42 DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS. 



intoivst, l)u1 wliicli arc now ii)ii)()Ttaii1 since llicy fonii the basis of the 

 federal law. 



New interest will liereafter be given to the importance of securing 

 uniformity in game laws, and tlie advantages or defects of certain 

 State regulations will attract more attention than before. Some States 

 already have excellent game laws, while others are notably deficient 

 in this respect, especially in the matter of prolonging open seasons 

 into the spring. Nothing is more destructive to the game supply in 

 general tlian spring shooting. While it is perhaps impossible to fix 

 a uniform open season, as a general rule shooting should not begin 

 before September 1, nor extend beyond January 1. States which 

 under any pretext permit shooting before tlie 1st of September, or 

 after the 1st of January when the birds are gradually moving 

 toward their breeding grounds, are slowly but surely paving the 

 way for the destruction of their best game birds. So long as the sea- 

 sons are open the nmrkets remain open, and this permits the sale not 

 only of local game, but also of that imported from other States. And 

 if, as sometimes happens, the markets remain open after the seasons 

 close, a premium is placed upon the destruction of game in violation 

 of the local law or of the law of some other State. 



BELGIAN HARES. 



The Avidespread interest in Belgian hares has caused the receipt of 

 many inquiries concerning this new industry. Correspondents usually 

 ask for directions as to the care and breeding of the animals or 

 addresses of reliable persons in Europe from whom breeding stock can 

 be obtained. Many desire to know how to secure the exemption from 

 duty (under section 473 of the tariff act of 1897) j)rovided for other 

 pure-bred animals, an exemption which has not thus far been granted 

 in the case of liares. 



The Belgian hare is said to have been originally brought to America 

 by the late E. M. Hughes, of Albany, N. Y., about the year 1888. At 

 first it attracted little attention, but since its introduction at Denver, 

 Colo., in 1897, and at Los Angeles, Cal., a year later, its popularity 

 has l)een phenomenal. This popularity has been fostered by liberal 

 advertising. It is reported that in Los Angeles attention was first 

 called to the advantages of tlie animal by tlie i^iiblication of an illus- 

 trated article in a local paper in the winter of 1898. This was soon 

 followed by tlie importation of breeding stock from Denver and from 

 abroad, and animals were bred in such numbers in the city that the 

 raising of Belgian hares soon developed into an important "back-yard 

 industry." By the close of 1899 Los Angeles had become the chief 

 breeding j)lace in the United States, and it was estimated that the 

 number of Belgian hares in the State of California exceeded 50,000. 

 The industry has been still further fostered by the organization of 

 Belgian hare associations, by expositions held during the last three 

 years at Denver, Colorado Springs, Kansas City, San I^iego, and Los 

 Angeles, and by a reduction in express rates. Express companies for- 

 merly charged double merchandise rates for transportation, but on 

 July 1, 1899, reduced the tariff to a one-and-one-half rate, and on 

 August 18, 1899, to a single merchandise rate. 



The advantages claimed for the Belgian hare as a producer of meat 

 and fur lie chiefly in the rapidity with which it increases and the ease 

 and cheapness with which it may be raised. Breeding can be begun 

 at an early age (6 months is the best age, according to several writers), 



