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THE GAME BREEDER 



threatening of such people with a night 

 in the Tombs if they do not put up 

 about what the officer thinks they will 

 stand, are not creditable performances. 

 They are shocking! disgraceful! out- 

 rageous ! 



California. 



Some of our California readers have 

 formed the opinion that the game politi- 

 cians of California are opposed to game 

 breeding. We had supposed the State 

 game officers of California were wide 

 awake. If they show any hostility to 

 the new food producing industry they 

 should be bounced at once for incom- 

 petence. But remember this : When you 

 do get a good game commission (if the 

 present one is as reported) hold on to it. 

 See that it be not changed every year or 

 two. We are much surprised at the re- 

 ports from California. We will give 

 some special attention to this State. 



"Westward the Course of Empire." 



"B'rer Possum" has arrived in Cali- 

 fornia and is said to be thriving. Mr. 

 Joseph Grinnell, in a contribution from 

 the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, 

 University of California, says, possums 

 to the number of fully 200 have been re- 

 ported as captured. They are presumed 

 to be descended from a few animals 

 which escaped from persons who im- 

 ported them. Five of the possums got 

 away at the game farm Oct. 13, 1914. 



Mr. Grinnel says: "It is doubtful if 

 we are to consider ourselves lucky in 

 having acquired this addition to our 

 mammal fauna. * * * The fondness of 

 the possum for fruit, eggs and poultry 

 can scarcely be offset by the fact that 

 some_ people consider it good to eat and 

 that it is somewhat of a scavenger and 

 destroyer of vermin." 



Mallards and Mosquitoes. 



Dr. Samuel G. Dixon, the Pennsyl- 

 vania Commissioner of Health, writing 

 for the American Medical Association 

 Journal, says: "For some years I have 

 been using ducks to keep down mosqui- 

 toes in swamps that would have been 

 difficult and expensive to drain, but I 

 never fully appreciated the high efficiency 



of the duck as a destroyer of mosquito 

 life until the test was made." 



He divided the swampy places into 

 two equal parts, each about fourteen 

 hundred square feet in area. One was 

 stocked with goldfish, and the other was 

 left as a feeding ground for ducks. Both 

 were ideal breeding places for mosqui- 

 toes. In .the fish division, mosquito 

 larvae flourished, while in the side with 

 the ducks, larvae were entirely absent. 

 When ten mallards were placed in the 

 fish pond, within 48 hours only a few 

 small larvae were left. The Doctor con- 

 siders that many larvae were drowned 

 owing to the commotion the birds raised 

 in the water. r .«_: 



Esoteric News. 



One of our New York readers send- 

 ing the clipping from the New York 

 Herald quoted below, says : "Here is 

 some esoteric news. No one excepting 

 the ones on the inside know what is 

 meant by that reference to the foxes and 

 hawks. I wonder they did not include 

 the snapping turtles and otters which eat 

 up all of my big trout. Another reader 

 had just called us up on the 'phone to 

 read the item and ask what it meant. 

 He also mailed it to The Game Breeder 

 with the request that we publish it. Here 

 it is. Possibly some Connecticut reader 

 can solve the riddle. 



(Special despatch to The Herald.) 



Greenwich, Conn., Friday. — One hundred 

 and seventy-nine acres of Greenwich land 

 were appropriated to-day by the State of Con- 

 necticut for the establishment of a State game 

 preserve for the propagation of game and 

 game birds. The territory, which belongs to> 

 Dr. Robert T. Morris, will be added to the 

 tract of 165 acres obtained from the same 

 holder in Stamford, 100 acres leased from 

 John Wendle and 220 acres from S. W. Tay- 

 lor. Each property owner receives a nominal 

 fee for the State lease, not more than $5. 



The Superintendent of the State Fish and 

 Game Commission will protect and encourage 

 the breeding of foxes, skunks, raccoons, wild 

 cats, minks, weasels, hawks and owls. The 

 district will be posted and it will be illegal to 

 shoot or trap game on the highways adjacent 

 to the preserve. It borders on the Mianus 

 River and is an ideal spot for such a feature. 



Advertising rates in The Game Breeder 

 made known on application. 



