THE FUTURE OF THE MOOSE 22^ 



trees and to various agricultural crops for a portion 

 of their subsistence. They are unable to save 

 themselves by migration. It will be centuries, 

 however, before such conditions arise in the moose 

 covers of America in any appreciable degree. 

 Indeed, it may be a question whether the net 

 yield of the forest would not be greater if the game 

 as well as the timber were considered an asset, 

 sufficient browse being left to support certain 

 numbers of game animals. Except when deprived 

 of their natural forage in the woods, the elk (moose) 

 of the Ibenhorst preserve in East Prussia never 

 seek food in the grain and potato fields of the 

 neighborhood."^ 



"Venison was more common than beef on the 

 tables of medieval Europe," writes Prof. David 

 E. Lantz of the Biological Survey of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, ^ and game killed by govern- 

 ment employes, in forests under government 

 ownership, is now common in many European 

 markets. 



In the future, when the problem of meat supply 

 becomes more pressing on the American continent, 

 the necessity may arise to supplement government 



4 A. E. Brehm, Tierleben, 2d edition (Leipsic, 1877), vol. iii., p. 109, 

 ^Bulletin No. 36, "Raising Deer and Other Large Game Animals in 

 the United States" (Dec. 31, 1910), p. 14. 

 IS 



