A CONSERVATION SKETCH 299 



refuges for the multiplication of their birds, with- 

 out resort to propagation farms. If fresh game is 

 needed to restock these covers, it is purchased 

 from private dealers or breeders. 



There are now about 10,000 game breeders in the 

 United States. Some find it a very lucrative busi- 

 ness, for the largest game farmers are prepared 

 to sell as many as 50,000 game-bird eggs in a single 

 season. Many thousand of live game-birds are 

 sold every year to clubs, country places, and state 

 game departments. Quail readily bring thirty 

 dollars a dozen, their eggs selling from six to eight 

 dollars a dozen. Buffed grouse bring from ten to 

 twenty dollars a pair, while turkeys fetch nearly 

 twice that apiece. Mallards can be bought at 

 from three dollars to three dollars and a half a 

 pair, and their eggs at fifteen to twenty dollars 

 a hundred. Pheasant eggs bring from thirty to 

 fifty dollars a hundred. 



Many other people rear the birds for the sheer 

 pleasure they derive from seeing their lands re- 

 stocked with them. Much of this private work is 

 furthered by game breeding associations and pro- 

 tective societies, whose objects are to conserve 

 game for the future and to educate the sportsman 

 to raise his own birds. Several large breeding- 

 farms are maintained by these associations, for 

 demonstration, for experiment in rearing the diffi- 

 cult species of game-birds, and for stocking sanc- 

 tuaries. 



