The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-01-06
pARrR1DaE REARING IN ENGLAND.

assisting nature on partridge manor
and of these still fewer have been
tried with any success in England,
says writer in the London Times.
1t is safe to lay down as general
! rule that the very essence of success
with partridges lies in employing
good keeper and killing down the
vermin. Without these essentials
any money spent on exploiting new
systems is SO much thrown away
with them a good deal can no doubt
be done. The increased bags made
in the last few years on many estates
are to be attributed far more to in
creased attention than to the intro
duction of driving, purchase of Hun
garian birds, or any ofthe other much
talked of factors of success.
Partridges are sometimes hatcned
and reared under hens in the same
way as pneasant = Fhi5 cam how
ever, only be done successfully or OH
a large scale where the soil is part1c-
ularly suitable, and where there are
large quantities of ant heaps which
can be dug up to provide the young
birds with natural food. Even where
a large quantity have been success
fully reared they are apt to remain
together in one large pack, and are
almost impossible to break up and
bring forward in series of drives.
The French method of inducing
birds to pair and lay in captivity was
much talked of some few years ago,
and was tried on certain number OF
estates. Recently very little has
been heard ofit-which would hardly
have been the case if it had met with
even partial success. The results IN
every case appear to have been tail
ure in greater or less degree; and
from the reports of few enthusiasts
who have been to France to see how
it is done it would seem that even
there it is usually carried out on quite
a small scale, more as hobby than
ANYTHING else, and entails an amount
of trouble which is out of proportion
to the results.
MANY owners and lessees OF part
ridge manors have been looking for
ward to the present season to show
the result of the introduction OF the
"Euston system" This method OF
raising partridges may be very briefly
described as follows: The eggs are
collected as they are hatched and are
replaced by rotten partridges' eggs,
pheasants' eggs, or limitations suttl-
GENTLY realistic to deceive the parent
bird. They are incubated under hens
until Just ready to hatch, when they
are replaced in the nest under the old
bird, which matches them of in a few
hours and runs off with ready made
covey. The dangerous period, OF in
cubation, during which the partridge
is exposed to various risks from stray
dogs, foxes and vermin, is under this
system reduced to a minimum, and
even if the nest is destroyed while
/ fll9d with u6stiIufed eggs the real
eggs are safe and can be Used to make
up another nest.
There is another plan SO Hmpk
that it can hardly be dignifed byvde
name of system, which has been
tried with great success for some sea-
sons on estates where foxes are plenti-
full. 1t consists in placing wire net
ing around the nest sufficiently large
in mesh to allow the old bird to get
through and yet small enough to keep
large vermin out. The netting used
is the ordinary sheep netting with a
four inch mesh. About ten yards of
netting are required for each nest,
making a circle with a ten foot diam
4 eter, sufficiently large for the bird to
remain undisturbed by fox or dog
outside the wire. This is an import
ant consideration, as if the bird is
suddenly disturbed and hits the wire
in flying off her nest she will prob
ably desert. The wire is put around
when the hen is laying, and she ap-
parently soon becomes accustomed tc
walking through the meshes in get
| ting Oh duQ Oll Tic uCSt. SOhiS A~~P
ers put the wire down some distance
from the nest and gradually bring il
closer, but this seems quite unneces-
sary.
The obvious objection to this plar
is the assistance it gives to egg steal.
ers. In ordinary circumstances the
egg stealer has to work by day anc
runs considerable risk of capture, but
where the nests are plainly located
by wire netting there is nothing tc
prevent him from working with &
lantern by night. In practice the
eggs have not been taken, and the
poacher may consider that all egg
SO protected are being kept under OBJ
servation aud are possibly marked
with the owner name in invisible ink
This was actually done in one cas-
which was reported in the papers thi
year and effectually disposed of th'
defence put forward that the egg
came off a small farm in the prisoner
occupation. In many districts wher'
footpaths are numerous there woult
r be worse danger from the curiosity o
. women and children and this con
stitutes the great objection to tn
plan, which is we'll worth trying from
. every other point of view.