120 



THE GAME BREEDER 



Dr. Herbert Job et d'autres livres au 

 sujet du gibier d' americain. 



Le prix de notre publication est $1.25 

 par an. Les trois premiers livres couteht 

 $2.00 la piece et le livre par Dr. Job 

 $2.50. 



Nous esperons de recevoir votre 

 reponse et sommes, Monsieur, 

 Vos tout devoues, 

 The Game Conservation Society, Inc. 



John C. Huntington, Secretary. 



Copy of letter to Game Conservation Com- 

 missioner George D. Pratt on the proposed 

 law to establish a closed season on quail for 

 five years on Long Island. 



29 West 39th Street, 

 New York, May 5, 1917. 



Commissioner George D. Pratt, 

 Court House, Riverhead, 

 Long Island. 

 Dear Sir : 



Every man has a right to his opinion ; but 

 I must confess I was astonished beyond meas- 

 ure at the purely theoretical and idealistic na- 

 ture^of the testimony given by some of those 

 who' attended your hearing on April 30th, and 

 even by men to wht>m we would expect to 

 look for authority and guidance. 



I have been preserving quail in this and 

 other countries for over twenty years, and 

 for the last ten years I have maintained a 

 preserve of 1,500 acres near Port Jefferson, L. 

 I. The whole question of adequate quail in- 

 crease resolves itself — where conditions per- 

 mit — into a few fundamental points of prac- 

 tice. 



1. Taking care of the birds — by feeding and 

 shelter — in the hard winter weather. 2. Look- 

 ing after them in the breeding season. 3. 

 Sowing enough grain for them in the open. 4. 

 Killing off the vermin — and this is especially 

 vital — and 5, Allowing sportsmen — i. e. men 

 who will shoot wisely and mercifully — only 

 on the land, and keeping off the "game hogs" 

 who would come in and leave not a single pair 

 of birds to breed up the following season. 



Do this and you will double the number of 

 quail on any place in one year. 



But to put a close season on quail on Long 

 Island for five years would mean the end of 

 the birds on the Island. 



Look at what vermin has done on some 

 properties in the last year, and especially at 

 the fearful destruction of birds by the hordes 

 of cats that have of late been multiplying so 

 rapidly, and you will realize how soon it would 

 take this plague, if unrestricted, to strip the 

 Island. A learned gentleman at your April 

 30th hearing contended that this vermin would 

 be effectively killed off by the State wardens. 

 This is such absolute "piffle" — as every practi- 



cal man knows — that it is unworthy of con- 

 sideration. 



These, too, are the days of swift motor cars, 

 and these could carry unwatched poachers 

 from point to point at high speed, and Tom, 

 Dick and Harry would account for the few 

 birds left, if any. 



May I respectfully suggest for your consid- 

 eration : 



1. That you make an estimate — from repu- 

 table records — of the number of organizations 

 or private individuals on Long Island, who are 

 likely to take measures to preserve the quail, 

 and 



2. That you throw in the weight of your 

 influence in instituting an inquiry as to how 

 many sections of country in, say, twelve of 

 any selected sections, which have adopted the 

 five years' close season, have as many birds 

 at the end of that time as they had at the 

 beginning. 



I have the utmost confidence that in reach- 

 ing a decision on this question, so vital to the 

 interests of the community, you will apportion 

 the exact relative value of the testimony of 

 those who have been actually trying to do 

 something toward preserving the game, and 

 of the theorists who are merely laying down 

 the law. 



Yours truly, 



George H. Guy. 



Art Advertisements. 



We are planning some special illus- 

 trated breeders' cards for advertising all 

 species of game and eggs, which we be- 

 lieve will prove to be attractive gind ef- 

 fective. The illustrations will be made 

 by a clever artist especially for these ad- 

 vertisements and they will be printed 

 with a modern Gothic type. The' cost 

 of these breeders' cards will be only a 

 little more than the cost of advertise- 

 ments on our classified page and we be- 

 lieve the results will justify the extra 

 cost. Samples of this new form of a.d- 

 vertising will be found in this issue. 

 The rate is $2.50 for each insertion 

 where contracts are. placed for six 

 months or a year. The sale of one bird 

 or a dozen eggs will more than cover 

 the cost, and we expect to have good re- 

 ports from those who use this new style 

 of advertising. 



Our advice to large breeders is to 

 use large spaces since they indicate to 

 the big purchasers that plenty of stock 

 can be obtained. 



