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Under our present system, the only sahation of the game is 

 to prohibit its sale and thus remove the incentive for market 

 shooting. Sale has been forbidden now by law except in the 

 case of rabbits or hares. But with the advent of artificial propa- 

 gation and scientific game preserving the sale of such species 

 as can be reared in captivity or produced in large numbers on 

 game preserves is permitted under restrictions imposed by the 

 Commissioners on Fisheries and Game. Unless our farmers 

 undertake the rearing of game, we shall soon have little game 

 in our markets except such as is imported from foreign coun- 

 tries. The demand for game will continue, and it remains for 

 our people to decide whether they will produce it here or send 

 thousands of dollars abroad for it. Our country is so large that 

 it is not probable that the greater part of it ever will be occu- 

 pied by game preserves, as is the case in some European re- 

 gions ; therefore, the overflow from preserves will still aft'ord 

 shooting for the people in the country surrounding them. It 

 is undoubtedly true that the rich have advantages over the poor 

 under this system, as in many other respects, and they always 

 will have certain advantages under any system ; but it is also 

 true that the farmer is in a position to derive some benefits from 

 the expenditure of the rich man's money in support of a system 

 of game preserving which, while it interferes to a certain extent 

 with free shooting, provides an abundance of game in regions 

 where without it and under the old system there would be no 

 game at all. 



The above is not written for the purpose of advocating any 

 change in our system of game laws or to approve the European 

 system of game preserving, but merely to point out the logical 

 tendency of a movement which already has gained a strong foot- 

 hold in this country, and to show the farmers the benefits that 

 they may derive from the inevitable extension of this movement. 



The Artificial Propagation of Game. 

 The rearing of native upland game birds in confinement is 

 still a subject of experiment, and never has been made a finan- 

 cial success ; but enough has been accomplished to prove that it 

 is possible to rear the ruffed grouse, the pinnated grouse and the 



