THE GAME BREEDER 



135 



pond of a few acres should produce a 

 few hundred or a few thousand wild 

 ducks by simply protecting the nesting 

 fowl from ground and winged vermin. 

 Reduce the checks to increase even 

 slightly and the species quickly will in- 

 crease in numbers to any amount. 



Of course breeding stock can be intro- 

 duced to advantage in many places and 

 there should be the most liberal provis- 

 ions for trapping stock birds and for 

 lifting eggs for purposes of propaga- 

 tion. The eggs of canvas back ducks 

 which might be gathered by the million 

 from protected marshes will sell readily 

 at $50 per hundred for some time to 

 come. Let the people know that they can 

 make a few hundred dollars a day by 

 keeping the coyotes and the hawks from 

 destroying the nesting fowl and their 

 eggs and the people will gather and sell 

 the eggs and see that many young fowl 

 are reared for the markets. The ar- 

 rest of the breeder for having a stock 

 bird in his possession has not produced 

 the best results in the United States. 

 Liberality should be the rule in Canada. 



Minks and Muskrats. 



A reader sending the following clip- 

 ping wishes to know if the State owns 

 the minks and muskrats. Probably the 

 breeder would answer as an Illinois deer 

 breeder once did that, "This is a mis- 

 take. The State does not own my ani- 

 mals." 



J. E. Reeves & Co. have started what prom- 

 ises to be one of the first muskrat and mink 

 farms in Fond du Lac County. The plot se- 

 lected is a tract of marsh land of thirteen 

 acres in size and is situated between this city 

 and North Fond du Lac on the east side of the 

 street car line and north of the Princeton 

 tracks. 



Three workmen are now busily engaged in 

 constructing a fence that will reach to the 

 bottom of the marsh and is for the purpose of 

 keepmg the rats within the bounds. Accord- 

 ing to a statement issued by J. E. Reeves it 

 is the plan of the company to build a house 

 next spring on the "farm" for the keeper. At 

 present there are 150 rat houses on the place 

 inclosed. 



The present plans of the company are not to 

 disturb any of the rats until the "farm" has 

 been established about one and a half to two 

 years. 



Mr. Reeves also stated that he had allowed 

 trappers to trap rats on the marsh for the 



past fifteen years and had not demanded an 

 indernnity. At present several signs bearing 

 the inscription "no trespassing" have been 

 placed at various conspicuous places. 



A Non-beneficial Hawk. 



Mr. Pringle in "Twenty Years' Snipe 

 Shooting," says: "A snipe getting up 

 behind me I took a long snap shot at it ; 

 it flew a little way and then towered, 

 dying in the air about 100 ft. high, and 

 as he was falling dead, a hawk swooped 

 down and caught him in the air about 50 

 ft. from the ground and carried him 

 off." 



A War Dog. 



An English correspondent of the New 

 York Herald says : 



British prejudice against Germany has been 

 turned even against the kind of dog that bears 

 "the unfortunate name of dachshund," com- 

 plains a writer in the Daily Mail, who says : 



"May I protest against the cruel and sense- 

 less manner in which some people are treating 

 the unfortunate turnspit dogs because these 

 poor dumb friends have been called by the 

 German name of dachshund. These dogs, al- 

 though very popular in Germany, are our old 

 English turnspits, used in bygone days to turn, 

 by means of a wheel, the roasting jack in the 

 same way as the donkey at Carisbrooke Castle 

 draws water from the well. On account of 

 their name these poor dogs are now being 

 treated not as enemy aliens to whom we are 

 unpatriotically lenient, but most unjustly." 



Private !Fish Culture. 



The Sportsmen's Review prints the 

 following about fish farming. It will not 

 be long, we hope, before this good old 

 magazine opens its pages to items about 

 the game breeders' industry. It should 

 remember that "more game" means more 

 shooting and more shooting means more 

 shooting dogs — more advertisements of 

 course. 



A nev/ method of livelihood, as well as a 

 new method of living, is afforded by fish farm- 

 ing, which is a rapidly growing industry. It 

 may be a lazy man's job, but for development 

 beyond an addition to the family living, of 

 course, it takes time and attention. A running 

 stream or an acre of land can be made to earn 

 more money than a well-tilled five-acre farm, 

 says the People's Magazine. The national gov- 

 ernment, as well as many states, through their 

 fish commissions, not only give free instruc- 

 tions in fish farming, but will also supply the 

 young fish or eggs most likely to thrive best 

 in the locality. But best of all, perhaps, is the 

 recognition that farmers all over the country 



