THE GAME BREEDER 



21 



likely that the Black Duck and the Teal 

 ■quickly will be taken by breeders who are 

 interested in wild fowl. 



Discretionary Powers. 



California Fish and Game reviews the 

 various laws giving State officers dis- 

 cretionary powers to make closed seasons 

 for fish in certain waters and for game 

 on certain areas when it appears that 

 the game and fish are vanishing and need 

 protection. 



It cannot be denied that the necessity 

 for closing vast areas in most of the 

 States, and in fact closing all of the area, 

 will become more and more apparent so 

 long as the number of the guns increases 

 and no one is permitted to look after the 

 game properly. We have entertained 

 the idea that crime was a serious matter 

 and that many new crimes should not be 

 made arbitrarily, the danger being that 

 persons ignorant of the new regulations 

 and crime boundaries might be punished. 

 We will not object to this method of 

 creating new criminal laws, however, if 

 the States will provide that nothing 

 in the laws or regulations shall be held 

 to prohibit the profitable production of 

 game and its sale as food from places 

 where it is produced for this purpose. 

 To provide arbitrarily that a State de- 

 partment may close the killing of chick- 

 ens or ducks for a term of years would 

 put an end to the poultry industry. The 

 game breeding industry, which has be- 

 come an important food-producing in- 

 dustry in America in spite of many legal 

 obstacles, should not be arbitrarily ter- 

 minated in the interest of a game protec- 

 tion industry which never has been able 

 to supply the markets or even to furnish 

 a reasonable amount of sport in closely 

 cultivated regions. It is a poor time just 

 how for a State department to insist that 

 it must be criminal to produce food on 

 the farms and arbitrary decrees closing 

 the shooting will put an end to game 

 production in places where such industry 

 is legal. The farmers will soon express 

 themselves on this subject. Many women 

 game breeders will join them, and we 

 can hardly believe a majority of the 

 sportsmen will insist in war times that 

 people must be arrested if they produce 



game for food. We have a large ac- 

 quaintance among sportsmen in many 

 States and we do not know a single one 

 who will declare that it should be crimi- 

 nal to produce food on a farm. 



Cheering Comment. 



A State Game Officer writes to the edi- 

 tor : "I have read with much interest the 

 Game Breeder and wish to commend you 

 and your publication for the thorough 

 manner in which you are making a fight 

 for better game conditions and legisla- 

 tion in the United States." 



We believe all intelligent State game 

 officers would prefer to see game plenti- 

 ful and the shooting good to seeing the 

 dove, the quail, the prairie grouse, the 

 ruffed grouse, the wood-cock on the song 

 bird list and most of the farmers up in 

 arms, so to speak, against sportsmen and 

 the departments l'epresenting them. The 

 departments easily can be made of great 

 economic importance, by permitting those 

 who wish to engage in food production 

 and field sports to do so, the result will 

 be that the wild lifing outfits can be run 

 out when they try to make laws for 

 States where they do not reside, just as 

 they were run off of Long Island when 

 they tried to put an end to food produc- 

 tion and field sports there. If any one 

 can shoot quail quite near New York 

 without the wild lifing assistance why 

 should not the sport be preserved every- 

 where. There must, of course, be some 

 producers. We cannot all be destroyers. 



BOOK REVIEWS. 



TWO GOOD BOOKS. 



"War-Time Poultry Feeding" and "Back- 

 yard Poultry Keeping" are two good and 

 timely books. The "Back-yard" book tells us 

 how this area can be made to pay, describes 

 what is possible and explains the industry 

 from start to finish, giving estimates of cost 

 and profit and telling the reader what to pur- 

 chase, what to feed and all the "whys and 

 wherefores." 



"War-Time Poultry Feeding" has much of 

 value and interest not only for war-time but 

 for all other times. Here as elsewhere war 

 economies may become valuable, not only for 

 the present but also for the future. There 

 are chapters on Poultry Foods,' Feeding 

 Chicks, Feeding Fowls for Eggs, Making a 

 Profit with Poultry and The Feeding of By- 

 products; there are numerous short articles 

 by authoritative writers on many subjects. 



