150 



THE GAME BREEDER 



places where covers and foods have been 

 planted. 



Quail should be handled by breeders 

 on the same terms as pheasants are. 

 Permits should be issued to land owners 

 to trap and sell quail for breeding pur- 

 poses. Soon they would become plenti- 

 ful on every suitable area. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 

 A Good Idea. 



Editor, Game Breeder : 



The initial expense in connection with 

 breeding pheasants and ducks is so con- 

 siderable that but few clubs have sought 

 licenses in this state to breed birds for 

 their preserves. 



Would it not be greatly to the inter- 

 est of small clubs if the laws were so 

 amended that they could purchase their 

 pheasants and ducks from other breed- 

 ers and release and shoot them on their 

 wholly inclosed preserves in the same 

 manner as if they were bred by them 

 under a breeder's license ? I drafted the 

 original breeders' bill and ha-^e given 

 this matter much thought and believe that 

 such an amendment would result in the 

 organization of many small clubs and a 

 far wider market for the breeder and 

 would prove a distinct step toward a 

 greater game supply. 



Henry M. Brigham. 



New York. 



Dear Mr. Brigham : — The suggestion is ex- 

 cellent. If you will write the amendment and 

 send it to Albany it no doubt will be approved 

 by the Conservation Commissioner and be en- 

 acted by the Legislature. While you are in this 

 laudable public service why not also write 

 an amendment providing for the trapping of 

 a reasonable amount of breeding stock so we 

 can put a little more speed in the targets. 



We have always favored contract-rearing. 

 As a matter of fact many game birds are now 

 reared under contract in America and we be- 

 lieve many sportsmen shoot the game they 

 have thus purchased. We have not the slight- 

 est doubt that the courts will uphold them in 

 so doing. The laws intended to preserve wild 

 game are not intended to prevent a food-pro- 

 ducing industry of vast economic importance. 

 We believe where semi-domesticated birds are 

 killed for food by the owner the burden of 

 proof may be on him to show that the game 

 is his property and not game owned by the 

 State and where such evidence is plain we 

 believe the courts will hold that the members 



of the Legislature can not be presumed to be 

 demented. 



The Pekin duck and others are related to 

 wild ducks but a raid on a Long Island duck 

 farm would not be popular just now and we 

 are quite sure sportsmen who own wild tur- 

 keys, near-mallards and other game birds pro- 

 duced by industry are quite safe in shooting 

 them for food or taking them "otherwise"' if 

 they so prefer. It would be well, of course, 

 to have the law amended in order to remove 

 temptation from boodling game wardens. There 

 seem to be a few rare specimens of this species 

 still in existence. Most of the States, how- 

 ever, are entirely freed from them and have 

 State officers who would not tolerate arrests 

 made evidently for the purpose of boodiing, 

 where it is evident that the game is owned by 

 the party the warden wishes to "touch." 



Something Wholesome. 



The Game Couservation Society: 



I heartily congratulate you both on 

 the spirit and purpose of your maga- 

 zine. There is something wholesome 

 about it. I can not figure that your edi- 

 tor has written anything in the last two 

 years that he did not believe. I am in- 

 closing $5.00 for which please send me 

 Our Feathered Game, Our Wild Fowl 

 and Waders and The Game Breeder till 

 the money runs out. I will run all risk 

 of delivery and I live seventy miles from 

 a customs house. 



Vance Foster. 

 Canada. 



Bought Much From Our Advertisers. 



Editor, Game Breeder : 



I am a subscriber to The Game Breed- 

 er and have bought several hundred dol- 

 lars worth of pheasants from your ad- 

 vertisers, also wild geese, ducks, swan, 

 deer, etc. 



Please send me booklet regarding the 

 formation of game preserves, clubs, 

 game farms, etc. 



E. B. 



Tennessee. 



LYour letter was received long ago ; like 

 thousands of others it had to wait its turn 

 for an answer. It would take an army of 

 stenographers to keep up with the mail of 

 the Game Conservation Society politely. The 

 article about the formation of game clubs 

 appeared in The Game Breeder, but the edition 

 was entirely sold out at the time your letter 

 was received. There will be another article 

 on this subject soon and we hope to print 

 it with other matter in a booklet— Editor.] 



