106 



^^ 



is estimating approximately a 75 per cent, hatch. As the pheasant hens 

 would almost undoubtedly lay 1,500 eggs in excess of the number needed 

 for incubation, the sale of these has been included as one of the sources of 

 profit in the year's work. 



After several years of breeding, the covers of the various estates form- 

 ing the preserve would become well-stocked with wild birds, but it would 

 always be necessary to rear a considerable number if they were to be well 

 shot over each year. 



It is assumed in the above that the Clove Valley Club plan of jolant- 

 ing birds in covers would be followed and in this connection it is well to 

 emphasize the importance of having fences and hedge-rows with sufficient 

 cover about them to hold the birds when they are shot over a dog. The 

 present-day tendency to keep fence rows clear of all growths has much to 

 do with the scarcity of game, and cover such as this is just as necessary 

 for pheasants as for quail. 



The New York law specifies that pheasants reared under authority 

 of a breeder's license may be killed at any time in any manner, if reared 

 on a wholly enclosed preserve or entire island owned or leased by the 

 breeder. The scheme suggested above seems to come well within these 

 provisions. The breeding would be done under a license issued to the 

 club that would be formed and the birds that w ere reared w ould be planted 

 in the covers of the various estates of the members of the clubs, the shoot- 

 ing rights on which would have been leased to the club for a nominal sum. 

 A wholly enclosed preserve is defined in the New York Conservation law 

 as follows: 



"WHOLLY ENCLOSED LANDS" DEFINED.— "Where 

 lands are referred to as 'enclosed' or 'wholly enclosed,' the boundary 

 may be indicated by wire, ditch, hedge, fence, road, highway, w\ater 

 or by any feasible or distinctive manner which indicates a separa- 

 tion from the surrounding contiguous territory, except as otherwise 

 provided." 

 In forming a club, it would be necessary or, at least, highly advisable 

 to post at intervals of fifty yards or less around the boundaries of such 

 lands as it was proposed to shoot upon, a sign reading as follows : 



"Trespassing, shooting or fishing on this ivholly enclosed pre- 

 serve is prohibited under penalty of the law." — Game Protective 

 Association. 

 This is the sign used by the Clove Valley Club. It is showni in the 

 illustration in Figure 21. Paraffined paper has been found a durable and 

 inexpensive material for signs of this character. They are tacked to a 

 board, as will be seen from the illustration. x\s previously stated, the 



