NINTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 1 55 



tion of the forests, fish and game, and the artificial propagation of fish and game. 

 All admit that but for the work of the hatcheries the inland waters would have 

 been depleted of fish and the St. Lawrence River of the Maskalonge, which is 

 also true to a great extent of the Shad of the Hudson River and the Whitefish 

 of Lakes Erie and Ontario. 



Too much cannot be said by the residents along the St. Lawrence River in 

 praise of the work done in stocking that river in past years with Maskalonge 

 from the Chautauqua Hatchery. The fish are becoming quite plentiful, and large 

 catches have been made in the past two years as against a very few prior to 

 artificial stocking. The fish are a great attraction to tourists who visit the 

 Thousand Islands, and are also profitable to the residents along the river. 



The reports from the Catskills and Adirondacks show that the Deer inhabiting 

 those localities have increased one hundred per cent since the anti-hounding law 

 went into effect. Deer can now be found also in a number of the counties that 

 are not classed in the Adirondacks or Catskills — as, for instance, in Columbia, 

 Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Montgomery, Oswego and the western portions 

 of Lewis and Oneida Counties, where but a few years ago none were to be found. 

 This proves beyond any doubt that the law which prohibited the use of dogs in the 

 hunting of Deer is the cause of the increase, and it is to be hoped that this law 

 will not be repealed to please a very few who are agitating for it. 



Condition of P>irds. 



The reports from various localities where Pheasants have been liberated are 

 very gratifying. As a rule, the residents are using every means to assist in pro- 

 tecting them, and are looking forward every spring to securing an additional 

 supply from the State. 



Quail are becoming quite scarce, except in Suffolk County, where a fresh 

 supply is liberated every spring by private clubs, and I believe that a small appro- 

 priation should be made for the purchasing of live Quail. They are a hardy bird, 

 and there is no reason why they should not be propagated by the State and again 

 become plentiful. 



Grouse suffered severely, in the spring of 1902, from the continuous cold 

 and heavy rainstorms, which drowned many broods of young birds. They also 

 suffered to some extent in localities that were swept by forest fires in the early 

 summer of 1903, but as the fires were confined largely to the Adirondacks, and 

 as Grouse are not as plentiful in the deep forests as in the second-growth timber, 



