Morning journal and courier., 1890-03-18
POACHING AS A FINE ART.
The Ways and Methods of English P0achers-A Curious Chapter in uR


 Rural History.
 From the London Spectator.l
 Poaching is one of the fine arts-how "6ne" only the initiated know; and the suc- cessful poacher is always specialist. He selects one kind of game, and his whole knowledge of woodcraft is directed against 1t. In autumn and winter the man who devotes himself to "fur" knows the whereabouts of every hare in the parish-not only the field in which 1t is, but the very clump of rushes in which is its "form." As puss goes away down the turnip rig he notes her every twist and double, and takes in the minutest de- tails. He Is careful to examine the 'smoots" and gates through which she passes, and these spots he always approaches laterally. He leaves no scent of hand nor priHt of foot, and does not disturb the herbage. All this with view to his silent work. After this 1t need hardly be said that the intelli- gent poacher is always a naturalist. The signs of wind and weather he knows, as it were, by heart, and this is essential to his silent trade. The rise and wane of the moon, the rain bringing tides, the local mi grations of birds-these and hundred other things are marked in his unwritten calendar. His out door life has made him quick and taught him much ready animal ingenuity. He has imbibed an immense amount of knowledge of the fields and woods; and he Is that one man in 8 thousand who has acou- racy of eye and judgment sufficient to inter- pret nature aright.
 In summer poachers make and repair their nets for winter use. Large hare nets are made for gates, smaller ones for rabbit bur- | rows and s'smoots." Partridge nets are also necessarily large, having sometimes to cover | half field. Although most of tine summer ! the poacher is practically idle, it is at this l time that he closely studies the life of the | fields and makes his observations for winter. | He gets occasional employment at hay or ! harvest, and for his darker winter profession treasures up what he sees. He is often in- trodueed to the heart of the land and misses | nothing when he gets the opportunity. In autumn he is engaged to cut down ash poles or to fell young woods, and this brings him to the covert. Nothing escapes his notice, and in the end his employers have to pay ants, partridge and grouse are breeding, and are therefore worthless; 50 with rabbits and hareg. But when game is Cont" fish are "in" He knows the 'deeps' where the fish | most congregate, and there throws in chlo- ride of lime. Soon the trout of the pool float belly uppermost and are lifted out, dazsd, in landing net. Many of the old poachers, however, discountenance this COW. ardly method, for by it, quite irrespective oi sizs, the destruction of fish Is wholesale The old hands rather prefer to use old fash- toned nets. To prevent this species of poach
 ing stakes are driven into the trout stream beds; but they are not of much avail | When it is known that ''reach' is staked third man wades behind the net and lift 1t over. The older generation of poachers l who have died or are fast dying out, seem te have taken the recipe of preparing salmon roe with them, for this once deadly bait if now rarely used.
 Every poacher knows that the difficulty lies not SO much in obtaining the game as iI transporting it safely homo. Their dogs art ! always trained to run on a couple of hun dred yards in advance, 30 as to give warning of any ones approach. If . police consta- ble or keeper is met on the highway the dog immediately leaps the fence. and under itt
 cover runs back to it's master. Seeing this
 the game bag is dropped into dry ditch and dog and man make off in different direc'
 tions. County constables loiter about un
 frequented lanes and bypaths at daybreak.
 The poachers know this and arc rarely met
 with game upon them. bitches, stacks and
 ricks afford good hiding places until women
 can be sent to fetch the spells. These fail
 ing, country carriers and early morning mill
 carts are useful to the poacher. In one
 sleepy village known to us both the postmar
 and parish clerk were poachers. The latter
 carried his game in the black bag which usu
 ally held the funeral pail. Tho smith at thu
 shoeing forge was @ regular receiver, ant
 there were few in the village who had no
 uoached at some time or other. The cottag
 women netted 6sh and shut their gardel
 gates on hares and rabbits when they cam
 down to feed in winter. Upon one occasion poacher, taking advantage of countr ; funeral, had himself and a large haul take i. 10 the nearest market town. the heaSse dii