No. 4.] GAME riiOTECTION. 275 



sparrows of ilio United States saved the farmers of the country in 

 190G $35,000,000 by the destruction of weeds; and that a single 

 species of hawk saves the farmers of the western States $175,500 a 

 voar by the destruction of grasshoppers and field mice. It will pay the 

 farmer, therefore, to promote the protection of nearly all the birds of 

 the farm, and to lend his influence to the enforcement of the game 

 laws, for the birds that are distinctly injurious are not protected. 



The Economic Value op Game Mammals. 



The native game mammals of Massachusetts consist of squirrels, 

 hares, commonly (tailed rabbits, and deer. The woodchuck, raccoon, 

 fox and other mammals, although hunted, are usually classed as 

 vermin. Squirrels are of some service as tree planters, for they 

 distribute the seeds of nut-bearing and cone-bearing trees far and 

 wide; also they destroy insects, for a time, in the summer. Under 

 protection, however, they are likely to so increase in numbers as to 

 become destructive to birds, nuts, fruit and grain. * Rabbits, when 

 numerous, destroy young trees; and deer, under the same conditions, 

 attack young fruit trees and vegetables. Therefore the farmer has 

 not the same economic incentive for conserving mammals that he has 

 for protecting birds. Nevertheless, all these animals add to the 

 attractiveness of country life. And if the laws are so framed as to 

 give to the owner of the land an opportunity to protect his property 

 from their inroads, and to take a reasonable number for food, the 

 game mammals may be considered as of considerable value to the 

 farmer. 



Financial Benefits derived from Game. 



Under the present laws the game on the farm may be so conserved 

 and handled as to bring in an annual cash revenue to the farmer. 

 Owing to the laws which prohibit the sale of grouse and woodcock, 

 these birds cannot be marketed; but quail, wild fowl, shore birds 

 and hares or rabbits may still be sold in our markets. Ordinarily, 

 however, the farmer will find it more jDrofitable to lease his land for 

 shooting purposes than to sell the game in the market. Associations 

 of farmers and sportsmen have been formed, in which the farmers 

 grant shooting rights on their property to a limited number of sports- 

 men, and the sportsmen agree to protect the farm property from 

 poachers. In other cases the protection of the farm property is left to 

 the farmer. In Rockford township, Illinois, a farmers' association 

 was organized in 1901, each member of which had the right to grant 

 to any one the privilege of hunting on his farm in his company. All 

 undertook to promote the strict enforcement of the game laws. 

 Seventy-five members were enrolled, representing 12,000 to 15,000 

 acres of land. The system under which this association worked was 



* Gray squirrels are now (1909) protected at all times; but undoubtedly this law 

 will be amended or repealed if squirrels become too numerous. 



