44 



THE GAME BREEDER 



Given these two weapons to protect 

 themselves, the land owners soon realized 

 that the crop of game was in its way as 

 important as any other crop, and that if 

 they themselves did not care to shoot, 

 the right to shoot could be sold to others 

 for a very respectable sum. They also 

 found that the larger the crop the more 

 they could get for it, so their selfish 

 interests made them study how to in- 

 crease the supply and they succeeded so 

 well by improved methods of keeping 

 down the vermin, by limiting the sea- 

 son's bag for the ground and by increas- 

 ing the food supply that game in England 

 and Scotland has, during the past hun- 

 dred years, increased by leaps and 

 bounds. The same results could in a 

 measure be obtained in this country pro- 

 vided similar methods were used, but 

 first the people must be educated as to 

 the rights of the land owners and the 

 immense value of preserves or restricted 

 areas as a factor in increasing the game 

 supply. It has long been a source of 

 wonderment to me that the farmers of 



this country do not realize what they are 

 losing by neglecting their game crop. In 

 the South some progress has been made 

 in this direction, but the farmers there 

 have yet to learn that it lies completely 

 in their own power greatly to increase 

 the stock of game on their lands. Care- 

 ful killing of vermin and a limit placed 

 by the owner of the covers on the bag 

 that might be taken during the season 

 would accomplish wonders. Is it not 

 possible that by combining the best of 

 our laws and that part of the English 

 and Scotch laws best adapted to condi- 

 tions here that we could make progress 

 far more rapidly than under present con- 

 ditions ? 



In conclusion, I desire to acknowledge 

 my indebtedness to Mr. Frederick S. 

 Mead of Brookline, Mass., who has aided 

 me greatly in preparing the latter part 

 of this statement, and I venture to say 

 the Game Commission of his State 

 would be able to profit largely if they 

 should call on him to give them the 

 benefit of his experience. 



QUAIL BREEDING ON ROCKEFELLER ESTATE. 



By Arthur M. Barnes. 



Ever since Mr. William Rockefeller 

 built Rockwood Hall at Tarrytown, N. 

 Y., he has endeavored to stock the 

 grounds with quail. 



The method which he employed was 

 to purchase Southern birds in New York 

 and liberate them. This did not prove 

 successful, as the quail soon disappeared, 

 there being no grain fields to attract 

 them. 



In the fall of 1912, Mr. Herbert K. 

 Job visited the estate on several occa- 

 sions, explaining fully the details of his 

 system of quail breeding. 



A supply of breeding stock was ob- 

 tained from the West, and they arrived 

 in good order January 17, 1913, their 

 wings were clipped and they were placed 

 in a large enclosure in which there was 

 plenty of cover of evergreen boughs and 

 low board shelters. 



In the early spring a man was secured 



to give his whole time to the game, and 

 I wish to give Tom Warne credit for the 

 hard season's work he put in with quail 

 and other game birds. We had not only 

 the usual enemies of a game preserve, 

 hawks, crows, foxes, skunks and 

 weasels, but also the predatory animals 

 of civilization, cats, rats and even the 

 pet bull terrier at the Hall could not be 

 convicted of murder till he was caught 

 with the goods in the shape of a bantam 

 hen, the mother of twenty little quail. 

 This was the third large brood of tender 

 age that he had rendered motherless. 



We built a dozen breeding-cages 8 feet 

 long by 4 feet wide, covered with wire 

 netting. We now use y2 inch square 

 mesh to keep out weasels and have the 

 frame set upon another frame of 2x4 

 lumber to which is nailed a strip of J4 

 inch netting sunk six inches in the 

 ground; to discourage animals from bur- 



