108 WILD LIFE CONSERVATION 



tion whether the payment of those damages was a 

 good investment. 



In twenty-two years, from only one small begin- 

 ning of thirteen head, the state of Vermont pro- 

 duced a valuable annual supply of venison. 

 Against the annual increment must be set a pro- 

 portion of the cost of state game wardens and the 

 payment of damages, trifling totals, both; and the 

 annual cost of game wardens is usually met by the 

 annual receipts from hunting licenses! Had deer 

 been introduced at a dozen points instead of one 

 only, Vermont could have begun gathering her 

 annual deer crop in fifteen years, instead of twenty- 

 two years. There is no need to wait twenty-two 

 years for the harvest, provided the restocking is 

 done on a reasonably liberal scale. 



The people of our country are losing each year an 

 opportunity to produce a large and valuable pro- 

 duct in wild flesh food, at practically no cost. 

 Maine is carefully conserving her deer and moose 

 for legitimate shooting by sportsmen. Without 

 counting up the value of the venison annually con- 

 sumed by the people of Maine, no small item in 

 itself, it is roughly estimated that the non-resident 

 sportsmen who annually go to Maine for deer- 

 shooting add to the wealth of the state at least 

 $1,000,000 per year. This income has been esti- 

 mated at double the sum we have named; and at 

 all events, the annual deer product in that state is 

 an important state asset. This product is made 



