the sportsman either by paying- the owner a certain sum per 

 acre, or by paying all taxes on his real and personal property. 

 The sportsman or the sportsmen's clnb may thus lease several 

 farms. The lease does not interfere in any way with the rights 

 of the owner to cultivate the land, or with his residence thereon. 

 Planting is encouraged. Many of the lessees furnish the 

 farmers with cow peas or grain for planting, that the quail may 

 have better food and cover, and this planting is often carried 

 out on a large scale. Some of these lessees employ gamekeepers 

 to destroy the natural enemies of the game and to keep watch 

 for law breakers. Thus the farmer is relieved from some of 

 the trouble and annoyance of guarding his property and prose- 

 cuting poachers. This system has become very popular among 

 the southern farmers, and the game is regarded as one of the 

 assets of the farm. In Guilford County more than 150,000 

 acres have been leased out in this manner, and there are in the 

 State some large preserves, varying in size from 9,000 to more 

 than 18,000 acres. This system, as applied in the south, has a 

 tendency to better the condition of the agricultural population, 

 and to give the children of the farmers better educational facili- 

 ties. Under the laws of I^orth Carolina special taxes are im- 

 posed for the support of the school system, and the farmers, 

 realizing that their taxes are paid by the sportsmen, are more 

 likely to vote additional funds for school purposes. Thus the 

 game helps to educate the children.^ This system has brought 

 additional prosperity to the region, and has increased the num- 

 bers of game and birds. It gives the farmer opportunities to 

 furnish boats and teams to the hunters, and he and his boys 

 receive some employment as guides and helpers. 



This system has not made much headway in Massachusetts, 

 but farmers who have given it a trial are well satisfied with the 

 result. A number of farmers in southeastern Massachusetts, 

 who have learned the value of the bob-white, find that they can 

 maintain a good stock of these birds by combining, and leasing 

 the shooting rights. Their lands are not much wooded, and are 

 more easily guarded against poachers and trespassers than the 



' Some of the South Carolina lands are poor and rather barren, and where the rights for such 

 lands are taken by the acie, the annual rental aveiages only about G cents per acre, — a sum 

 which would look small to Massachusetts farmers. 



