THE GAME BREEDER 



15 



Mine roost in a house about forty feet 

 long, ten feet high in front and seven at 

 the back, one-half of the front being 

 open with wire netting over the opening 

 to confine the birds and exclude owls 

 and the like. The floor is of cement for 

 dryness, and this is covered at all times 

 with a deep litter which is often changed. 

 This makes the house easy to clean, 

 though under the roosts which are four 

 feet long, is a dropping board of course. 

 Thus they are roosting practically in the 

 open, yet protected from rain and prowl- 

 ers. 



As to treatment of diseased and sick 

 birds, I could not raise turkeys without 

 turpentine, first, last and always. It 

 cannot be administered in the drinking 

 water, because they won't touch it, but 

 as above. A case of diarrhoea taken in 

 time can be cured with salts, then tur- 

 pentine, and curd for food. Dr. Hadley 

 of the Rhode Island Experiment Station, 

 has found that the secret of the efficacy 

 of curd as a turkey food, is an acid it 



contains and he describes a culture that 

 can be used in the milk, which curdles 

 it with a much higher percentage of this 

 acidity. I have never taken the trouble 

 to incubate the milk, however, in this 

 way. 



The best remedy I know for grown-up 

 turkeys that are ailing is one prescribed 

 by Margaret Mahaney of Massachu- 

 setts. It is administered in pills and has 

 the following composition : 

 y 2 lb. ginger. 



2 tablespoonfuis sulphate of iron, 

 1 teaspoonful salicylate of soda, 

 1 teaspoonful of turpentine and water 

 to moisten. But this should be preceeded 

 with a good purgative, salts, or oil and 

 then administered every two hours if the 

 bird is very sick. Three times a day, for 

 a milder case. 



All my turkeys, old and young, have 

 access at all times to fresh water, crush- 

 ed oyster shells or china, and charcoal. 

 Situated as they are, they get their own 

 grit. Coarse sand is sufficient. 



AN ATTEMPT TO SAVE CALIFORNIA ELK. 



By Barton Warren Evermann. 

 Director of the Museum, California Academy of Sciences. 



Whether the Marin County elk were 

 of the same species as the San Joaquin 

 Valley elk is not certainly known. It 

 may be that the elk of the heavily for- 

 ested, humid region along the coast from 

 Marin County northward is a distinct 

 species. The facts can be determined 

 only by comparison of material from 

 the two regions. But whatever may be 

 the facts as regards this matter, it is 

 clear that elk were very abundant in the 

 San Joaquin Valley and adjacent foot- 

 hills, certainly as late as 1850 to 1854. 

 From that time they decreased rapidly. 

 In the early seventies it is said the herd 

 had been reduced to a few individuals — 

 one report says to a single pair — and 

 they were on the Kern County ranch of 

 Messrs. Miller & Lux. It is said that 

 the imminent extinction of the species 

 came to the attentiion of Mr. Henry 

 Miller cf the Miller & Lux Company, and 



he immediately gave strict orders to all 

 the employees of the company that the 

 elk not be disturbed under any circum- 

 stances, and that everything possible for 

 their protection should be done. 



That has been the policy of Messrs. 

 Miller & Lux to this day. The ani- 

 mals were protected. The herd increased. 

 In 1914 it was estimated to contain about 

 four hundred animals. The state game 

 law makes the killing of any elk a fel- 

 ony, punishable by imprisonment for a 

 term not exceeding two years. Although 

 the elk roam at will over the Miller & 

 Lux ranch, doing — the company esti- 

 mates—from $5,000 to $10,000 worth of 

 damage every year to the alfalfa and 

 Egyptian corn fields and to the fences, 

 they have not been disturbed. That the 

 species was not exterminated is due, 

 without doubt, to the intelligent interest 

 taken in its preservation by Mr. Henry 



