The Place of the Ant An estate, famous since the
days of Elizabeth, was sold two years ago to a Government Department, who bought it (strangely enough, not for preservation, but as an investment, 'a land deal). The estate, though near London, was rich in game. The change in ownership and the encroachments of the town have put an end to organised farming. One of the better crops on the estate is the anthill. The place is a happy hunting ground for the green woodpecker, whose cheerful 'yafile sounds peculiarly hilarious in this local paradise. Preservation of game on the old scale is given up, but the keeper, who is a great observer, remains. One of his theories, based on considerable experience, is that the nurseries of ants are only placed on the south side of the ant-heap ; so when he is collecting grubs he slits the heap in half by an east and west cleavage, lifts the southern half into a sack and fills up the hole by levelling the northern half into the place. These sackfuls of bisected ant-hills have been sent off in lorry loads to famous partridge shoots, such as that at Six Mile Bottom ; and the verdict is that they have preserved the health and strength of the broods in a marvellous degree. More than this : there is in England but one scientific research or partridge farm, where a special study is made of the feeding habits and needs of the • species.' The ant is there considered virtually necessary for successful rearing.
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