INTRODUCTION 



'T'HIS is the first book written for American readers 

 ■*■ on the practical conservation of game. It deals 

 with the methods of propagation and preservation which 

 are essential to make game abundant and to keep it plen- 

 tiful in places where field sports are permitted. It is 

 entirely different in plan and purpose from my earlier 

 books. 



All of the American works on field sports describe the 

 various methods of pursuit and destruction; although 

 they contain, usually, something about the habitat, 

 breeding and food habits, and migration of game, they 

 are silent about the practical and profitable methods of 

 increasing its numbers. The same may be said about 

 our ornithologies and books on natural history. The 

 writers often deplore the fact that the game birds are 

 vanishing; they have insisted upon the enactment of 

 many laws restricting sport, but they overlook the fact 

 that such laws prevent the increase of game by breeders. 

 There is a disposition throughout the country to remedy 

 this mistake, and the game laws have been amended in 

 some States so as to encourage the profitable breeding 

 of game. 



Elliot, referring to the incessant persecution of the 



