however, thej 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 con- 

 ditions, 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 dekived fkom 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 wild 

 game birds, these birds cannot be marketed. Ordinarily, how- 

 ever, the farmer will find it more profitable to lease his land 

 for shooting purposes than to sell the game in the market. As- 

 sociations of farmers and sportsmen have been formed, in 

 which the farmers grant shooting rights on their property to a 

 limited number of sportsmen, and the sportsmen agree to pro- 

 tect the farm j^roperty from poachers. In other cases the pro- 

 tection of the farm property is left to the farmer. In Roekford 

 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 under- 

 took 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 so complete that poaching and trespassing were 

 nearly eliminated. Is^otwithstanding the shooting done, prairie 

 chickens and quail increased in numbers, while insect-eating 

 birds became abundant.^ 



A somewhat similar system is in operation in North Carolina. 

 Exclusive shooting privileges over farm lands are secured by 



^ Palmer, Theodore S. Some Benefits the Farmer may derive from Game Protection. Year 

 Book, United States Department of Agriculture, 1904, p. 518. 



