148 



THE GAME BREEDER 



little pepper added. When unable to ob- 

 tain ground seed I have fed the whole 

 seed in the same proportions. This 

 should be staple food until they are six 

 weeks old, then they can be fed the same 

 as hens. They do not care much for 

 oats. Never forget green food in winter, 

 also apples, cabbage and table scraps. 

 Never give pepper, grass or (sorrel) to 

 pheasants, it is unhealthy for them. 



The pheasant is naturally very strong 

 in flight. Confining them was first ac- 

 complished by covering the pen or yards 

 with wire netting, but the expense of that 

 method was so great that some pheasant 

 raisers have abandoned it and instead of 

 doing that clip one wing of the flight 

 feathers to prevent flying, but some suc- 

 cessful raisers of these birds take a sharp 

 shears, prepare a saucer of boracic acid 

 and calomel or even wood ashes and take 

 each chick when between four days and 

 a_week old, clip off one wing at the first 

 joint, immediately dipping the raw end of 

 the wind in the powder and turning the 

 bird loose. This is called pinioning. It 

 has no injurious effects on the birds, they 

 recover quickly and it prevents their fly- 

 ing thereafter more than three or four 

 feet in height, and permits them to be 

 confined in an uncovered garden or yard 

 surrounded by poultry netting fence. 

 Birds raised to be liberated for stocking 

 purposes should not be pinioned. Not 

 more than one male should be kept with 

 six hens. Plenty of perches and a house 

 that is open on the south side is all that 

 is necessary for shelter. 



Poultry Finance. 



(From the Washington Star) 



"An egg is mighty valuable these days." 



"Of course," assented Farmer Corn- 



tossel. "An egg will bring almost enough 



to pay for feeding the hen until she lays 



the next one." 



The pheasant can beat this gate when 

 poultry eggs sell for 70 cents, eggs of the 

 common pheasant sell for $3.50 per dozen, 

 and the pheasant eats much less than a com- 

 mon barnyard hen. — Game Breeder. 



BOOK REVIEWS. 



Injurious Insects and Useful Birds. 



By F. L. Washburn, Professor of 



Entomology, University of Minnesota. 



J. B. Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1918. 



Pp. 1-453. Price, $175. 



The readers of The Game Breeder 

 are outdoor men and women who are 

 constantly dealing with insect pests, and 

 the greatest living agents in limiting 

 their excessive number — birds. Wash- 

 burn's book is abundantly illustrated so 

 that it makes an excellent hand-book for 

 the identification of many field, garden 

 and forest insects, household pests, and 

 those which attack domestic animals, in- 

 cluding poultry. The book devotes much 

 attention to approved remedies for the 

 control of these abundant animals. This 

 feature of the book is particularly prac- 

 tical as it brings together in small space 

 a great number of practical suggestions. 



Most of the book is devoted to insects 

 and their allies. The discussion of birds 

 is from the standpoint of the farmer who 

 should protect birds in order to gain bird 

 protection from insect pests. This chap- 

 ter is not very satisfactory because it 

 attempts too much in a brief space. In 

 attempting to mention many kinds of 

 birds the continuity of the evidence 

 showing the relation of birds to agricul- 

 ture is not clearly and forcibly presented. 

 There is a final chapter on quadruped 

 pests of the farm. Here is summarized 

 the injuries and the methods of control- 

 ling rabbits, gophers, squirrels and their 

 allies, and a few predacious animals such 

 as the fox, weasel and racoon, which 

 among game are vermin. This part in- 

 cludes the various approved methods of 

 killing by traps and poisons. An unusual 

 feature of the book consists in assem- 

 bling the treatment of all these pests in 

 one volume,' and the author has succeeded 

 in bringing together a large amount of 

 practical experience in convenient form 

 for use. 



The author's hope that he has pro- 

 duced a book suitable for agricultural 

 high schools and colleges invites the sug- 

 gestion that it is too encyclopaedic in 

 form for that purpose, and lacks ade- 

 quate emphasis and development of the 



