THE GAME BREEDER 



135 



try places who believe in producing a 

 big lot of game before they shoot it. No 

 one cares to shoot a big lot of game dur- 

 ing the season and to let it lie on the 

 ground and rot. Comparatively few can 

 afford to produce a thousand or more 

 bird- and give them all away. They 

 hardly can be expected to continue to 

 purchase eggs and stock birds from the 

 game farmers if they know they will be 

 hounded by game wardens in pursuit of 

 half of the fines they may secure because 

 the producers shoot more than three cock 

 birds in a season or some other fool num- 

 ber of birds. 



The Worst Vermin. 



A Western farmer, in a State which 

 ha- a very bad game department, writes 

 that the worst vermin they have to con- 

 tend with is the game politician. It 

 would seem time for the last named to 

 study a little statesmanship. Xo states- 

 man would insist that it should be a crime 

 to profitably produce game on a farm. 

 Possibly some politicians may be asked 

 some questions in the agricultural states 

 just before the next election. Any 

 Grange easily can inquire how a candi- 

 date stands on this food-producing 

 matter. 



Good Work in New Mexico. 



The Hon. Theodore Roualt, Jr., game 

 warden of Xew Mexico, one of the best 

 State game officers in the country, 

 writes : "During the past spring we have 

 succeeded in distributing quite a num- 

 ber of ringnecked pheasants among the 

 farmers in the different parts of the 

 state, and we believe that we will even- 

 tually be able to secure enough pheas- 

 ants from these small breeders to prop- 

 erly stock the whole State. Our plan 

 has been to supply the birds to the 

 farmers at no expense whatsoever to 

 them, excepting the erection of proper 

 breeding plants, and then they are to sell 

 us the birds at two months old at the 

 prevailing market price. Under this plan 

 we have been successful in inducing 

 quite a number of farmers to take ad- 

 vantage of it and I believe that in this 

 way we will be successful in inducing 



them to take up the handling of other 

 kinds of game birds.'' 



Xew Mexico quickly should become a 

 big game producing State. The prairie 

 grouse and several species of quail are 

 indigenous and fairly abundant in many 

 parts of the State and we have no doubt 

 if some of the big farms and ranches 

 will breed these birds for sale the owners 

 will make a lot of money and perform 

 an excellent public service. The sports- 

 men who wish to have good bird shoot- 

 ing during long open seasons can per- 

 petuate sports for themselves by form- 

 ing shooting clubs or syndicates to share 

 the expense of properly looking after the 

 game and they will provide sport for all 

 hands just as the clubs on Long Island, 

 X. Y., do, since much game overflows 

 from club grounds and stocks the sur- 

 rounding country. It never has been 

 necessary to close quail shooting on Long 

 Island, although it is quite near the big 

 city of Xew York, which contains one- 

 twentieth of the entire population of the 

 United States. 



Meeting of Game and Fish Commis- 

 sioners. 



The next annual meeting of the Inter- 

 national Association of Game and Fish 

 Commissioners will be held in Xew York 

 City on Thursday and Friday, Septem- 

 ber 12, and 13, 1918, following the an- 

 nual meeting of the American Fisheries 

 Society, at the same place. 



At the last annual meeting held in St. 

 Paul, Minn., in August, 1917, the scope 

 of this association was enlarged to cover 

 all of Xorth America, by changing the 

 name and by-laws of the organization so 

 that the Dominion of Canada and the 

 Canadian Provinces have an equal stand- 

 ing in the association with the United 

 States Government and the States of the 

 Union. 



Membership in the association is com- 

 posed of officials engaged in game and 

 fish conservation work and its meetings 

 and conferences are held annually. 



In view of the great importance of 

 conservation work as affecting the food 

 supply, the coming meeting is of special 

 import at this time. Plans are being 



