THE GAME BREEDER 



79 



wild quail said to be owned by the State. 

 In some States, Indiana, Massachusetts 

 and others, quail breeding is a legal in- 

 dustry and we have heard of sales by 

 breeders without interference in States 

 which have not yet repaired their game 

 laws so as to make it no longer criminal 

 to profitably produce any kind of food 

 on a farm. 



The game officer who would attempt 

 just now to break up a food producing 

 industry would not help the political 

 party to which he belongs much. It is 

 gratifying to observe that the best State 

 game officers are inclined to favor the 

 food producers and to encourage them 

 rather than to arrest them as criminals. 



Mexican Quail. 



The importers found great difficulty 

 in getting all the quail tney wanted in 

 Mexico. An absurd ruling of the au- 

 thorities at Washington prevented the 

 breeders from attempting to trap quail 

 until the breeding season was nearly at 

 hand and although the date was ad- 

 vanced a little after we protested against 

 the ruling it was too late to make the 

 importations a great success. 



One of the larger importers reported 

 to The Game Breeder tiiat there was a 

 strike among the trappers who refused 

 to work during Holy Week and imme- 

 diately thereafter corn planting began 

 and the trappers were engaged in this 

 industry. 



There were some complaints about 

 losses of birds in shipping. The express 

 companies were not able to handle the 

 birds as promptly as they should. 



It seems strange that the Government 

 should persist in surrounding a food in- 

 dustry with restrictions which are sure 

 to work out badly, but this, of course, 

 is one of the necessary incidents to game 

 politics. We have pointed out often that 

 the poultry business quickly would be 

 killed in America if the game politicians 

 applied their efforts to poultry. 



Quail should be imported at any time 

 during the year when the importer deems 

 it wise to make the shipments. The birds 



should not be held up in crates at the 

 border until they become diseased or 

 weakened so as to not stand the long 

 journey. They should be shipped 

 promptly to reputable game farmers who 

 would quickly release them in large in- 

 cisures and see that the losses be ob- 

 viated. If the Government persists in its 

 desire to have the bird looked over by 

 "hoss-doctors," as one of our readers 

 says, the inspection might be made on 

 the game farm of the importer and be- 

 fore any sales be made from such a place. 



Thousands of Hungarian partridges 

 are imported annually to England (or 

 were before the war started) without 

 any nonsense being applied to the indus- 

 try and the result was that the people 

 during a long open season could buy 

 cheap partridges in the markets. Game 

 often was much cheaper than poultry or 

 other meats and with the vast areas at 

 our disposal in America we could have 

 cheaper game for the people to eat than 

 any country in the world provided some 

 of the game officers who regulate impor- 

 tations and other matters can acquire a 

 little common sense. 



Sport has nothing to fear from game 

 being made tremendously abundant on 

 many game farms and very cheap in 

 many markets. 



Profits in Eggs. 



It is true as Mr. Foote said in The 

 Game Breeder for May that it is not as 

 simple and easy to rear game as it is 

 to rear poultry. For those who have 

 learned the art of game keeping the 

 1 earing of pheasants is not much more 

 difficult than the rearing of poultry is and 

 Mr. Foote will agree with us, no doubt, 

 that the rearing of, certain species of 

 wild ducks is about as simple and easy 

 as the rearing of domesticated ducks is. 



The sale of eggs tends to make. game . 

 breeding profitable for the beginner.:',;. 

 Any- one can pick up eggs and. ihey aBetifi.1 

 safely; shipped in ■numerous .excellent! ;;-j 

 containers or egg boxes. PheasantS'-iwill-oac 

 lay numerous eggs in comparatively small 

 inclosures and all breeders admit that 



