THE OREGON SPORTSMAN: 263. 
ment and our care, do not slowly but certainly fade away. We must 
leave the fields at least as rich as we found them, as evidence of our 
guardianship, and as example to our followers. To do otherwise is 
worse than selfish. It is worse than to despoil—it is, in plain words, 
to steal from the unborn clan of sportsmen and nature-lovers its rightful 
heritage. 
Fear for this consequence is unnecessary, for 
it shall be averted; only knowledge is requisite 
to develop the problem’s answer. This remedy 
is coming forward as surely as the need is being 
manifested, and it is nothing less than artificial 
propagation, as a means of replenishing the 
fields and coverts and of helping the Chinese 
Pheasant to keep on his feet in the face of the 
heavy toll demanded. You need not shudder at 
‘fartificial.’’ You like your trout very well, 
even if they are hand-reared, carefully trans- 
ported and planted for your enjoyment. And 
hand-raised pheasants, liberated when old enough 
to withstand natural enemies (three to five 
months) are nothing short of the wild bird that 
was reared by his own wild mother. If the 
birds reared are returned to the wild, and the 
breeding stock renewed occasionally with injec- 
tions of wild blood, the resultant hand-reared 
pheasants need never show signs of domestica- 
tion. 
This State, of course, has already liberated DPay-old Chinabird. 
many birds in sections where formerly they 
were unknown; and results prove the work more than justifiable. But 
the increase which the future will demand opens a line of endeavor to 
sportsmen and bird-lovers alike which may be made profitable, as well 
as pleasurable. Pheasants can be raised by hand most successfully; 
that is demonstrated by the history of the State Game Farm which, 
guided by Mr. ’Gene M. Simpson, has reached a high rank amongst 
American pheasantries. Further, they may be raised profitably— 
hardly a business may be named for which the investment, compared 
to the returns, is so small; and the pheasant breeding industry is rap- 
idly forging ahead to a place which will be, at the least, close to the 
livestock producing industry in importance. 
Again, pheasant farming does not need to be undertaken on a large 
scale; as a backlot venture, with some extra time mornings and eve- 
nings, it may be made to yield, besides the pleasure and satisfaction of 
ownership and accomplishment, a handsome revenue as well. 
The art of raising pheasants is not one requiring the science neces- 
sary to a modern poultry plant, nor the daily detailed labor of the egg 
factory. During the hatching and rearing season (Spring and Summer) 
activity on a pheasantry is at its height; during the Winter very little 
time is consumed with pheasant farm duties. No great amount of land 
is necessary. 
A small beginning, wherein a knowledge and understanding of the 
wild habits and requirements of the birds is to be inexpensively gained, 
is far better for the beginner than a heavy splurge. 
The pheasants are being raised, and the business is rapidly growing 
—half a dozen breeders’ societies have sprung up over the country in 

