PHEASANT FARMING 



Xd[)^ (ri)lna ^Ing-Meck Jp feasant 



The pure Chinese pheasant is the game bird par excellence. 

 Taken all in all, it is a serious question whether or not he has any 

 superior as an all-around game bird. It is utter folly to hunt them 

 without a dog. Their ability to conceal themselves, even in the scanti- 

 est cover, is wonderful. Without a dog it is not uncommon to pass 

 within ten feet of one hidden in the grass, without his rising. When 

 running in cover they move very swiftly with the body close to the 

 ground, and possess the ability to pass through grass, short or tall, 

 without disturbing the surface. When overtaken by the dog, they will 

 lie well, and this fact, combined with the further fact that they are 

 always found in the open, makes pheasant shooting the cleanest bird 

 shooting in the world. 



Possessed of remarkable vitality, they do not succumb to slight 

 gunshot wounds. Being clean-limbed, with powerful thighs, they are 

 exceptionally fleet on foot, and if winged only, the pheasant falls 

 lunning, and here the dog is put to his severest test. Very few dogs 

 can track a crippled Chinaman their first season, but an experienced 

 setter or pointer learns to recognize the wounded birds and endeavors 

 to be as near him as possible when he touches the ground. 



Besides his gameiness and delicate flesh, he is unquestionably one 

 of the most ornamental of the game birds. He is a native of the 

 northern part of China, being found as far north as the Amour and 

 as far south as Shanghai. The question is often asked if the Chinese 

 pheasant can stand the heat and cold. A reference to tne map of 

 China will answer the question. The pheasant has succeeded over the 

 larger part of Europe, even as far north as Sweden. On this continent 

 i' does well in Canada and Nova Scotia, but nowhere has its introduc- 

 tion been attended with such prolific results as in the Willamette Val- 

 ley in the State of Oregon. I do not know which is to be congratulated 

 most, the Willamette Valley for having the beautiful and gamey 

 pheasants, or the pheasants for having been so fortunate as to find 

 .so delightful a valley. 



It was stated by an eminent authority on pheasants that in 1893 

 *here were more Chinese pheasants in Oregon than in the whole 

 Chinese Empire. Credence is lent this statement when it is remem- 

 bered that it is reliably estimated that in one year 30,000 were killed 

 in one county in this state alone, and the same year 1,200 dozen were 

 shipped to the San Francisco market. There could be no better testi- 

 =^-onial of the adaptability of the Chinese pheasant as a bird for 

 restocking a state with game than this last statement, which comes 

 from no less an authority than Judge Denney, the man wlio introduced 

 the pheasant into Oregon. For some time Judge Denny had been 



