14 
FINS, FEATHERS AND FUR 
GAME BREEDERS’ CONFERENCE 
This department was represented at the annual meeting 
of the American Game Protective Association and Game 
Breeders’ Conference in New York on March 4 and 5 by 
Frank D. Blair, superintendent of game propagation. The 
meeting was one of great importance and was addressed 
by some of the foremost authorities on game conservation 
and game breeding in the country, among them being Lee 
S. Crandall, Assistant Curator of Birds, New York Zoo¬ 
logical gardens; Donald McVicar, late head game keeper 
Duke of Leinster’s estate, Kildare, Ireland; E. W. Nelson, 
chief of the Bureau of Biological Survey, United States 
Department of Agriculture; President John B. Burnham of 
the Association; Commissioners Alexander of Louisiana, 
Adams of Massachusetts, Phillips of Rhode Island and 
Pratt of New York; T. Gilbert Pearson of the Audobon 
Society; Dr. T. Wt Hornaday, Naturalist; and a number 
of eminent authorities on game breeding. 
No remarkable progress was reported in breeding of game, 
but much was learned from those who had been most 
successful. For the short time the work has been under 
way in this state Minnesota’s showing compares favorably 
with other states. 
During the proceedings the work of the various game 
breeders and state game farms was brought out. 
Dr. A. K. Fisher gave a very interesting talk entitled, 
“A Plea for Experiments in Breeding the Grouse Family. 
But very little has been done in the past two years by any 
of the states and our opportunities in Minnesota along 
these lines are better than in any other state equipped 
for the purpose. None of the states with game farms have 
as yet attempted it, mainly because they have never had 
the breeding stock and no one in the work who knew any¬ 
thing about the grouse. If we can experiment along these 
lines we can be of great help tc the other states. 
Duncan Dunn, Assistant Superintendent of New Jersey 
State Game Farm reported that the state turned out what 
quail they had in 1917 and did no breeding during the 
year. His paper mostly covered the number of quail seen 
and fed during the winter. Nothing was given about 
the breeding of this species. 
President John B. Burnham pave a very interesting talk 
on the "Cause of the Scarcity of the Ruffed Grouse,” which 
he attributed to Vermin on account of a scarcity of 
rabbits. In other words the rabbit disease was gone into 
and discussed. Reports show that the rabbbits have died 
off every few years and records of various places run 
back for over a hundred years. As yet nothing is known 
about the disease. 
Hon. George G. Phillips, Chairman Commissioners on 
Birds, of Rhode Island presented a paper, “The Bob White 
Quail Viewed From a Sporting and Economic Standpoint.” 
It was a very interesting paper—so interesting that it 
made one feel that the quail should not be hunted. It 
created quite a discussion and brought out many important 
points which showed that in those states where the quail 
have been placed on the song bird list they have ap¬ 
parently not increased in any appreciable numbers. Most 
of those present were in favor of small bags, short seasons 
and more experimental \^.ork in artificial breeding as 
well as better control of vermin, and especial importance 
was given to looking after the quail during the winters. 
Prof. Krum of Cornell University talked on the plans 
of Cornell in teaching game farming. He spoke in place 
of James E. Rice. A plan of the farm was given and he 
exnlained how the students would be instructed. They 
will start with the breeding of pheasants and in the future 
they will take up experimental work with native species. 
The matter of wild life protection during war times was 
discussed. Frederic C. Walcott, a member of the national 
food administration is looking after the wild life protection 
end and it was stated that there need be no fear of a 
general opening up on the wild life of the country; but 
at the same time all of the states were warned to keep 
a sharp lookout for any commercial move in this respect. 
On account of business at Washington, Mr. Walcott was 
unable to be present. 
Conservation Commissioner George D. Pratt of New York 
presented a paper on “The Conservation of Fish in Inland 
Waters During War Time” which was very interesting. 
None of the states have done as much as Minnesota in 
the matter of supplying fish to the people. During a dis¬ 
cussion on fish matters Mr. Blair gave a brief outline of 
this work in Minnesota. 
Mr. T. Gilbert Pearson discussed “The Menace to all 
Bird Life Involved in a Weakening of the Game Protective 
Laws” and “A History of an Unsuccessful Attempt to 
Annihilate Wild Life in the State That Winters the Nation’s 
Birds” was given by Mr. M. L. Alexander, conservation 
commission of Lousiana. 
Dr. Wm. T. Hornaday gave a very interesting talk on 
game and game conditions laying special emphasis on the 
importance of the game protective laws and warning against 
any relaxation in the laws which regulate the taking of 
game. 
Hon. C. Gordon Hewitt, Dominion Entomologist, Canada, 
gave one of the best talks at the conference. It was en¬ 
titled “The Protection of Wild Life in Canada in War 
Time.” 
Dr. E. W. Nelson, Chief, United States Bureau of 
Biological Survey gave a very interesting talk on “The 
Proposal to Relax Protective Laws from the Viewpoint of 
the Scientist,” and also discussed proposed closed season 
on the woodcock. 
The conference ended with a dinner Tuesday evening, 
March 5. After the dinner—Mr. Norman McClintock, of 
Pittsburg, Pa. showed his motion pictures. Same as shown 
at the convention of commissioners in St. Paul last sum¬ 
mer. 
A message from Theodore Roosevelt was flashed on the 
screen, congratulating the Association on its work and 
wishing success for the future. 
Jack Minor of Canada, a very interesting fellow showed 
pictures of the wild geese at his place near Kingsville, 
Ont., and gave a talk which was by far the most effective 
of all in the way of making conservationsts out of 
sportsmen. 
The next bulletin of the Association will cover fully 
all of the matters that were presented at the conference. 
NINE THOUSAND DEER KILLED 
During the big game hunting season of 1917 
there were 9,000 deer killed in Minnesota and 
about 175 moose. 
The kill of deer was somewhat larger than 
usual, owing to there being a larger number of 
hunters in the forests, notwithstanding the ab¬ 
sence of many young men in army service and 
the disqualification by law of aliens for hunting. 
Hunting conditions were peculiar and unusual. 
A heavy fall of snow in October nearly disap¬ 
peared, leaving a noisy crust in the swamps and 
green timber. There were also several days of 
deep fog and mist during the earlier part of the 
season which interfered very much with hunt¬ 
ing. Many localities usually found good hunt¬ 
ing ground were not productive of sport this 
year on account of the extensive fires which ran 
through the north woods during last spring. The 
deer shifted to unburned areas and heavy toll 
was taken in such places. 
ALIEN GUN LAW EFFECTIVE 
There have been 118 successful prosecutions 
by the department of aliens for illegal posses¬ 
sion of firearms between August 1, 1917, and 
March 1, 1918. Confiscations of firearms from 
aliens have occurred in many more cases. The 
law under which these prosecutions have been 
brought was passed at the last session of the 
legislature and has had a very salutary effect. 
The number of hunting licenses sold was ma¬ 
terially reduced in the territory where the aliens 
are most numerous, and irresponsible marauders 
have been kept out of the woods to a greater 
extent. A certain class of alien hunters roam 
the woods when unrestrained at all times of the 
year and slaughter every living thing they find. 
The alien gun law has put this element out of 
business. 
