134 



THE GAME BREEDER 



as the pheasants are, and we do not think 

 they ever will be. They will be better 

 birds if they are not. We know places 

 in America where the grouse quickly 

 have been made abundant in protected 

 woods. It is well known to all game 

 keepers that the removal of the checks 

 to increase, which they term vermin, 

 quickly will produce excellent results. 

 We have been surprised recently at the 

 results on a very small area. Another 

 reader is conducting an experiment with 

 the ruffed grouse on a large scale. His 

 keepers are skillful and there can be no 

 doubt about the result. For sporting 

 purposes the wild bred birds are the best. 

 We prefer them also -on the table. 



Refuges. 



The bulletin favors the increase in the 

 number of refuges. As we have said we 

 see no objection to this although we 

 think there are enough posted farms to 

 satisfy the demand for refuges. The 

 country is big; we are not opposed to 

 quiet refuges ; we have said we will favor 

 them, but our preference is for the noisy 

 refuge which produces a good head of 

 game for sport every season. We are in 

 favor, however, of anything and every- 

 thing any one wants; all we ask is that 

 if it is preventive it be kept off of the 

 farms conducted by game breeders. 

 *'Keep the game laws off of the farm" is 

 one of our favorite expressions — farms 

 which have game for sport or for profit. 



Pheasants and Quails. 



The old problem of pheasants and 

 quail is discussed in the bulletin. A 

 statement that the pheasants were driv- 

 ing the quail from Rock Island (in the 

 Mississippi) is discussed in a letter from 

 Lieutenant-Colonel Geo. W. Burr, who 

 says the quail have decreased in numbers 

 on the island since the pheasants were 

 introduced but this may have been due 

 to trapping. He does not believe there 

 is any real antagonism between the spe- 

 cies. 



No Trespassing. 



We saw some years ago, in Ohio, a 

 sign which read: "No Huntin and No 

 Fotographin" on this farm. The spelling 



should suit the most ardent reformer. ^1 

 The number and variety of the no tres- 

 pass signs has increased rapidly in all 

 of the States and it seemed that field 

 sports were doomed until the "more 

 game" movement began to put a little 

 common sense in the law-books and a 

 little life iii our languishing sport. It 

 seems ludicrous that any one should have 

 imagined that sport could be perpetuated 

 simply by licensing gunners to shoot up 

 the farms without permission, under the 

 assurance that "the State owns the 

 game." 



Setters and Pointers. 



We can remember the time when most 

 of the dogs advertised were pointers and 

 setters. A glance at the dog advertising 

 pages in the New York Sunday papers 

 and in the dog magazines now indicates 

 that the number of setters and pointers 

 advertised is small comparatively. Since 

 grouse and quail shooting have been pro- 

 hibited in some States and the tendency 

 has been to prohibit sport everywhere it 

 is not surprising that the demand for 

 good sporting dogs has fallen off. Many 

 hundreds of dogs are now used on the 

 game preserves where the restrictions 

 have been removed by game breeders' 

 enactments and we predict a big revival 

 of setter and pointer breeding now that 

 field sports are to have a boom in 

 America. 



A Fair Compromise. 



If the people of Canada can be shown 

 that wild duck-breeding on privately 

 owned marshes can be made profitable 

 and that the markets can be supplied 

 from such places possibly the market 

 gunning on public waters might be 

 stopped for a time as a protection 

 to the new industry. No back yard| 

 breeding "in captivity" will fill the' 

 markets with game or even save the 

 marshes from being drained. If there isi 

 to be a compromise it should be a fairj 

 one intended to encourage the clubs and] 

 individuals to look after the ducks nest- 

 ing wild and to keep the markets full' 

 of them for at least six months every 

 year. Any farm which has a marshy 



