THE GAME BREEDER 



71 



quail and other game birds have made 

 these birds so abundant that they have 

 far more than they can eat. 



The society successfully defended sev- 

 eral breeders in the courts who were ar- 

 rested for trivial offenses such as pur- 

 chasing eggs before their licenses were 

 issued, with the result that the arresting 

 officers have not been so active as for- 

 merly and seem to have learned that it is 

 not even good politics to arrest food pro- 

 ducers for trivial offenses connected with 

 their industry. 



The extended publicity given to a case 

 where a fine of $15,000 was collected lie- 

 cause a few ducks were trapped for 

 breeding purposes had much to do with 

 the amendments of State laws so as to 

 permit the trapping of birds for food- 

 producing purposes, and it was under- 

 stood before the Migratory Bird Law 

 was enacted that a regulation to be made 

 under it would permit the trapping of 

 wild ducks so that no more excessive 

 fines for attempting to produce food ever 

 will be imposed. 



So long as no publicity was given to 

 such performances and arresting officers 

 and their pals who shared in the fine 

 could get away with it quietly, and in 

 fact were promoted often because of 

 their ability to make such collections, the 

 number of such outrageous and shocking 

 performances promised to increase rapid- 

 ly because they were highly profitable. 

 Our publicity has been highly beneficial. 



The number of game breeders has in- 

 creased rapidly during the year, so ra- 

 pidly in some months that new appli- 

 cants for membership in the society could 

 not be supplied with the current number 

 of The Game Breeder within a few weeks 

 after it appeared. 



The usual game dinner of the society 

 was not given on account of the war, all 

 of our younger men and many of the 

 older ones being away. The money 

 usually contributed for the dinner was 

 invested in wild turkeys, bobwhites, 

 Gambel's quail and in the effort to se- 

 cure prairie grouse and other game birds 

 for breeding purposes. 



The detailed work of breeders written 



for the magazine has induced others to 

 undertake similar work and many new 

 game farms and preserves have been 

 created during the year. We were asked 

 to secure gamekeepers for three new 

 places in one week. 



Some game farmers and preserve 

 owners suspended operations during the 

 war. One of our most active members, 

 Mr. John Heywood, died shortly after 

 writing us about his plans on a new game 

 farm which he had started to take the 

 place of his old farm at Gardner, Mass. 



The creation of the Long Island Game 

 Breeders' Association, a shooting syndi- 

 cate with small dues, one dollar a week, 

 was perhaps the most notable practical 

 event of the year. Sportsmen have for 

 so many years been led to believe that 

 good shooting soon would be provided 

 by numerous new laws that many of 

 them never seemed to realize that it 

 would be quite as easy to have more 

 game as it always was to secure more 

 game laws. The political sportsmen pro- 

 claiming that shooting was only for the 

 rich when game was properly looked 

 after, seemed to prevent many sportsmen 

 from ascertaining how easy it is to have 

 more game and much shooting at small 

 expense per gun using lands where game 

 of all sorts had ceased to occur. 



Nothing more quickly produces re- 

 sults than a practical demonstration and 

 the Long Island Association, which is 

 managed by a committee of the Game 

 Conservation Society, was formed to 

 demonstrate how easy it is to have more 

 game for those who prefer this to more 

 game laws. Many visitors will be enter- 

 tained at the farms during the breeding 

 season and many new places will be 

 started by those who witness the demon- 

 stration. It has been suggested that this 

 form of the activity of the society be ex- 

 tended so as to provide good shooting at 

 a fixed sum per day and that at this ex- 

 periment station or at another which is 

 contemplated the sportsmen be permitted 

 to shoot a few birds per day on account 

 of their annual permit and a much larger 

 number by paying an additional price 

 for the extra birds shot ; a small amount 

 if the extra birds be marketed, a larger 



