114 



THE GAME BREEDER 



Chinese Pheasant Pens and Runways. 



tiary, who was very enthusiastic over it. 

 The ten acres adjoining and belonging 

 to the penitentiary were then obtained 

 for the use of a game farm. The war- 

 den was all the more enthusiastic when 

 he recalled that the "honor'' system in 

 the prison had proved a success even 

 among some men who were "sent-up" for 

 Ufe. The co-operation of Mr. Drum 

 was also desired because he had demon- 

 strated the fact that he was one of the 

 best game raisers in the State of Wash- 

 ington. 



Since the greatest cost in raising the 

 game birds is labor, the labor would 

 count for nothing if the prisoners could 

 be interested. When the "honor men" 

 were told of the plan they promised on 

 their honor to put their whole heart and 

 energy in the new business. Up to this 

 time all they could learn was the making 

 of jute and brick. This is mostly in- 

 side work and not work that is very 

 remunerative. As they were willing to 

 try this outside work and the money 

 collected from the counties, State Fish 

 and Game Commissioner Darwin, War- 

 den Drum, Chairman Pedigo and Game 



Warden Esses, of Grays Harbor, who 

 has a great reputation as a bird raiser, 

 went to Corvallis, Oregon, to study the 

 game farm there. Mr. Esses spent sev- 

 eral weeks in Oregon and then came 

 back to design the yard. Coops, equip- 

 ment and Chinese pheasant eggs were 

 purchased and on June 1st Mr. Esses 

 was placed in control of the farm. 



The prisoners were placed on their 

 honor. It required more honor in this 

 particular instance because they would 

 be in the woods a great deal of the time 

 and although the watch-tower is not 

 such a great distance from the farm, op- 

 portunities to sneak away are numer- 

 ous. The men have shown that their 

 honor was as good as any one elses, be- 

 cause not one has even attempted to es- 

 cape. The work has been so fascinating 

 to them that they have been willing to 

 spend ten to twelve hours per day in 

 this occupation. But the prisoners have 

 not been the only faithful workers on 

 this farm ; credit must also be given to 

 several Rhode Island hens who sat on 

 the Chinese pheasant eggs twenty-three 

 hours and forty minutes every day for 



