CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 



12^ 



BREEDING DEER FOR THEIR HORNS. 



The following extract from a letter by 

 Frank N. Meyer, Agricultural Explorer, 

 Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Intro- 

 duction, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 to his chief, dated Omsk, Siberia, July 17, 

 1911, which appeared in the Journal of 

 Heredity for February, 1915, describes a 

 remarkable industry now thriving in 

 Siberia : 



In Birel we stopped witli a farmer who 

 had become a wealthy man through the 

 sale of stag antlers, and saw how the 

 women folks were boiling several magnifi- 

 cent pairs. They were all coated yet 

 with the down, which is an absolute neces- 

 sity to sell them, as the Chinese take only 

 those which are young. This stag-keeping 

 business has its headquarters in and 

 around Birel, and by pure accident we 

 had stumbled upon one of the most inter- 

 esting industries in this world. 



It seems that about forty years ago 

 somebody in Birel made an experiment 

 of keeping some stags in captivity and by 

 sawing the antlers off and bandaging the 

 wounds, showed that a stag can be de- 

 antlei'ed and survive the process and be 

 operated upon every year. Up to that 

 time the animals had been hunted until 

 they were well nigh extinct, and the col- 

 lecting of antlers was a very unsteady 

 sort of business — one never knew whether 

 one would get much or nut. Well, the 

 animals multiplied and high-fenced en- 

 closures were established all over the 

 mountains, for these stags need much 

 ground to pasture upon, otherwise they 

 cion't remain healthy. And today there 

 are several thousand stags in and around 

 Birel, and the income derived from the 

 sale of the antlers has made some people 

 very wealthy, for every male animal pro- 

 duces about 70 roubles'* worth of antlers 

 every year, and some men have as many as 

 400 males. The average price paid for 

 the antlers is between eight and twelve 

 roubles per pound, according to the 

 market. 



The antlers are sawed off with a fine 

 saw and weigh, fresh, twice as much as 

 later on. They have to be boiled in salted 

 water and very great care has to be 

 taken that the felt-like covering doesn't 

 come off ; therefore, they are boiled sev- 

 eral times, and each time allowed to dry 

 out again. When sufficiently cooked, they 

 are hung in the wind and allowed to dry 

 thoroughly, and in that state they are 

 bought up by dealers and said to be ex- 

 ported to China via Mongolia. The 

 Chinese, as you may know, believe thor- 

 oughly in the rejuvenating and stimula- 

 tive power of young deer horns, and the 

 stuff, scraped and powdered, forms a 

 valuable ingredient in certain of their 

 medicines. I was also told that a firm 

 in St. Petersburg has taken up this mat- 



*A rouble is worth about 51 cents, U. S. 

 currency. 



ter and is manufacturing a special medi- 

 cine from them, under the name of 

 "Spermine." 



PHEASANT FARMING. 



There has recently been published 

 under the direction of Wm. L. Finley, 

 Oi'egon Fish and Game Commission, a 

 beautifully illustrated bulletin on "Pheas- 

 ant Farming," written by 'Gene M. Simp- 

 son, Superintendent of the State Game 

 Farm at Corvallis, Oregon. In the intro- 

 duction Mr. Finley states that the bulle- 

 tin, which is a revision of a former one, 

 is designed to furnish reliable informa- 

 tion as to how pheasants may be success- 

 fully propagated. He also pays a tribute 

 to Mr. Simpson, who has been particu- 

 larly successful in rearing pheasants on 

 the state game farm. 



The first chapter discusses the propa- 

 gation of game birds and defends the rear- 

 ing and sale of such birds. Chapter 2 

 describes the different varieties of pheas- 

 ants. The chapter devoted to "The 

 Chinese Pheasant in Oregon" furnishes 

 information as to the history of the intro- 

 duction of this bird into Oregon and the 

 success which has been obtained in estab- 

 lishing it. The succeeding chapters dis- 

 cuss the equipment for a pheasant fai'm, 

 the ideal mother for pheasants, the food 

 of young pheasants, enemies of the game 

 breeder, and advice to the beginner. 



This bulletin sums up the very informa- 

 tion which the man who is starting a 

 pheasantry desires. As it is the result 

 of long experience, it can be successfully 

 used as a handbook by the pheasant 

 breeder. It is to be hoped that there will 

 soon be enough demand in California for 

 such a publication. As yet the breeding 

 of pheasants in captivity in this state 

 is in its infancy. 



A GUIDE BOOK FOR SCIENTIFIC 



TRAVELERS ON THE PACIFIC 



COAST. 



The Pacific Coast Conimittee of the 

 American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science is preparing a guide book 

 for the use of visiting members to the 

 San Fi'ancisco meeting, August 2 to 7, 

 1915. The book will be about the size of 

 a Baedecker and will be published by 

 Paul Elder & Company. The exact title 

 will be "A Scientific Traveler's Guide 

 Book to the Pacific Coast," and it will 

 bear the sub-title "Nature and Science on 



