82 



THE GAME BREEDER 



locust appears acceptable to the prairie 

 hen. Among the beetles listed by Dr. 

 Judd, are the harmful leaf beetles and 

 the potato beetle, in both adult and larvae 

 stages, and the injurious 12-spotted cu- 

 cumber beetle. 



On most farms there is an abundance 

 of insects; in fact, they are far too nu- 

 merous, but it is important for the 

 sportsman and game preserver to know 

 that too many grouse or other game 

 birds will result in too great a destruc- 

 tion of the insect food which is all im- 

 portant to the existence of the game. 

 When the pheasants and other game 

 birds have been made very abundant in 

 England it has been found necessary to 

 provide insect food for the young birds 

 and insect foods are sold by dealers to 

 the gamekeepers. In his excellent bulle- 



tin on the hawks and owls issued by the 

 U. S. Agricultural Department Dr. 

 Fisher states that hawks destroy many 

 grasshoppers. The game preserver need 

 not preserve the hawks for this service 

 since his game will attend to the control 

 of the grasshoppers and the real danger 

 is that it will control them too closely. 

 I by no means, however, favor the in- 

 discriminate destruction of all hawks. It 

 is desirable to see some of these preda- 

 cious birds about, but the more harmful 

 species clearly should be controlled suffi- 

 ciently to prevent their taking much 

 game on places where game is preserved 

 for sport or for profit. As a matter of 

 fact it seems quite impossible to do more 

 than destroy a part of the hawks which 

 soon become abundant on places where 

 game is preserved. 



PUBLIC FISHING VS. PRIVATE HUNTING. 



By F. M. Newbert,- President California Fish and Game Commission, 



The State Legislature, in 1911, enacted 

 section 4085 y* of the Political Code, 

 which grants to the county boards of 

 supervisors the right to condemn a pub- 

 lic highway for the purpose of fishing 

 along the banks of any stream stocked 

 by the State which does not run through 

 cultivated land. Prior to the passage of 

 this act there was much determined op- 

 position offered to the bill by certain 

 people who held that such a law would 

 have the effect of breaking down the 

 powerful trespass law in force in the 

 State. It was also argued that the bill 

 meant confiscation of property rights 

 and was in direct conflict with the con- 

 stitution. However, the bill was passed 

 and signed by the governor. 



In this act there is no confiscation of 

 property without just remuneration. 

 The county must purchase such a right 

 of way after due process of condemna- 

 tion. Further, the people of this State 

 have been taxed from 1871 to 1909 for 

 the upkeep of the hatcheries and for the 

 importation and distribution of valuable 

 food fishes. It is estimated, on reliable 

 authority, that fully 95 per cent, of the 



fish now in our streams are the result of 

 the work of the Fish Commission in 

 the importation, artificial propagation, 

 and distribution ,of fish. Since the peo- 

 ple have had to pay for the hatching and 

 distribution of practically all the fish in 

 the streams, it certainly follows that they 

 should have the sole and exclusive right 

 to partake of them, subject to such rules 

 and regulations as they themselves enact 

 into laws through the medium of their 

 representatives. Inasmuch as they have 

 signified their intention to protect prop- 

 erty from wanton destruction and to 

 give just remuneration to those whose 

 real estate is needed in the further ad- 

 vance of community interests, it also 

 follows that they may call upon any per- 

 son to allow free access of the public to 

 the fishing streams they have stocked, 

 and to remunerate him for the loss of 

 the needed part of his estate. 



This is certainly just and equitable 

 when the required strip lies wholly upon 

 wild lands not in any manner devoted to 

 agricultural pursuits. In the peaceful 

 entering upon wild lands for the purpose 

 of fishing, the disciple of Isaac Walton 



