148 



THE GAME BREEDER 



T^ e Game Breeder 



Published Monthly 



Ebited by D WIGHT W. HUNTINGTON 



NEW YORK, FEBRUARY, 1919. 



TERMS: 

 10 Cents a Copy — $1.00 a year in Advance. 



Postage free to all subscribers in the United States. 

 To All ForeignCountries and Canada, $1.25. 



The Game Conservation Society, Inc. 

 publishers, 150 nassau st., new york 



D. W. Hvntjngton, President, 



F. R. Peixotto, Treasurer, 



J. C. Huntington, Secretary. 

 E. Dayton, Advertising Manager. 

 Telephone, Beekman 3685. 



A western reader says he has over 

 one hundred prairie grouse which he has 

 been feeding for some years. He also 

 reports bad shipping facilities. This 

 reader says the birds are useless for 

 shooting since the state law prohibits this 

 and, of course, he would not let any one 

 shoot birds on his farm. He is not op- 

 posed to shooting but he says, "the dudes 

 from town" soon would exterminate his 

 little flock if he permitted shooting. He 

 thinks the birds might as well be de- 

 stroyed since they "are no good to any- 

 body" excepting that his cat eats a few 

 young ones and the crows have some 

 eggs and "no doubt some young chick- 

 ens." 



HARMONY. 



Our first impression when we learned 

 that the United States would require that 

 all wild ducks intended for sale should 

 be branded when young by making a 

 V-shaped mark on one foot was that this 

 was an extra and unnecesary perform- 

 ance in view of the fact- that the states 

 require a five-cent tag on one foot of 

 every wild duck before the ducks can 

 be marketed. 



The game breeding industry is ham- 

 pered by state licenses and by the tags 

 referred to, and by many other regula- 

 tions, and it seemed that the United 

 States regulations created additional 



hardships, especially when they provid- 

 ed that the ducks only could be taken 

 with a hatchet or "otherwise than by 

 shooting." 



Since, however, the United States reg- 

 ulations permit the taking of birds and 

 eggs for breeding purposes and the reg- 

 ulations have been amended, as we ad- 

 vised, so as to permit wild duck breed- 

 ers to shoot and sell their ducks, we 

 are inclined to advise our readers to ap- 

 ply for the United States permits and to 

 brand their young ducks as the regula- 

 tions require. 



It soon will become evident that the 

 five-cent tags are unnecessary and we 

 have no doubt intelligent state game of- 

 ficers will recommend that they be abol- 

 ished. 



There is a tendency everywhere to 

 amend the state laws so as to make them 

 conform to the United States law and 

 there can be no doubt that in states 

 where game breeders are permitted to 

 breed wild ducks they soon can sell them 

 and ship them without interference, pro- 

 vided they have the identification brand 

 on one foot. 



We know the United States biological 

 survey now believes that it is a good 

 plan to make North America the biggest 

 game producing country in the world 

 and there can be no doubt that the game 

 breeders who are increasing in numbers 

 rapidly will be encouraged to produce 

 game and not prevented from profiting 

 by their industry. 



We take far more pleasure in praising 

 the right than in denouncing the wrong 

 and we see much to praise in the pres- 

 ent activity of the biological survey since 

 it promptly favored a repeal of the regu- 

 lation preventing field sports. Let us all 

 pull together for "more game and fewer 

 game laws" and the most reasonable reg- 

 ulations intended to please those who 

 think that the wild game should never 

 be eaten by any one excepting gunners. 

 Although we still entertain the opinion 

 that after anyone takes a wild fowl le- 

 gally and within the bag limit he should 

 own the duck or goose taken and that 

 under proper regulations he should be 

 permitted to supply some of the food to 



