THE GAME BREEDER 



145 



The Market. 



Reports indicate that big numbers of 

 eggs of wild ducks and pheasants (hun- 

 dreds of thousands) were sold during 

 the season by our advertisers. Early in 

 the season the price was $20 and $25 

 per hundred for both kinds of eggs. 

 Some late eggs sold for $15 per hundred 

 but this was the lowest price quoted to 

 The Game Breeder. Quail eggs were 

 in big demand and those offered sold 

 readily for $6 per dozen and up. Since 

 the Massachusetts Commission has 

 proved that as many as an hundred quail 

 eggs have been laid by a penned bird 

 and the average number is large it would 

 seem that quail should be more profitable 

 than pheasants and ducks. The penned 

 birds can be liberated in small gardens 

 made safe and attrctive after a number 

 of eggs have been gathered and sold and 

 the birds will often nest and rear broods 

 when so liberated. Mexican quail sold 

 for $20 and even $30 per dozen and all 

 the birds offered eagerly were purchased. 

 Northern quail brought high prices and 

 there was a demand for many thousands 

 more than could be supplied. Some of 

 the Western breeders who have quail 

 should make a lot of money next season 

 if they will increase the number of their 

 flocks and sell both birds and eggs. 



Prairie grouse and ruffed grouse and 

 their eggs remained scarce and hard to 

 procure. There is a splendid opportunity 

 for those who own grouse in the States 

 which permit the breeding of all species 

 of food birds. The grouse can be pro- 

 duced easily and cheaply in protected 

 fields and since they find most of their 

 food they should be far more profitable 

 than pheasants or ducks are. The grouse 

 sell readily for $5 each and up and the 

 eggs sell for twice as much as pheasant 

 and duck eggs. We hope more game 

 farmers will breed grouse and those who 

 do will make a lot of money since the 

 demand far exceeds the supply and only 

 a few States permit such industry. Some 

 of the States where the grouse have be- 

 come extinct are the, best ones in which 

 to start grouse breeding since the birds 

 are not protected by law. The wild tur- 

 keys have been introduced and made 



plentiful on some farms in States where 

 the birds are not protected because there 

 were no turkeys to protect. Turkeys 

 sold readily at $15 to $25 each. The eggs 

 sold for $10 and $15 per dozen. 



One day old pheasants and ducks sold 

 for 40 and 50 cents each and since these 

 birds were delivered successfully both by 

 express and by mail we predict that many 

 thousands of baby pheasants and chicks 

 will be sold next season. Since the 

 pheasant is a small eater when compared 

 with barnyard poultry and the wild duck 

 when properly handled will fly out and 

 secure much of its food the industry of 

 producing baby pheasants and ducks un- 

 doubtedly will be very profitable. Any 

 one can gather and sell eggs and it is 

 quite easy to hatch the eggs and sell one- 

 day old birds. Somewhat more skill is 

 required to rear the birds but so many 

 have succeeded that it is evident game 

 farming is an industry which any one 

 who owns a farm will find very profit- 

 able. The big commercial game farmers 

 who advertise in The Game Breeder are 

 always willing to give advice to pur- 

 chasers and beginners. Many issue at- 

 tractive catalogues and booklets of in- 

 struction. Many new shooting clubs and 

 individual preserve owners are ready to 

 purchase and the State game departments 

 also buy largely from the advertisers. 



Farm Fish Ponds. 



George D. Pratt, the New York Con- 

 servation Commissioner, says : 



There has been much talk about the value 

 of the farm fish pond, and some effort has 

 been made to induce farmers to build them to 

 supply not only their own domestic needs for 

 fish food, but also to produce food fishes for 

 market. So far, however, very little practical 

 assistance in this direction has been extended. 

 Many states raise forest trees in their nur- 

 series and sell them at cost of production for 

 reforesting private land. In New York State 

 we are now endeavoring to extend this idea, 

 and are in favor of furnishing fish for a 

 brood stock free of charge for farm fish 

 ponds, and of supplying additional fish there- 

 after at the cost of production. We know 

 that fish ponds of this sort are common in 

 many of the European countries, particularly 

 in Germany and Belgium, and we can certainly 

 take a leaf from the German war book in this 

 connection. 



