Having taken the shooting, the next best thing was to go and look at it.
The bulk of the grouse ground was in Banff, and extended over about 7000 acres, including 1000 acres adjoining, that we rented at £15 a year from a neighbouring proprietor.
In addition to the grouse ground there was about 3000 acres of rough hills, partly in gorse, bracken, broom, patches of heather, and rough pastures.
This rough ground carried a goodly number of grouse, beside snipe, golden plover, brown hares, and some few rabbits.
The low ground consisted of about 2000 acres of small arable farms prettily mixed up with the rough ground and the lower beats of the moorland.
There were enormous brown hares everywhere excepting on the higher grouse beats.
The moorland was full of grouse, and the heather splendid, but had not been sufficiently and judiciously burnt.
One hill side of about 1500 acres, nearly a fourth of the grouse ground, was deep old heather all in one patch, without a break in it.
It was frightfully dangerous in case of fire, as the whole would have swept away in one terrific blaze.
It was late in the season, but at once we put in two belts of burning, dividing it into four, and the next season burnt it properly in strips, improving the feeding and nesting ground.