THE GAME BREEDER 



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of our advertisers. Many stop advertising 

 because they can not fill their orders. 



An excellent pain is to purchase a farm con- 

 taining some swamp land, ponds, etc., for 

 ducks and geese. Pheasants and wild turkeys, 

 quail and prairie grouse all can be reared 

 on a farm which will produce grain. Some 

 corn makes excellent cover and shade. It is 

 a good plan to rent the shooting or breeding 

 rights on some adjoining farms so the tur- 

 keys, pheasants, etc., can have a wide range 

 and find much of their food. Prairie grouse 

 and sharp-tailed grouse would be one of the 

 easiest and most profitable crops — provided 

 you can get some stock birds and your laws 

 permit you to sell the birds. They should 

 be bred wild on land planted with hedges 

 of wild rose, sunflowers and other foods and 

 covers, between the fields so that the birds 

 will be safe when the fields are plowed under 

 and foods and covers are destroyed. Ruffed 

 grouse can be kept fairly abundant in a safe 

 woodland, but in your State you can not even 

 shoot them. We suggest that you organize 

 the breeders, farmers and sportsmen in your 

 State who are willing to rear game and get 

 your laws amended so that it be no longer 

 criminal to profitably produce the desirable 

 foods on the farms. All intelligent sportsmen 

 quickly adopt the more game idea when they 

 understand it. The States which have the 

 most liberal laws are the States where the 

 Game Breeder has the largest circulation. The 

 breeders do not seem to have a very fair 

 chance in your State to breed the best birds — 

 the grouse. It is to be hoped that some of 

 the farmers can be induced to hold on to their 

 prairie grouse until they can sell them for 

 breeding stock. The man who thus saved the 

 bison is reported to have made about $200,000. 



When the farmers understand that grouse 

 are valuable, quickly the laws can be amended 

 and the game made abundant and profitable. 

 We fear the birds may be "protected off the 

 face of the earth," before the people realize 

 .how valuable they are. 



As to land values, we do not know what 

 they are in your State. Any farm agent can 

 inform you. You should pay 5 or 10 cents per 

 acre rent for the additional land. This is 

 what the big quail preserve owners pay in 

 several States where they have made quail 

 plentiful and keep them so. 



Note From an Amateur. 



I purchased a setting of ringnecks this 

 spring and hatched nine. The hen killed 

 one by kicking a piece of sod on it. I 

 have the eight growing finely at two 

 weeks. 



I have them in an enclosed yard, 15 

 by 30, but I wish to know more about 

 the "small movable pen" mentioned in 

 The Game Breeder in an article on 



"More About Pheasant Pens." I intend 

 to raise all I possibly can next season 

 and thought I would do better as a be- 

 ginner to buy the eggs, as I would get 

 the experience in raising sooner than I 

 would by buying a pair of older birds 

 and waiting a season. 



I have had no difficulty whatever in 

 raising therh so far. 



But I wish to know your idea as to 

 whether to divide my yard into two pens 

 "while I am fixing yard" for future use, 

 or build a small movable pen, and how 

 would I manage for shelter with mov- 

 able pen? 



I would appreciate any help you can 

 give me. 



I have been very successful with hens 

 and chickens, for I love the work. I am 

 very much interested in pheasants, and 

 if I succeed with these I shall add other 

 birds. 



I purchased my eggs of Miss Helen 

 Bartlett, Cassopolis, Mich. They cost 

 me $3.50 for eggs, 32 cents for express- 

 age, but I consider the money well spent 

 so far anyway. 



Mrs. Martin Almy. 



You can sell all the eggs and birds you may 

 have to sell by placing a small advertisement 

 in The Game Breeder. 



More About Pheasant Pens. 



Many of the most successful pheasant 

 breeders now use a large pen made of 

 boards with a roof of chicken wire to 

 prevent the birds from flying out and to 

 prevent hawks and crows from getting 

 in. A board pen is better than a wire 

 pen, since passing dogs and cats by day 

 and foxes and other vermin by night 

 do not alarm the birds. A small mesh 

 wire should be fastened to the bottom of 

 the pen on all sides and bent outward 

 under ground to keep small ground ver- 

 min and dogs from digging under the 

 sides of the pen. Rats and other vermin 

 leave signs of their work where they 

 have endeavored to dig an entrance and 

 are checked by the wire, and traps set 

 outside of the pen will catch many game 

 enemies. 



A furrow is run by a plow aroimd the 

 line of the proposed fence ; the small 

 mesh wire is bent flat in this furrow and 



