THE GAME BREEDER 



57 



More About Naked Ducks. 



The law, intended to stop the importa- 

 tion of bird feathers for miUinery pur- 

 poses but which resulted in sportsmen 

 being held up when returning from Can- 

 ada provided their ducks did not appear 

 in the altogether, or "naked" as one of 

 our Boston readers said, is one of the 

 numerous silly laws which the news- 

 papers often term "fool laws." 



The Audubon Association, which did 

 most to secure the passage of the law, 

 joined our Game Conservation Society 

 in asking for a change in the treasury 

 ruling to prevent the annoyance of 

 sportsmen which was not contemplated 

 when the law was enacted. 



To-day the Assistant Secretary of the 

 Treasury, Mr. A. J. Peters, who had 

 charge of the matter, sends us the order 

 made and provided to protect the return- 

 ing sportsman. 



The order indicates that the law re- 

 mains in the "fool law" class. Sports- 

 men should not be required to leave "not 

 less than $10," or any other sum condi- 

 tioned that they later file depositions 

 proving that they have burned or other- 

 wise destroyed their wild duck feathers 

 after the birds were un-dressed, or 



dressed, as poultrymen say. 



•* 



Deer Breeding in Minnesota. 



My experience in propagation of deer 

 was very interesting. I made a start 

 with one pair, a buck and a doe of the 

 Minnesota red deer. I put them in an 

 enclosure about 50 by 100 fenced with 

 wrie netting 8 feet high and had a small 

 shed in which they could go if they 

 wished, but I found that the only tmie 

 they seemed to care for cover was in 

 exceedingly hot weather. 



They were very much contented and 

 seemed to enjoy, more than anything else 

 the presence of the school children who 

 would stop and play with them on their 

 way to and from school. 



I fed them on table scraps, corn and 

 oats and gave them a little hay once a 

 day ; never more than they would eat up 

 clean. They were also very fond of 

 pumpkin and beets and would eat any 

 kind of weeds. They kept the ground 



absolutely free from vegetation but still 

 they did well and at the end of four 

 years I had thirteen deer. 



I then thought that it was a shame 

 to keep them in such a small enclosure 

 so I fixed up for them what I considered 

 an ideal park, on my Blue Mound Farm, 

 where there was plenty of shade and an 

 abundance of grass and some huge rocks 

 under which they could take shelter if 

 they wished, but they seemed to miss the 

 company which they had in town and did 

 not do well. The result was at the end 

 of another three years they were all 

 dead. 



There is one thing in the connection 

 of propagating of game of which the 

 laws of most of the States are entirely 

 wrong : 



They permit a person under certain 

 condition to raise game in captivity but 

 will not permit them to be sold or 

 slaughtered. This cuts off every possible 

 means of revenue so a person really has 

 nothing but the pleasure to reward him 

 for the care he is put to and he is sure 

 to entail a considerable expense. 



If the different States would encour- 

 age raising game in captivity and with 

 reasonable restrictions permit them to be 

 slaughtered or sold at certain seasons of 

 the year, then the raising of game could 

 be made a profit as well as a pleasure 

 and when there is profit and pleasure 

 combined it gives that necessary encour- 

 agement which spells success. 



I do not expect to again engage in 

 raising any kind of game in Minnesota 

 while the present laws exist, but I am 

 expecting to make my winter home in 

 the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, 

 where I own considerable land, which 

 is an ideal location for all kinds of game 

 and as I like the laws of Texas much 

 better than those of Minnesota, I believe 

 that I can associate profit with pleasure 

 in that locality. 



R. B. HiNKLY. 



Wood pigeons and rooks are said to 

 have become a perfect pest in parts of 

 Yorkshire, England. "It has been sug- 

 gested that night shoots should be ar- 

 ranged for. 



