THE GAME BREEDER 



79 



roughly estimated in seven-year periods, 

 has been going on from time immemorial, 

 and never, as far as it is possible to as- 

 certain, did this periodical disappear- 

 ance of the rabbit result in the coyote 

 or any other predatory species being 

 forced to turn upon grouse or other birds 

 in such numbers as to reduce them to 

 the danger point. Certainly w^ithin the 

 last 21 years,, or in, say, the three rab- 

 l)it decades preceding the present one, this 

 did not occur. The fact is quite patent, 

 however, that the coyote menace is great- 

 er today than it has been for many, many 

 years, merely by reason of the animal's 



increased numbers concurrent with the 

 comparative scarcity of the rabbits upon 

 which it feeds. Along with the crow and 

 the goshawk, then, the coyote is no doubt 

 an outstanding ' factor in the wholesale 

 destruction of prairie chicken. 



A Note to Mr. Turner. 



You say, "A growing scarcity of wild game 

 must be expected in settled regions, etc." It 

 is just as easy to say a growing abundance 

 may be expected in settled regions. Try mak- 

 ing the grouse very abundant on a small 

 prairie quite near a town. We can tell you 

 how to do it and we can send you the men 

 who have the ability to do it. 



OUR AQUATIC PLANTS AND THEIR VALUE IN POND 



FISH CULTURE. 



Frequent, reference has been made to 

 the necessity of vegetation in fish ponds. 

 Its advantages are many. It serves as 

 food and a harbor for the lowest forms 

 of minute animal life. Each advance in 

 the scale of life constitutes a food for 

 higher forms, and in the guise of fish 

 the fertility of the ground contributes to 

 the food of the human race. 



Plants play an important part in the 

 purification of water, taking up the car- 

 bonic acid gas liberated by decomposi- 

 tion and exhaling the oxygen essential 

 to living creatures. They thus prevent 

 the asphyxiation of fish life, and act as 

 a corrective of many abnormal char- 

 acteristics of individual waters. 



Losses of fish through the depreda- 

 tions of enemies will be greatly lessened 

 where there is an abundant aquatic 

 growth in which they may hide. It fur- 

 nishes a grateful shade on bright warm 

 days, and the interlacing roots so bind 

 the bottom soil as to prevent turbidity 

 from casual disturbances. 



The aquatic flora of a locality varies 

 greatly with its latitude and is also gov- 

 erned by the chemical ingredients of 

 specific waters. The most desirable 

 species usually thrive best in waters of 

 limestone origin. Plants of filamentous 

 character are preferable to the large reg- 



ular-leaved kinds, as they present great- 

 er surface expanse for the exchange of 

 gases, and, on account of their shallow 

 rootage, are more readily controlled by 

 the fish-culturist. Pond lilies, cat's-tail, 

 and coarse water grasses or weeds in 

 moderation are beneficial, as they afford 

 shade and shelter. However, they are 

 lower forms of oxygenators than the 

 plants of finer growth, and they make 

 seining operations more difficult ; and it 

 is practically impossible to eradicate them 

 after they have obtained a foothold. 



All species herein described which are 

 indigenous to the waters of the locality 

 in question may be advantageously util- 

 ized in pond-fish culture. Undoubtedly 

 one or two of the introduced species will 

 eventually drive out the others, but those 

 remaining will be the ones best adapted 

 to the environment. All of these will 

 grow from cuttings, making it unneces- 

 sary to transplant the roots. The plants 

 may simply be raked or pulled out of 

 the open waters and pressed by hand- 

 fuls into the soft earth in the shallow 

 sections of the new pond, in spaces about 

 5 feet apart. The bottom must be cov- 

 ered with 6 to 12 inches of water during 

 the operation, otherwis ' the sun and air 

 will soon ruin the sets. In deep water 

 the plants may be started by attaching 



