A CONSERVATION SKETCH 297 



efforts of this magazine, 6468 wild-life sanc- 

 tuaries had been established! Inhabitants of 

 forty-two States had responded, and, in all, 2,290,- 

 997 acres had been set aside for this purpose! 



While state and private refuges serve the pur- 

 pose of protecting game-birds and others, and en- 

 able them to breed in comparative safety, they 

 can be of little value if there are no birds there 

 to breed. This too often is the case. The game 

 has been extirpated from that locality in years 

 past by over-eager gunners. Therefore a number 

 of States have established game-farms for re- 

 stocking these barren places and for supplying 

 their constituents with birds for common shooting. 

 There are also a number of professional game 

 breeders who supply material for private pre- 

 serves and sanctuaries either privately or publicly 

 owned. 



There are, in New York, three state game- 

 farms, the oldest of which was established in 1910. 

 Each farm comprises approximately 200 acres, 

 and its chief product is ring-necked pheasants, 

 those birds being ideally suited for stocking the 

 game coverts of the State; but considerable at- 

 tention is paid as well to the rearing of wood- 

 ducks, black ducks, and mallards, together with 

 quail, ruffed grouse, and turkeys. Hens are util- 

 ized for raising the pheasants, and every care is 

 taken to insure natural conditions for the chicks to 

 grow up under. After the chicks are four days- 



