THE GAME BREEDER 



proceeds for that purpose, and the 

 county is now negotiating with dealers 

 in Pennsylvania with a view of getting 

 a new variety of birds, but more of the 

 Bob Whites are to be ordered as soon 

 as the effects of the liberation of the 

 first consignment are noted. The plan 

 has been adopted in other States for re- 

 plenishing the supply of wild fowl, and 

 it is believed that it will work satisfac- 

 torily in the county. — The Times, Boons- 

 boro, Md. 



The Maine Breeders' Bill. 



One of our Maine readers sends us a 

 copy of the proposed Game Breeders' 

 Law for Maine. It appears our abstracts 

 of this bill printed last month from 

 Maine woods was wrong in stating the 

 amount of the proposed Hcense. The 

 bill appears to have been amended so as 

 to provide for a $2.00 license instead 

 of a $25 fine for breeding game. Only 

 twenty-five acres of the farm can be 

 used as a game pasture, more than this 

 appears to be criminal. The Maine 

 farmers will wake up some day and put 

 an end to such nonsense. Possibly they 

 may put the wild duck and the deer on 

 the song bird list as a matter of retalia- 

 tion. The farmers certainly have pushed 

 protection to the limit in Ohio. 



Wild Ducks in Ohio. 



Young Scott Jordon, son of an em- 

 ploye at the Driving Park and two or 

 three other boys recently were the prin- 

 cipals in a wild duck "hunting story" de- 

 cidedly out of the ordinary. A small 

 flock of splendid wild mallard ducks 

 passed the summer in a pool at the driv- 

 ing park and the employes there made it 

 a point to see that they were undis- 

 turbed. This fall they liked things so 

 well that they decided to pass the winter 

 at the same spot, but during the recent 

 cold snap, took a "flyer" and disap- 

 peared for some days. 



While the boys were skating on the 

 pool, in came the ducks and dropped 

 down right on the ice although there 

 was a small portion of the water that 

 had not completely frozen over. It 



seemed to be a direct challenge to the 

 boys and they at once started on their 

 skates after the half wild birds and 

 quickly ran them down before they could 

 take wing, seven ducks being captured 

 after some lively twisting and swift turn- 

 ing. They are now at the driving park 

 with their wings clipped and seem to be 

 just as contented as the tame and noisy 

 barn yard variety. — Sportsmen's Review. 



Reducing the Food Bill. . 



One of our Maryland members writes 

 for information as to how to reduce the 

 cost of feeding hand reared wild ducks, 

 now that the prices for corn and other 

 grain are high. 



Capt. Aymer Maxwell, an English 

 authority, says that Mr. Bell, the duck 

 keeper at Netherby, who probably knows 

 more of the ways of our commoner 

 ducks from a practical point of view 

 than any other man living, "has very 

 materially reduced his food bill — always 

 a formidable item where ducks are con- 

 cerned — by inducing his grown ducks to 

 live largely on pulped turnips. As he 

 put it to the writer, 'Your duck is a gor- 

 geous person, and only wants to fill him- 

 self with something; so we make him 

 gorge himself on what we can get.' " 



One of our large western breeders 

 of wild ducks, who called recently on 

 The Game Breeder, said that he plants 

 buckwheat in his orchard and field and 

 lets his ducks eat the growing sprouts 

 and later the standing grain. The birds 

 have a wide range and visit in many 

 fields, returning when they are called to 

 be fed in the afternoon. Where there 

 are suitable marshes and ponds on pre- 

 serves and game farms these should be 

 planted with some of the many natural 

 foods advertised by the dealers. 



The ducks can be fed on acorns and 

 grain to advantage a short time before 

 they are shot or marketed, but sports- 

 men must always remember that too 

 much corn makes slow birds, and the 

 more they are compelled to find their 

 own living and the wider their range, 

 where the preserve- is a big one, the 

 better. 



There is a danger, of course, of some 



