1912 AND FISHERIES COMMISSION. 227 



tion to governmental, conservation. The shooting of the farmer has a 

 distinct value; that of his neighbors also. By posting their lands and 

 thus conserving the game on it, and by combining to any desired extent, 

 they have in their possession a shooting which can be annually leased 

 for a fair sum at least. Where the farmer does not post his land or take 

 interest in game, all and sundry will shoot the game over it until all 

 game has disappeared, and with it a legitimate source of income to the 

 farmer. Plainly it is better to have the game on the farm, and that the 

 farmer should profit from it, than that there should be no game, and 

 consequentl}'^ no profit from it to the farmer or anyone else. Indeed, 

 there can be little doubt that as the population increases and shooting 

 becomes more difficult to obtain, there will be an ever-increasing field for 

 profit in game of which the farmer should take advantage, and that 

 when this fact becomes more generally recognized by the farmers, game 

 Avill increase through the efforts of the farmers in raising and protect- 

 ing it. 



A very similar situation arises in connection with duck preserves 

 over duck marshes in populous neighborhoods. The indiscriminate 

 shooting that will occur throughout the length and breadth of public 

 marshes in such localities day after day during the open season, is cal- 

 culated to insure that the ducks will be slaughtered and, to sl great ex- 

 tent, driven away. Moreover, should ducks breed in these marshes, frog 

 hunters and others will be here, there and everywhere disturbing them 

 and working considerable damage. On the other hand, the existence of 

 a private preserve in such a locality tends to remedy many of these evils. 

 In the majority of cases the preserve is well looked after and the breed- 

 ing ducks are not disturbed, while, also, precautions are, as a rule, taken 

 to prevent shooting on warm or still days when ten shots fired will be 

 likely to drive away more birds than 1,000 shots on a windy day, and to 

 limit the extent of the shooting, as likewise the hours between which it 

 may take place. As a result of these precautions the ducks are enabled 

 to feed and secure a measure of rest, and, in most cases, not only do they 

 become plentiful on the preserve itself, but the shooting over adjacent 

 territory is also considerably improved. The general sentiment of the 

 population of this Province is undoubtedly against the private duck pre- 

 serve, especially when it is instituted over marshes which long have been 

 open to the public, but it is a question whether in the more densely 

 populated and most accessible areas a greater measure of preserves will 

 not become actually necessary in the future, if the shooting is to be 

 maintained to any degree of excellence. In the wilder and remoter re- 

 gions there can be no advantage in or necessity for such preserves. In 

 fact, in such regions the public rights to the shooting should be most 

 jealously safeguarded; and, indeed, in the older portions of the Pro- 

 vince, even though a preserve is apparently in many ways advantageous, 

 especially when situated in some portion of an extenaiive marsh, every 

 effort should be made to insure that in all cases the bulk of the marsh 



