142 



THE GaME BREEDER 



There should be some cover and some 

 food in or at the boundaries of the fields, 

 otherwise the game can not live in them. 



The following quotations from the 

 book on the English partridge of ''The 

 Fur, Feather and Fin Series" indicate 

 that game breeders in England appreci- 

 ate the .fact that modern farming often 

 is not good for the game : 



"The destruction of old-fashioned 

 double hedges, the transformation of 

 commons and moorlands into highly 

 farmed tillage, the conversion of tillage 

 into grazing farms, changes in the crops 

 we grow, should all be taken into con- 

 sideration by any one who essayed to 

 show the close relation which the part- 

 ridge bears to its native soil. 



"Of course there are careful observers 

 up and down the country who declare 

 the partridge has fallen upon hard times. 

 Thiey complain dolefully enough that 

 wire fencing is in the ascendant, and 

 that the old-fashioned hedges which gave 

 good cover to the birds in the nesting 

 time have been grubbed up in many in- 

 stances. They point mournfully to the 

 general adoption of new-fangled meth- 

 ods of farming, and lament the substi- 

 tution of the mowing machine for the 

 scythe." 



Readers are aware that much of this 

 applies equally well to our quail or par- 

 tridge, the bob white. Some American 

 farms are practically uninhabitable for 

 quail because the covers have been de- 

 stroyed and no one would expect to find 

 quail on hay farms and cattle ranches 

 unless some food and cover be planted 

 at the sides of the fields or small areas 

 be set aside and especially planted for 

 the game. 



Sportsmen and Farmers. 



Mr. A. J. Stuart-Wortley, an author- 

 ity on shooting in England, well says : 

 "Advice can not go much farther than 

 to insist again upon the policy, not to 

 say necessity, of cultivating harmonious 

 relations with those whose business it 

 is to extract profit from the soil, who live 

 upon it, and who therefore if not al- 

 lowed to participate in some of the bene- 

 fits derived from a stock of game will be 



apt to view its existence with a more or 

 less hostile envy." 



The chief reason why game vanishes 

 in America is that it is not to the land 

 owner's interest to have any game on 

 his farm. Our readers well remember 

 the Minnesota farmer, quoted in one of 

 the sporting magazines, who told his son 

 he would better shoot the flock of prairie 

 grouse on the farm since the season soon 

 would be open when the dudes from 

 town would come out in good numbers 

 and kill them. 



Clearly we must make it to the farm- 

 er's interest to keep the game plentiful 

 and we easily can make proper arrange- 

 ments to have shooting on many farms 

 when we make it profitable for the 

 owners. 



Where a number of guns combine to 

 share the expense of keeping the game 

 plentiful the cost for each gun should 

 not be much and the game shot is well 

 worth the cost of producing it and look- 

 ing after it properly. 



Form of Law to Encourage Game 

 Breeding. 



Sec. 1. Any farmer, ranch owner or 

 lessee may apply to the state game de- 

 partment (name the department as game 

 commission or state game warden as the 

 name may be) for a permit to breed 

 game within the boundaries of the prop- 

 erty owned or leased by the applicant. 

 Nothing in the game laws shall be con- 

 strued to prevent the breeding of game 

 on game farms and preserves and the 

 sale of the game under proper regula- 

 tions in order to increase our food 

 supply. 



The state shall issue permits to ap- 

 plicants permitting the breeding of game 

 and the taking of game and eggs for 

 breeding purposes and may make reg- 

 ulations requiring the identification of 

 game to be sold as food by marking of 

 packages or the branding or tagging of 

 the game before it is offered for sale. 



Sec. 2. Live game and game eggs on 

 game farms, ranches and preserves may 

 be sold by those holding permits at any 

 time for propagation purposes. 



Sec. 3. The state game department 



