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THE GAME BREEDER 



183 



pie funds to make a successful defense 

 and to recover suitable damages. 



The courts are beginning to hold that 

 it is not a crime to have stock birds legal- 

 ly procured "in possession;" that statutes 

 relating to wild game owned by the State 

 do not apply to the property of individ- 

 uals and that it really is not a crime to 

 produce food on a farm. 



THE CALIFORNIA SITUATION. 



In a letter to the Secretary of the 

 Game Conservation Society, the Califor- 

 nia Game Commission has informed us 

 that they would encourage game breed- 

 ing. We are inclined to think, therefore, 

 that the trouble must be with some un- 

 derling and that the Game Commission 

 should discharge him if the facts are as 

 outrageous as they seem to be. 



We are fully of the opinion that some 

 action should be taken at headquarters. 

 An arrest of a lady for food producing 

 would, we are quite sure, prove to be 

 disastrous to the party represented by the 

 officer complained of. We are not slow 

 in letting the people of a State know 

 about it when any outrage against game 

 breeders is perpetrated. We do not know 

 what the politics are in this case. We 

 do not care. 



There are many people interested in 

 game farming in California and we are 

 quite sure the people of the State will 



side with them if their industry be at- not increasing in numbers as rapidly as 

 tacked. the pheasants are, is that some States 



Recently we have been examining some prevent the increase by law and it is diffi- 

 correspondence between some California cult to & et a11 tne stock birds required, 

 game breeders. One asks another how it In States which have intelligent game 

 is that he can breed and sell game birds oncers the departments are becoming of 

 and eggs. We are quite sure some breed- S reat economic importance to all of the 

 ers are not interfered with. We are sure people. 



there should be no favorites; that all • 



should be treated alike. An opportunity 

 is presented to "see" some one when 

 restrictive laws relating to wild game are 

 held to prohibit a food producing indus- 

 try. We believe the California Commis- 



SOMETHING REFRESHING. 



It is refreshing to observe the attitude 

 of the more intelligent game officers 

 throughout the country towards the new 

 industry of game breeding. 



Over two-thirds of the States have en- 

 "acted laws permitting game breeders to 

 rear and sell game and the game is be- 

 coming very abundant in many places. 



Wild turkeys, which became extinct in 

 many States, rapidly have been made 

 abundant on many game farms. The 

 birds and eggs are advertised and bring 

 excellent prices. Many do not advertise 

 because they cannot fill their orders. 



North America quickly has become one 

 of the biggest pheasant producing coun- 

 tries in the world. We predict that in 

 two or three years there will be more 

 pheasants in the United States than there 

 are in any other country. 



Many of our readers now own thou- 

 sands of pheasants and they will be sold 

 in large numbers in the New York and 

 other markets next fall. 



America probably has more wild ducks 

 than any country in the world. Breeders 

 now rear tens of thousands of wild ducks 

 and since the ratio of increase is geo- 

 metrical, when it is profitable, there soon 

 will be hundreds of thousands of wild 

 ducks in the markets. 



Our quail and grouse are increasing 

 rapidly in places where they are properly 

 looked after and the only reason they are 



A BAD START IN VIRGINIA. 



Virginia has a new game law and a 

 new Commissioner. We publish on an- 

 other page a letter from the new officer 



to a New York poultryman who con- 



sion will not favor the arresting of game templated purchasing a farm in Virginia 



trust they will instruct for game breeding. He is told that the 



farmers and we 



their wardens to keep their hands off 



The case of Mary Rahlman 

 an explanation. 



requires 



officer cannot give him any encourage- 

 ment. 



We heard of another reader who was 



