THE GAME BREEDER 



87 



may result in the sale of some of the 

 so-called State game against the sale of 

 which in some States there is a decided 

 prejudice. 



Third — Because, for the present at 

 least, we believe the identification of the 

 game produced by industry. before it is 

 sold, will be a benefit and not a burden 

 to the breeders, provided no license or 

 merely a nominal one be charged and 

 provided the rules and rates applied to 

 the identification be reasonable and 

 small. Game is so valuable that there 

 is a great temptation to steal it and sell 

 it and this temptation will remain great 

 until game becomes plentiful when the 

 theft of game will be no more important 

 than the theft of poultry now is. We 

 should remember, also, that the best 

 game is bred in the fields and woods, as 

 it should be in the most sanitary man- 

 ner; this is more easily stolen than 

 poultry is. There is much poaching in 

 England, although the incentive is small, 

 because game is cheaper, often, than 

 poultry. Many breeders while the 

 prices for this desirable food are tre- 

 mendously high will agree with us that 

 it is desirable to have the food produced 

 by industry, safeguarded against theft 

 and the customers should be willing to 

 pay a fraction of a cent per bird which 

 is -all the identification tags should cost. 

 They should be furnished by the State 

 to reputable breeders in large lots. 



Mr. Talbot seems to have misunder- 

 stood what we said about our, "doubt 

 if the Indiana law will result in much 

 wild game being sold." We did not wish 

 to convey the idea that we did not be- 

 lieve much game would be produced and 

 sold: we wished to express the opinion 

 that in Indiana we did not believe the 

 sale of game produced by industry would 

 result in much of the wild or "State 

 game" being marketed. The temptation 

 to sell game illegally is not so great in 

 Indiana as it is in some States. On an- 

 other page we predicted that Indiana un- 

 doubtedly would produce abundantly. 

 We hope and believe it will; and if it 

 does Mr. Talbot's excellent law un- 

 doubtedly will remain in the books, as 

 it should. 



We are not only in favor of the In- 

 diana law but we are enthusiastic about 

 it. We not only admire Mr. Talbot's 

 work but we are enthusiastic about it. 

 Mr. Talbot has performed a great serv- 

 ice for his State and a great service for 

 America. If the Indiana law works out 

 well, it undoubtedly will be copied in 

 other States and we will support the idea 

 wherever it appears. The reasons why 

 we favor, for the present, the regula- 

 tion of the new industry have been 

 stated. We hope the people of Indiana 

 will appreciate fully what Mr. Talbot 

 has done ; if they will nominate him for 

 Governor we will stump the State for 

 him. We don't know what his politics 

 are. We are for him. 



Wild Game Legally Taken. 



Mr. Talbot will agree with us no 

 doubt that wild game (birds or mam- 

 mals) legally taken in the chase belongs 

 to the taker; that it is and should be 

 his personal property. It becomes his 

 because of his industry ; because he has 

 pursued it and reduced it to his posses- 

 sion. AU that is or should be required 

 is that the game be legally taken during 

 the open season. 



This was the Roman law from which 

 many of the good laws of England and 

 America were copied. It is nothing more 

 than common sense to say that a game 

 bird legally taken and in the pocket of 

 the gunner is his. This being so he 

 should sell it, if he wishes to do so, in 

 order that some one of the people, who 

 are said to own the game, may have a 

 taste of it. ^ ■ 



In England and other civilized coun- 

 tries the wild fowler or market gunner 

 not only sells the wild game he may 

 shoot but he is permitted to trap it for 

 the market. He procures food for the 

 people to eat just as the cod-fishermen 

 go to the public waters in America and 

 procure public fish for the people to eat. 

 We have said that the market gunner 

 has a better excuse for his existence 

 than a sportsman who. claims that he 

 only kills birds for fun. We have visited 

 and shot with good and entertaining 

 market gunners and we hope to live to 



