6 
FINS, FEATHERS AND FUR 
size, the understanding being that such smaller 
ones be thrown back into the lake, when it is 
known by every fisherman, that very few sur¬ 
vive. 
The aim of this article is not to criticize the 
action taken by the legislature, permitting this 
destruction of what is commonly known to be 
the best of all fish, but it is certainly deplorable 
that a few selfish men, by their intrigue, can so 
misinform and influence a lawmaking body of 
men to permit such outrageous destruction of a 
much-needed food. 
It is to be hoped that this may be remedied. 
The writer feels assured that so far as the 
game and fis'h department of this state is con¬ 
cerned, their aims are for conservation and not 
destruction, and believe that our lawmakers 
will, at their next session, take steps to put an 
end to this ruinous practice. It seems strange 
that when the great majority of fishermen vol¬ 
untarily quit fishing ciscoes because of its 
destruction of small trout, that laws permit a 
few individuals to carry on. It is just as lucra¬ 
tive for one as for another, to fish ciscoes, 
and the temptation is just as strong, but for 
the havoc it causes, the most of us 'have quit 
waiting for the legislature to do “its bit” to 
put an end to it for ever and always. 
Report From the Bemidji Game Refuge 
E. E. McDonald who has taken a great interest 
in the establishment and maintenance of the 
Bemidjii Game Refuge furnishes a very in¬ 
teresting report of his experience with pheas¬ 
ants. Mr. McDonald has not lost a single pheas¬ 
ant from any cause, which indicates that the re¬ 
fuge is remarkably free from vermin. His re¬ 
port follows: 
“In regard to Bemidji Game Refuge and ring- 
neck pheasants you sent me, I am pleased to 
be able to report that all of the pheasants lived 
and seem to have prospered well. 
“I placed the grown roosters in a run about 75 
feet long and 25 feet wide enclosed completely 
with chicken wire. We placed the mother dom¬ 
estic hen with her 25 little pheasants in the 
same run for a short while, then placed the 
mother hen outside but kept her confined, al¬ 
lowing the little pheasants to run at liberty in 
the immediate vicinity of the run for the older 
pheasants. In this way the older pheasants be¬ 
came familiar with the surroundings and with 
the domestic hen and the little chicks in a short 
time. I liberated one at a time of the full-grown 
pheasants. The liberated ones remained about, 
returning frequently. I kept this up until all of 
the old ones were liberated. I left their run 
Beautiful Stand of Virgin Pine at Norway Beach, Cass Lake, Minn., on the Minnesota Scenic 
Highway.—Photo by Carlos Avery. 
A Big Trout Season 
The present season promises to be one of the 
largest and most successful in the output of trout 
in the history of the state. The fish car has been 
kept busy distributing trout fry since February 
and will be kept busy at this work until the pike 
are ready for planting. By that time the greater 
numbers will be distributed as only a compara¬ 
tively small number can be held during the 
summer. There will be some fingerlings for 
distribution later on in the season, but the larger 
numbers go out, necessarily as “fry.” 
open and they seemed to prefer to return there 
at night. The pheasant chicks remained with the 
mother domestic hen, when about the premises, 
ranging a little more every day. I have made 
the original run into a cover and have also 
constructed two quite large covers in the tim¬ 
ber at different points, one about 40 rods and the 
other about 60 rods away from the original cover. 
I secured about 100 sheaves of wheat to be used 
for feed this winter. I have made arrangements 
with Mr. Osgood, who lives near one of the cov¬ 
ers, to place a sheaf of wheat in each cover once 
