THE GAME BREEDER 



the shooting can be sure of bagging both 

 birds. We believe the Pennsylvania 

 woods are more suitable ■ for ruffed 

 grouse than the oak barrens of Long 

 Island are, and we are quite sure when 

 a few clubs in each county look after 

 the birds properly, as they do on Long- 

 Island, all hands can shoot in Pennsyl- 

 vania. Rest periods often are renewed 

 for terms of years, as in the case of the 

 quail of New York, outside of Long 

 Island, and there is good reason to pre- 

 sume that the season may be closed for- 

 ever, as it has been in Ohio, provided all 

 wish to destroy and none be permitted 

 to create. 



A Gamebreeding Policy. 



Often we have pointed out that the 

 production of game on the farms which 

 are now posted should be encouraged and 

 not prevented by game laws. The state 

 game departments, as we have repeatedly 

 said, should be of great economic im- 

 portance to all of the people. If they 

 can induce sportsmen to form game- 

 shooting clubs and to make proper ar- 

 rangements with the owners of the farms 

 which have been closed to sport forever 

 the result undoubtedly will be more game 

 on the vast areas of land and water 

 where anyone can shoot without fear of 

 being arrested for trespass. When game 

 is bred abundantly on places where the 

 shooting is lively, it is quite evident that 

 much of it will be found outside of the 

 preserved area. A man in New York 

 who was much prejudiced against game 

 breeding told the writer that he had shot 

 thirty pheasants outside of the fence 

 surrounding a preserved area in which 

 we are interested the first season, and 

 that he had never shot or seen a pheasant 

 before our birds were introduced. He 

 added that there were more quail for 

 miles on both sides of the railway, on 

 land where anyone could shoot, than he 

 had ever seen before. Wild ducks were 

 shot in the neighborhood and we had 

 records of many being shot miles away 

 from the point where they were bred. 

 Some were reported nearly as far south 

 as Florida. 



If some of the numerous small ponds 

 where no wild ducks breed today can be 

 made to yield thousands of ducks it is 

 quite evident that the shooting on the 

 larger ponds, lakes and bays which are 

 and should be open to the public, will be 

 much improved. 



Where many guns combine to become 

 producers they shoot on places where 

 game has been introduced and always is 

 plentiful and by so doing the number of 

 guns on public lands and waters is re- 

 duced. It is evident that the shooting- 

 area is much enlarged since much shoot- 

 ing is done on places where there was no 

 game and on farms closed to sport by 

 their owners. 



Sport has nothing to fear from game 

 breeding! 



Crow Contests. 



Crow shooting contests have been sug- 

 gested. In places where the farmers 

 have been led to believe that the crow is 

 highly beneficial they may be unwilling 

 to let such contests go on. 



However, there should be enough 

 places, where the farmers have seen the 

 crows in the corn and the poultry yard, 

 to make crow contests possible. When 

 crows are protected by laws all that we 

 ask is "Keep the crow laws off the 

 farms,''' where game always is plentiful 

 for sport or for profit. 



Our idea that game laws should be 

 kept off the game farms is expressed to 

 our liking in section 12 of the Migratory 

 Bird Law. We think it would pay to 

 have section 12 in mind always when 

 new game laws are constructed. A short 

 form of expressing the idea is : "This 

 act does not apply to game on game 

 ranches, farms or preserves where game 

 is properly looked after and kept abun- 

 dant in order to increase our food 

 supply." 



An Important Section. 



The importance of the new section 12 

 in the Migratory Bird Law, giving pro- 

 tection to game farms and preserves, was 

 evident a few minutes after the law was 



