PRIVATE GAME PRESERVES 215 



GAME 



1903 1904 



Pheasants ..... 943 1,509 



Partridges 790 4,774 



Woodcock . . ... 19 27 



Hare . . . . . . 462 2,236 



Snipe ....... 3 1 



Wood-ducks (Mallard) . 12 



Pigeons ...... 5 38 



Deer ...... 46 



Fawns . . . . . 30 



Wild sheep .... * 2 



Peacocks .... 1 



Rabbits . . ... . 15,346 18,519 



Increase chiefly due to trapping of vermin. 



Bounty of 1 penny per rat to everyone except keepers. 



This record was made on a leased preserve after 

 the place had been neglected for several seasons. 



The most marked increases occur in the partridge 

 and hare, which are not raised by hand, showing 

 that the increase is chiefly due to the reduction of 

 vermin. 



There is a fascination about letting semi-wild 

 land slowly and methodically revert to its original 

 state, and in encouraging one's land to respond to 

 the call of the wild. It costs only a small portion 

 of the amount required to run a farm, it has fewer 

 worries, and the making of a preserve for birds, 

 water- fowl or mammals, whether it is to be a refuge 

 for song-birds, as all preserves become willy-nilly, 

 or to supply the market with game at the prevailing 



