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THE GAME BREEDER 



this way they will find they can have 

 good shooting under very natural condi- 

 tions. 



More Law. 



A California senator writes to one of 

 our readers : 



"In reply to yours of recent date rela- 

 tive to the passage of a bill affecting the 

 present game law, I beg to advise that 

 there was a. bill in the senate last week 

 which passed at first, but we discovered 

 that it would affect the domestic raising 

 of pheasants, and we thereupon moved 

 for a re-consideration of the bill and 

 had it re-considered and sent back to the 

 committee from which it came, so as the 

 matter stands at present there has been 

 no change in the game- law, and we will 

 see that the present law is not amended." 



American Game. 



Mr. Leopold's idea that game farmers 

 prefer pheasants is erroneous. He says : 

 "If Chinese pheasant is cheaper and 

 easier to raise than the American heath 

 hen, then let the heath hen go hang." 



Commercial game farmers, would be 

 glad to sell heath hens, quail prairie 

 grouse and other birds and their eggs. 

 Sporting game breeders will pay even 

 better prices for these than for the 

 pheasant which does not lie well to the 

 dog. The pheasant is considered the 

 more expensive bird to rear. Quail can 

 be produced much more cheaply than 

 pheasants and we have no doubt the same 

 is true of grouse, including the heath 

 hen. Audubon says prairie grouse easily 

 were produced. They were produced 

 cheaply The reason why pheasants are 

 being substituted for American game 

 birds is that until recently it was illegal 

 everywhere to trap American game birds 

 for breeding purposes, to transport them 

 and to sell the birds and eggs for breed- 

 ing purposes. 



It is evident if one product can be 

 handled legally and another ..cannot be 

 that one will become abundant before 

 the other. This has happened. 



Here again Mr. Leopold will observe 

 that the "more game and fewer game 



laws" movement started something quite 

 worth while. Quail and quail eggs are 

 now sold for breeding purposes and the 

 grouse and grouse eggs soon will be. 



The large importations of quail from 

 Mexico do not indicate that the game 

 farmers or the sporting game breeders 

 prefer pheasants. We know some who 

 will not have pheasants at any price. 

 There are some owners of American 

 game birds who think the pheasants in- 

 terfere with them. 



Freedom would seem to suggest that 

 game farmers and sporting game breed- 

 ers should be permitted to make the 

 American game birds abundant. There 

 can be no doubt that American game 

 farmers and sportsmen are not opposed 

 to breeding and selling quail and we 

 never heard of one who wished to 

 '.'hang" the heath hen. The heath hen 

 and the grouse will bring splendid 

 prices and it is quite certain that the 

 breeders must have some birds to lay 

 eggs for them before they can make 

 these birds as abundant as the pheasants 

 are. 



Mr. Leopold's idea that the game 

 farmers are prejudiced against heath 

 hens, quail and grouse is erroneous. 



Mr. Leopold's idea that there is a 

 controversy surely is erroneous. We 

 probably may have caused him to think 

 there was when we made some playful 

 remarks about ''our enemies are publish- 

 ing a monthly magazine," but our read- 

 ers called for more practical articles 

 about game breeding and soon ceased to 

 be amused at what Mr. Leopold thinks 

 was a controversy. The matter was for- 

 gotten long ago. We are for camera 

 hunting and everything sentimental. We 

 are for free shooting, refuges, quiet and 

 noisy, and for all attempts to produce 

 "more game" and to reduce the appalling 

 output of "more game laws." We never 

 should be called enemies of common 

 sense since that is what we advocate. 



CORRESPONDENCE 

 A New Member. 

 Game Breeders' Gazette : 



Dear Sirs — I hear that there is a game 



