■THE GAME BREEDER 



47 



bill which- has been introduced in the 

 Wisconsin Legislature, prohibiting the 

 collection of wild rice- seed for the pur- 

 pose of extending the range of this valu- 

 able duck food in other waters of your 

 State and especially of other States. It : 

 is also noted that it prohibits the re- 

 moval of wild celery or any .other plant 

 or plant product far stocking other 

 waters. It seems to me that the ori- 

 ginator of this bill does not recognize 

 the great harm that -will be accom- 

 plished if it becomes a law. The Fed- 

 eral Government, through the Bureau of 

 .Biological Survey, has issued several 

 very instructive articles on the value of 

 >vild -duck foods with a view to encour- 

 aging the dissemination of these plants . 

 ■in all parts of the United States where 

 climatic conditions are favorable to 

 them.. -Some of .these plants, which are 

 included in the proposed prohibition, are 

 also extremely valuable' in fish cultura,! 

 ^..operations, and, it is very- des,irable .to-' 

 ' have their 'range exttaided into m,^liy 

 ..Xvate'rs^to which they are now unkhowri. - 

 The small amount of wild rice which 

 can be collected for such purposes is a 

 mere bagatelle to what nature, in. her 

 lavishness, has provided in your State. 

 It would" seem to be almost as foolish 

 if you were to prohibit the distribution 

 of pine cones or seeds of any of the 

 trees of your forests for dissemination 

 to other parts of the country. 



1 sincerely hope that the bill does not 

 pass, and trust that you will use all 

 possible eflForts to defeat such a meas- 



ure. 



Very truly yours, 



J. W. TiTCOMB, 



Fish Guitarist. 



United States Department of Agriculture 



Bureau of Biological Survey 



Washington, D. C. 



February 10, 1917. 

 Mr. Clyde B. Terrell, 



Oshkosh, Wis. 

 Dear Sir: — Your letter relating to 

 proposed legislation in Wisconsin to 

 prevent the gathering and shipping of 

 aquatic plants has been received. As an 

 employee of the United States Govern- 

 ment, it is of course impossible for me 



to address the State officials upon the 

 subject of this bill unless requested by 

 them , to do"^ so. To you I may say, 

 bowever, that I consider the bill not only 

 useless, but injttrious. .There is no dan- 

 ger that the stand of any wild plants 

 in ..large bodies of water will be injured 

 by .the removal of parts for propaga- 

 tion, at least, on the scale it has here- 

 tofore been done anywhere in this coun- 

 try. In fact, the breaking up of roots 

 that takes place when the subterranean 

 parts of these plants are gathered is one 

 of the "best ways of insuringv a dense 

 growth. It- would .appear that" the bill 

 as it .ndw stands would prevent the 

 transplanting of aquatic plants by Wis- 

 consin citizens in the State. In conclu- 

 'sion,: I may say that such legislation 

 seems uncalled for .and even injurious. 

 Very truly yours, 



W. L. McAtee, 

 Assistant- .Biologist. 



"-V '[Mr^ McAtee is the United States Govern- 

 nreiji; expert, who prepared several government 



- bulleHris oh "Imffei^tant Wild Duck Foods," 

 after making several years' investigation of the 

 principal feeding grounds of wild ducks in 

 this country and is probably better acquainted 



• .with the conditions and plants furnishing food 



for ■ game birds, than any other man in 



America. — Editor.] .,.;;;, 

 -<:/■..■'■ X '■■ 



WILD DUCKS. 



The wild ducks of various degrees of 

 wildness and of various breeds and cross 

 breeds have become very abundant and 

 thousands would have been sent to the 

 New York market last fall had it not been 

 for fooHsh restrictions. There is a de- 

 cided tendency on the part of wild duck 

 breeders to improve the character of 

 their flocks by introducing wild blood. 

 There is much to be done in this direc- 

 tion before the wild fowl owned by 

 breeders are uniformly strong on the 

 wing and suitable for the preserve. 



Crosses between the pheasants and 

 even long periods of domestication do 

 not seem to cause the loss of wing power 

 which soon occurs when ducks are bred 

 in captivity or partly domesticated. On 

 most of the English preserves it is un- 

 usual to find many pure-bred pheasants 



(Continued on page 50.) 



