56 



THE GAME BREEDER 



The Spraying of Plants. 



The spraying of plants and trees with 

 poisons in order to destroy insects un- 

 doubtedly has resulted in the destruction 

 of some birds. 



Eaton says "the opinion is usually 

 held that this danger is largely exagger- 

 ated; but when we consider the fact 

 that dead birds in any case are very 

 rarely seen, the fact that we find so few 

 which have been killed by spraying op- 

 erations is not at all surprising. Dead 

 birds are quickly put out of sight by 

 cats, dogs and skunks, or buried by the 

 sexton beetles and other scavangers. 

 Sick birds almost always fly away to 

 some shelter, an instinct which is uni- 

 versal among wild creatures, and thus 

 the deadly effects of the spraying upon 

 bird life are rarely observed. There 

 can be no doubt that many birds such as 

 cuckoos and orioles feeding continuously 

 on poisoned caterpillars finally succumb 

 to the cumulative effect of the arsenical 

 poisons which are most commonly em- 

 ployed. There is some remedy in the 

 fact that birds will rarely touch larvae 

 that show evidence of sickness, and 

 probably never touch them after they are 

 dead. The author, however, has exam- 

 ined two cuckoos which evidently died 

 from arsenical poisoning, and other in- 

 stances have been reported by Brewster, 

 Ridgway and Forbush, and by many in- 

 habitants of New York State. We be- 

 lieve that the decrease of both species 

 of cuckoos in the apple districts of west- 

 ern New York is partly due to their 

 gluttonous desire for caterpillar diet. 



We have often wondered how much 

 damage was done to the quail and other 

 game birds by spraying poison. Since 

 no spraying was ever done on any of 

 the places where we have made game 

 birds plentiful we have had no means of 

 observation. The farmers should under- 

 stand that it is an easy matter when 

 gamekeepers are employed to make not 

 only the game birds but all other birds 

 so quickly overabundant that there will 

 be barely enough insects to go round and 

 the birds, of course, prefer their insects 

 alive and unpoisoned. 



It is well known that in places where 



game birds are preserved it is necessary 

 often to supply extra insect foods or 

 substitutes. Ant eggs and insect prep- 

 arations are sold, and the Spratts of 

 Newark, New Jersey, manufacture and 

 sell large quantities of crissel, a substi- 

 tute for insect food. 



One thing is certain, it is far more 

 interesting to have an abundance of game 

 on a country place than it is to spray 

 the place with poison. The game birds, 

 especially quail and grouse, quickly can 

 be made very profitable. We can find 

 purchasers for extra stock birds at from 

 one to several dollars per bird in large 

 Readers who have quail or grouse 

 to sell will please write. These are sold 

 without the necessity of advertising and 

 the sales are increasing. 



Pheasant Breeding in Ohio. 



Senator Wickline's bill providing that 

 it shall be lawful for citizens of Ohio 

 to engage in the business of raising and 

 selling English, ring-neck, Mongolian or 

 Chinese pheasants, upon the payment of 

 a fee of fifty cents for a breeders' license 

 to breed the birds for commercial pur- 

 poses, passed in the Senate and General 

 John C. Speaks, chief game warden, 

 writes that he thinks the bill will be 

 favorably acted upon in the House. 



The bill should, of course, provide for 

 licenses to breed all species of game. All 

 game is! good to eat and the people who 

 wish to produce any kind and the people 

 who wish to eat it should not be regarded 

 as criminals. Pheasants are very good 

 to eat but wild ducks are easier to rear 

 and equally good on the table. Most of 

 the States which have breeders' laws 

 permit the profitable breeding of wild 

 ducks. Some States now permit- the 

 breeding of all species of game. Okla- 

 homa has just enacted a law which per- 

 mits the breeding of all species. Farms 

 in Oklahoma are more valuable on this 

 account than farms are in States which 

 do not encourage the profitable produc- 

 tion of game. 



Members of the Game Conservation 

 Society are requested to purchase from 

 those who advertise. 



