front. In many cases, in my experience, 
the hurdle butts have been made so thick and high that it has been 
almost impossible to see over them, or to shoot with any sort of comfort; 
the consequence has been that the guns have been obliged to look round 
the corner, and show themselves to coveys coming at an angle, very likely 
turning them back over the drivers’ heads. 
(2) A good healthy stock is, of course, most important. It is not a 
wise plan to give a jubilee year, i.e., not to touch the ground at all in a 
bad season — by this means too many old birds are left, and it is well 
known that old birds require larger areas of ground for nesting operations 
than do young pairs. It would therefore be better in a really bad year 
either to walk the ground over in the first week of September with some 
active and reliable guns, killing only the old birds as they rise out of the 
roots or other covert, leaving what young birds there are to pack together 
and form a good healthy mixed-up breeding stock for the following 
season. Or, if this cannot be done, to drive the ground as early as possible, 
and ask the guns to confine their attentions to pairs, and threes, or fours, 
which will generally consist of old birds. If this latter plan be carried out, 
and birds are fairly numerous, it would be advisable to have one or two 
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