178 



THE GAME BREEDER 



obliged to send to England for some of our 

 dueks, when we made our first experiment, 

 on account of our game laws. There are 

 thousands of breeders in the United States to- 

 day who sell wild ducks and eggs. 



The law Mr. Turner secured no doubt will 

 prevent any one from getting grouse or grouse 

 eggs in order to apply the proper methods and 

 no prairie grouse can be purchased in Eng- 

 land. Certainly no one can be expected to 

 make any area safe and attractive and to keep 

 it so if the result of his industry must be a 

 fine or jail sentence if he*fires a gun. 



We happen to have a library of real "ra- 

 tional authorities" and they all agree that a 

 scarcity of game is not "to be expected" in 

 settled regions when "proper methods" are ap- 

 plied ; on the contrary they point out how to 

 offset and overcome the difficulties due to "in- 

 tensive farming," the destruction of covers, 

 nesting ground, etc. We have plenty of fake 

 authorities in America who know nothing 

 about game and the causes for its increase and 

 decrease and these will be found too often 

 trying to get it into the "lobbying stage" pos- 

 sibly because they do not know enough to 

 know that laws never can produce game 

 abundance or good shooting, in populous re- 

 gions. These are often the easiest places to 

 make game plentiful because there are not so 

 . many natural enemies, where many reside 

 on the land they are more easy to control. 



We know all about the Heath Hen. When 

 it was in charge of a mounted warden it did 

 not do very well. Later, when some proper 

 methods were partially applied it increased in 

 numbers rapidly; still later, when the man in 

 charge was obliged to be away on other 

 duties, a fire resulted in the loss of most of 

 the grouse and made much of the area where 

 they occurred unsuitable for their- existence. 

 Our game keeper once stopped a similar fire 

 and saved our grouse and quail. 



As soon as Mr. Turner is ready to apply 

 the "proper methods" we shall be pleased to 

 send a plan for the preparation of a prairie 

 showing where the hedges of wild rose and 

 other covers and foods should be planted, and 

 we can send the men who will produce the 

 giouse in big numbers every season'. The 

 cost of producing grouse should be much less 

 than the cost of hand-rearing a similar num- 

 ber of pheasants, because the grouse should 

 be bred wild on safe and attractive areas 

 where they will find most of their food. 



We fear the kind of authorities Mr. Turner 

 seems to rely on are those who collect vast 

 sums to keep the birds in "the lobbying stage" 

 and these people always get what they go 

 after— "more laws." We have so often gone 

 after "more game" successfully, in spite of 

 the efforts of such "authorities," that we feel 

 fully competent to give advice. If you don't 

 beheve what we say read some of the books 

 writen by real authorities who have filled their 

 works with common sense stories about how 



game of all species has been made plentiful 

 in populous regions. 



Mr. Turner, as we said, pointed out enough 

 reasons why the grouse vanish. It can not 

 stand any shooting and all the other causes of 

 destruction at the same time. The books say 

 remove or control some of the natural causes 

 for destruction and the shooting becomes good 

 and highly proper. Our objection to Mr. Tur- 

 ner's efforts is that they result in the prohibi- 

 tion of sport and in destroying the incentive 

 for any one to' apply "proper methods." — 

 Editor.] 



The numerous game protective asso- 

 ciations will advise Mr. Turner to have 

 many quiet game refuges created on the 

 prairie in the hope that by some means 

 they some day may be stocked with 

 prairie chickens. 



We advise him to buy a few stock birds 

 and eggs, hire a game keeper (we can 

 send good ones) and look forward to 

 some lively shooting every August, 



The same mischief makers who would 

 advise Mr. Turner to see that the pump 

 gun be prohibited and later the double 

 barrel and single barrel arid later to put 

 the grouse on the song bird list will ad- 

 vise him to hope that his descendants may 

 have some shooting because he quits. We 

 think the descendants will fare better if 

 Mr. Turner will take our advice and go 

 in for more game and fewer game laws 

 and for some lively shooting every sea- 

 son. Some small fortunes are gathered 

 in New York by those whose advice Mr. 

 Turner relies on, but the more gameists 

 have their monev invested in game and 

 eggs. Our people can now take orders 

 for 10,000 and up. 



More Song Birds. 



Nevada places the quail, the dove and 

 the plover on the song bird, list. 



It would seem absurd to, enact a law 

 prohibiting the farmer from having an 

 cixe in his possession in order to stop his 

 chopping off the heads of his chickens. 



It seems to us equally absurd to say 

 that a game farmer or shooting tenant 

 can not shoot the game produced with 

 pump guns, double barrels, singles or any 

 old guns. 



