PHEASANT REARING 89 



acquired from time to time. From the standpoint of pleas- 

 ure and recreation it is less arduous to have a rather small 

 stock, and, after learning methods from ring-necks, to try- 

 different varieties. 



An Industry. Pheasant raising can also be made a source 

 of profit. It is a pleasant way for young people to make a 

 little money on the side by raising a few game-birds or 

 waterfowl. With hardly any expense, on the average farm, 

 a boy could have a few broods of pheasants roaming around 

 and growing up. What little work there is will seem more 

 like sport, and the watchfulness required is good training. 

 After buying the original breeding-stock, the expense is very 

 light. Little apparatus is required, and the birds are small 

 eaters. Ring-neck stock will probably cost $5 to $6 per 

 pair in the late fall. A cock and four hens, say, might cost 

 from $10 to $15. These should lay at the very least 120 

 eggs, which are worth usually 25 cents each, or more than 

 double the cost of the original stock. If even a moderate 

 number of young are reared and sold, the undertaking 

 would considerably more than pay. Wallace Evans began 

 pheasant raising as a boy, and was so successful that it grew 

 into a large industry. 



The demand for live pheasants from the many that are 

 beginning to breed them is so great that there is an almost 

 unlimited market at present for them alive. When this 

 demand is finally met, there is still an enormous field for sale 

 for food purposes as wild game. It should be carefully con- 

 sidered that it is just as proper to sell or eat wild species as 

 domesticated ones when this product is the result of one's 

 own industry, and also that such work is directly an aid to 

 the increase and protection of wild life. Propagators of 

 wild game are not only hberating more or less of it to in- 

 crease the natural supply, but personal interest impels them 



