THE GAME BREEDER 177 



ing from the mouth of the bird ; both The Feathered World, London ; Frank 

 the bird and the viper were dead. Finn, F. Z. S., says : "The Chinese 

 "Another instance is recorded of a pheasant, Hke his human fellow country- 

 pheasant which, on being killed, had no men, is very hardy, and will thrive any- 

 less than 1,225 leather jackets — a most where, bearing the cold of a northern 

 destructive larvae — in its crop. United States winter and the heat of a 

 It is fond of carrots, potatoes, beets, Bengal summer quite well. It is also a 

 cabbage and turnips in the winter time good breeder and bears confinement 

 although if dandelions are fed to caged well.'' 



pheasants they will eat them in prefer- The government statistics show that 



ence to most any vegetable food, roots the damages done to. the growing crops 



and all. by insect pests, largely owing to the de- 



The pheasant is also very fond of struction of insectivorous birds, is esti- 



many of the wild weed seeds, such as mated at something like $800,000,000 per 



legumes, thistles, especially the burr this- annum. This amount would feed and 



tie, wild carrots, sunflowers, wild lettuce, care for many millions of pheasants and 



mayweed, marsh elder and mustard other insectivorous birds, 



seeds. At the last annual meeting of the New 



As a table food, and also as a game York Zoological Society $60,000 was 



bird, the pheasant has been held as the given to be used entirely for the study of 



leading bird for these two qualities by pheasants and the best methods to be 



the kings, royalty, wealth and educated adopted for the introduction and distrib- 



people of the world for more than two uting of these birds into the United 



thousand years "as being of the greatest States. 



sport and richest delicacy. No other In a number of States the next Legis- 

 bird has held such a position, and it will lature will be asked to pass liberal ap- 

 be a long time before any other bird can propriations for propagating the pheas- 

 gain such distinction. ant and other insectivorous and game 

 The home of the Chinese ring-neck is birds and the distribution of literature to 

 largely in the mountains, as well as in instruct and aid the people in the hatch- 

 the valleys of China, and they are ac- ing of the eggs and rearing of the birds 

 customed to very severe weather, as it about their country homes, 

 inhabits the high altitudes, and yet If every farmer, landowner and bird- 

 adapts itself to the lower altitudes, as lover in the country would either secure 

 low as sea level. It is a thoroughbred a setting of pheasant eggs and hatch 

 bird and has been imported into England them under a common hen and rear them 

 in considerable numbers to breed up the like young chickens, or buy a pair of 

 English pheasant. these birds, the problem of how to de- 

 Chinese ring-neck pheasants are doing stroy insects would soon be solved, and 

 well, liberated in the mountains of Colo- I would recommend that farmers avail 

 rado up to 9,000 feet altitude. themselves of this economic opportunity. 



FUR FARMING. 



J. E. Briggs. 



Fur farming for profit, or the success- and, and now this industry alone has 

 ful raising of fur-bearing animals in cap- extended to the country adjacent thereto 

 tivity has now passed the experimental and grown to large proportions, hence 

 stage ; the average well-informed man we find that fur farming is rapidly corn- 

 has heard of the fabulous fortunes made ing to its own, and will in the future 

 during the past decade in the raising of form a splendid field of labor for many 

 silver black foxes on Prince Edward Isl- intelligent young men who possess a 



