^—^^^ 



gratis from state gaiiie farms. One instanee of this has been brought to 

 my notice by Mr. W. S. French, Secretary of the Utica, New York, Fisli 

 and Game Protective Association. This organization has for the past two 

 or three years contracted with a selected hst of farmers in the neighbor- 

 hood of Utica to rear a stipulated number of birds in the way indicated. 

 It has been found that the farmers' wives take particular interest in 

 this work and they doubtless use it as a pin money producer. The orig- 

 inal rate of pay was $1 a bird but the club found it could not afford this 

 and cut the price in half. This did not furnish enough incentive to the 

 breeder. Mr. French expresses the opinion that seventy-five cents a bird 

 would furnish the proper incentive and at the same time be within the 

 means of the average sportsmen's organization. This is a branch of 

 pheasant rearing that may contain the germ of large expansion in the future 

 and its course will be watched with interest. 



The Utica Association, Mr. French states, has placed about 500 eggs 

 a year with farmers in the neighborhood, some of them undertaking the 

 work gratuitously. From fifteen to seventeen eggs are placed under each 

 hen and birds that survive till August 1 are paid for. "While the associa- 

 tion's contract calls for the delivery of birds to it, this is seldom done from 

 the fact that the eggs are given out to farmers whose lands constitute espe- 

 cially good cover, and the birds in most instances are simply permitted 

 gradually to establish themselves in this as they get old enough. This 

 practice has resulted in making the farmer who rears birds solicitous for 

 their protection. The work done by the Utica Association so far has been 

 under absolute protection. It will be interesting to see how far its scheme 

 will go toward providing sufficient sport when an open season is declared 

 on the birds. 



EGGS IN DEMAND. — Eggs of the pheasant for hatching purposes 

 are in good demand during April and early May. At this time reliable 

 dealers obtain approximately $3.50 to $4 a clutch of 15, and $25 a hundred. 

 As the breeding season progresses, the price of eggs declines, of course. 

 There are few breeders, indeed, who will part with early-laid eggs at any 

 price, so that the man who depends on the purchase of eggs for breeding 

 purposes is not likely to get the best quality. Mr. Duncan Dunn, superin- 

 tendent of the New Jersey State Game Farm, states that in the course of a 

 single year when he was head game keeper at Tranquillity Farms, the New 

 Jersey estate of the late Rutherfurd Stuyvesant, he received inquiries for 

 more than 30,000 eggs. 



NEW YORK FORBIDS IMPORTATION OF BIRDS FOR FOOD. 



— A decided handicap to the breeding of all game birds exists in the fact 

 that New York forbids the importation of hand-reared birds from other 



