52 



THE GAME BREEDER 



Mr. John R. Gammeter, of Ohio, would 

 have been a champion of gastronomic ef- 

 fort if he could have swallowed the 

 three-weeks^old wild turkey he was after 

 when an ace of clubs put him out of the 

 game. Some snakes that are large enough 

 do eat hens' eggs, and Mr. J. D. Foot's 

 contribution is interesting, but he is 

 wrong in being "sure" that "any" snake 

 exceeding thirty inches in length will eat 

 eggs of the grouse or of a lesser size, and 

 I now again refer to the "Milk Snake" 

 for its almost total food is small rodents, 

 including the young of large rats. Now, 

 what I want to learn from game breeders 

 is, what toll the rodents take of eggs and 

 live birds ? I am willing to stand fast in 

 behalf of the "Milk Snake" as a bene- 

 factor to the breeders of game, letting 

 other species of serpents go for future 

 investigation and evidence. Game breed- 

 ers should also breed the agreeable little 

 Lampropeltis doliatus triangulus as a de- 

 fender against the rodent tribe. 



Allen Samuel Williams, 

 Director Reptile Study Society. 

 New York. 



Prairie Grouse and Pheasant. 



I mated a male prairie grouse with a 

 ring-necked pheasant hen. They paired 

 up all right, but the eggs were not fer- 

 tile. 



This male prairie grouse would stand 

 and crow and call within six feet of me 

 and he was tamer than any prairie chick- 

 ens I have ever had. 



E. D. PiCKELL. 



South Dakota. 



on many game farms. The birds sell at 

 from $15 tO' $25 each and the eggs sell 

 for $12 to $15 per dozen. All of these 

 birds can be produced profitably on the 

 Iowa farms and in other States many 

 women are making money with turkeys, 

 pheasants, ducks, quail and other game. 



Pheasants, wild ducks and turkeys lend 

 themselves readily to the hand-rearing 

 methods in comparatively small inclos- 

 ures. There are many booklets describ- 

 ing the methods of breeding, some of 

 which are for free distribution by the 

 dealers in game foods and by the Game 

 Conservation Society, 150 Nassau St., 

 New York. The Hercules Powder Co., 

 Wilmington, Delaware, issues an illus- 

 trated booklet discussing the necessity 

 for game farming and describing the 

 methods) of breeding wild ducks and 

 pheasants. 



Quail and prairie chickens are best 

 raised in a wild state in fields where 

 small areas or grass, grain and briars are 

 left standing to afford food, nesting 

 places and cover. When the natural 

 enemies of the game, the hawks, crows, 

 foxes, snakes and many others, are per- 

 sistently shot and trapped the birds will 

 increase in numbers with startling rapid- 

 ity, provided some small food and cover 

 areas be left or made about the sides of 

 the fields and in the center of large fields. 



It will pay to have such areas and to 

 employ some one who is handy with the 

 gun and traps to look after the game and 

 keep down its destructive enemies. 



Instructive. 



Two Methods of Game Breeding. 



Pheasants and wild ducks easily are 

 produced on comparatively small areas 

 by hand-rearing methods which are quite 

 similar to the methods of poultry breed- 

 ers. The eggs of pheasants and ducks 

 sell for $25 per hundred for the common 

 species and for several times as much 

 for the rare species. An Ohio game 

 farmer writes that he sold 10,000 eggs 

 last season and game fanners in many 

 other States sold all the eggs they could 

 produce. 



Wild turkeys, also, are now produced 



Game Breeder: . 



Have two deer — wish to bring them 

 home. Do I require New York license 

 to bring into New York? Will come 

 home November 1. Wire me in full to 

 Stratton, Maine. 



A. A. Berry. 

 A. A. Berry: 



Two bucks shipped by express require 

 shipping permits — no charge. Does re- 

 quire, also, importation licenses, $1.<X). 

 Bucks accompanied by the owner, no 

 permit or license. Permits issued at 

 Albany. Wire Conservation Commis- 

 sion, Albany. 



