70 



THE GAME BREEDER 



receive the practical protection given to 

 other game. Woodcock are sold as food 

 in the English markets. 



It is said that some species of game 

 are somewhat beneficial to agriculture. 

 The game breeders, conceding the fact, 

 insist that it should not be a criminal of- 

 fence for any one to keep the species 

 profitably plentiful in his field or gar- 

 den. It would be wise for the Congress 

 not to destroy the incentive to produce 

 food by enacting a law making it a 

 crime to have the stock birds for breed- 

 ing purposes or the food "in possession." 

 The bill should be amended so as to per- 

 mit and encourage the sale of all species 

 produced by indutsry. 



An Unfavorable Contrast. 



The game law enthusiasts, who ap- 

 peared before the committee, have se- 

 cured thousands of State laws prevent- 

 ing food production but the result of such 

 laws has not been good. In striking 

 contrast to the efforts of those who wish 

 to make the District of Columbia a food 

 prohibition area are the efforts and in- 

 dustry of thousands of food producers 

 — the number rapidly is increasing. 

 These men and women now produce mil- 

 lions of game birds and eggs and they 

 respectfully urge the Congress not to 

 close one of the best markets to their 

 food products. They have added to the 

 value of farms and in many cases they 

 pay all the taxes on lands and buildings 

 of many poor farmers. 



Attitude of the Audubon Association. 



The National Association of Audubon 

 Societies, a highly reputable and influen- 

 tial organization, fortunately sent a rep- 

 resentative to the hearing who knows 

 something about the natural causes for 

 the ir crease and decrease in the numbers 

 of any soecies of birds suitable for hu- 

 man food ; who knows, in fact, how easy 

 it is to make any species of game profit- 

 ably plentiful and who knows the futility 

 of laws preventing any one from looking 

 after the game properly as it must be 

 looked after if it is expected to survive 

 in populous regions. 



Dr. Herbert K. Job, who represented 

 the Audubons, well said : 



"I want to add a word, if I may, in regard 

 to the propagation of game. I have a Govern- 

 ment Bulletin here, "Disposition of Game 

 Reared in Captivity," and here is a paragraph 

 which says, 'About two-thirds of the States 

 now have some special provision regulating 

 the possession, sale or export of game raised 

 in captivity, and I think, as has been agreed 

 upon already, we certainly should have a clause 

 in this bill to make that possible. That will 

 obviate an objection that has been raised on 

 the commercial side of the question. There is 

 a good industry being started in our country 

 now. There is one advertisement I have read 

 recently of a California firm which advertised 

 to sell 40,000 eggs of game birds for propa- 

 gation purposes, including the ring-necked 

 pheasant, several kinds of wild ducks and 

 some species of quail. Now when any firm 

 can offer for sale 40,000 eggs in one season 

 for propagation it does show that the industry 

 is getting a footing in this country. It is very 

 important not to discourage it and rule out 

 good markets here and there, for if we can 

 raise some tens of thousands of birds which 

 otherwise would not be raised, it is very much 

 worth while and will give the country an in- 

 creased food supply." 



Mr. Gould — Mr. Chairman, may we 

 have the name of that publication put in 

 the record in case any of us want to 

 refer to it? 



Mr. Job — -The publication is "Game 

 Laws for 1917." It can be had from 

 the Department of Agriculture. 



Mr. Gould — Then that firm selling 

 eggs in California. I think it would be 

 a good thing to have that in the record. 



Mr. Job — I am awfully sorry but I 

 cannot give that offhand. They adver- 

 tise in The Game Breeder, a well known 

 little magazine published in New York, 

 and they carry an advertisement in every 

 spring number. I have read it several 

 times, and there are a number of other 

 firms — there are a hundred firms — over 

 the country who are raising game, 

 especially the pheasants and mallard 

 ducks and black ducks." 



The reason why quail, grouse and 

 other birds beneficial to agriculture are 

 not produced so abundantly is because 

 "fool laws" still prohibit their profitable 

 production. 



An Under-Estimate. 



Mr. Job's estimate that there are an 

 hundred firms who are raising game in 



