826 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Dec. 27, 1913. 
Conservation in New York State 
The hub of the wheel is the M. F. H. He 
trains the dogs, and every dog must learn to 
obey his voice. And they do obey it in a well- 
trained pack with a unanimity that is a marvel 
to look upon. 
Every dog in the pack knows his name, and 
obeys with military precision and discipline. And 
the M. F. H. knows the voice of every dog in 
the pack. He will hear the musical notes of 
their tongue and tell you that that is Barbaro, or 
Navahoe, or whatever the name may be. He 
will also tell you, if he is a good M. F. H., and 
has had the handling of the pack during its early 
formation, that he knows the individual qualities 
of each dog, and just how he had to handle 
them with that big lash whip of his before he 
finally got them into shape. 
If you look closely you will probably notice 
on some of the pack a spot where the skin has 
been taken out, leaving a little V-shaped groove. 
That is where the M. F. H .has been compelled 
to use his rawhide whip. 
And if you ever have the pleasure of riding 
across country after a pack of well-trained 
hounds you will then understand something of 
the pains that have been taken to break them in. 
When you see them rushing at a fence in 
perfect unison, and, after landing on the other 
side, you see them get together and resume the 
chase like a well-trained army, you will realize 
that the long, invigorating gallop you are enjoy¬ 
ing in their wake would never have been possible 
had it not been for the patient labors of one 
man. You will know him by the tone of au¬ 
thority in his voice when he speaks to the dogs, 
and by the alert way in which they obey him. 
And, after the pack is in full cry, and the dogs 
are forging to the front, leaving the riders in 
the rear, you will know him by the way he goes 
at the fences, and the quiet confidence he places 
in his mount. And when the day’s run is over, 
and the sun sinks gently behind the wooded hills, 
you will see him patiently riding homeward while 
the pack goes on before. The aniseed is rapidly 
replacing the fox in some sections of the country, 
and it is quite possible that the day is not far 
off when the drag hunt will replace the hunt 
altogether, and the hounds will run, and the 
huntsmen will ride, for the fox that is never 
caught But whether following the drag, or the 
fox, if ever you ride to hounds you will say a 
good word for the M. F. H., whose patient labors 
has made the sport possible. 
Annual Trapping 
Omaha, Neb., Dec. 17, 1913. — Editor Forest 
and Stream. —Fully endorsing your editorial of 
the December 6th issue of the Forest and Stream. 
I also emphatically coincide with Mr. Edward 
Brect, that “rapid, fanatical opponent” of the 
cruel art of steel-trapping. And hereby take oc¬ 
casion to enclose my personal views on the sub¬ 
ject—which I managed to get published in a local 
paper here last year. 
Hoping that the agitation for the abolition of 
the barbarous non-killing steeltrap will be kept 
up. I am, sir, H. Mell. 
Executive Chamber, 
Albany, N. Y., Dec. 3, 1913. 
To the Delegates and Members of the New York 
State Fish, Game and Forest League. 
Gentlemen: 
I am anxious to work with you to put into 
effect in New York State a conservation that 
will raise the standard of life and lower the cost 
of living. There is no other brand just as good. 
A wag once observed that “You can’t tie a 
knot in a cord of wood.” But it is certain that 
in the fish, game and forest problem we have a 
knotty one. Your great organization can un¬ 
doubtedly do more than any other to help solve 
it satisfactorily. 
For your consideration, permit me to present 
some of my ideas on the subject. If they meet 
with your approval, I invite your co-operation 
with me in an earnest effort to put them into 
effect. 
In facing our gigantic task we may be putting 
ourselves in the position of Bill Poller’s famous 
plow which, turned up more than it could turn 
over. However, once we have put our hands to 
the plow we are not going to turn back, and, if 
necessary, we’ll harness the idle water power of 
the state and run the furrows of conservation by 
electricity. 
1 may be criticized for using the plow figure 
of speech, but it seems to me that even in con¬ 
servation work the old plow will come in handy 
at the very beginning; because today New York 
State has only 50 acres of tree nurseries, and it 
should have at least 600 cultivated acres growing 
trees. I am told, also, that in Oregon they are 
fighting ground fires with a collapsible plow 
which does the work of forty men. 
The foundation of all conservation activities 
are the forests, for upon them depend the water 
supplies for various purposes, forest products, as 
well as ample and suitable habitations for your 
fish and game. 
We should join forces in requesting the Leg¬ 
islature to resume the buying of forest lands for 
the extension of the Adirondack and Catskill 
parks and to make appropriations for a re¬ 
forestation of state lands at a more rapid rate. 
Experts estimate that the Nation is losing 
annually about $65,000,000 because denuded and 
potential forest lands are allowed to remain un¬ 
productive. About ten per cent, of New York’s 
area is thus wasted. Reforestation of private 
lands is making headway, but has attained little 
more than a snail’s pace. 
We must first satisfactorily solve the problem 
of the taxation of forest lands to encourage the 
growing of more trees in the farmer’s woodlot 
and on waste and denuded land. I am favorably 
impressed with the idea of adopting a plan of 
the equitable assessment of privately owned for¬ 
est lands, and the encouragement by the state of 
municipal, town and county owned forests. 
The Conservation Commission at present fur¬ 
nishes trees for reforestation purposes to private 
land owners “at cost,” but I believe we should 
go a step further and have the state plant lands 
of private owners anywhere in the state “at cost.” 
Every citizen in the state should enjoy the benefit 
of cheap trees. I believe in planting productive 
trees along every public road in the state. 
The state constitution should be amended to 
permit the leasing of camp sites in the forest 
preserves, to afford the sportsmen and others a 
freer use and enjoyment of their own recreation 
grounds. An increase in the forest fire fighting 
forests would be a wise economy. 
A conservation that will raise the standard of 
life and lower the cost of living must necessarily 
provide for all the people an abundant supply 
of fish and game. That will mean recreation in 
the woods and on the streams for the brain and 
body-weary multitude, as well as a change in 
the way of wholesome food. 
We are of one mind in demanding wise laws, 
giving to no section of the state any advantage 
over any other section, and recognizing no class 
or group distinctions among any citizens. We 
should see to it that the interrelated interests of 
the farmers and the sportsmen are harmonized; 
that the protective laws are strictly enforced, 
with an avoidance of petty technicalities. Cer¬ 
tainly the best protector is the officer who keeps 
his district the freest from violations by the 
same performance of his duty and by enlisting 
the sentiment and support of the law-abiding citi¬ 
zens of his community. 
I am heartily with the sportsmen in their 
demand for more game farms and fish hatcheries, 
as they may be needed to amply restock the cov¬ 
ers and waters. I especially like the idea of 
making a serious effort to restore our native 
game birds, particularly the partridge and bob 
white. It seems to me the protectors could co¬ 
operate more extensively with the organized 
sportsmen in the distribution of fish and game. 
The past season the Conservation Commis¬ 
sion distributed about 1.250,000,000 fish. To make 
that enormous restocking of state waters more 
effective and economical, the state should abso¬ 
lutely stop all pollution of public and private 
waters. Section 247 of the constitution should 
be amended by striking out the emasculating pro¬ 
vision “in quantities injurious to fish life.” 
I am favorably impressed with the plan of 
establishing game refuges, where game may breed 
without molestation the year around. Every 
county side of the metropolis should have at 
least one game refuge, the overflow from which 
would greatly improve the game supply in the 
surrounding territory. This would provide large 
supplies of game, not for the game clubs alone, 
but for all the people. 
To assist in reducing the cost of living, farm¬ 
ers and land owners should be encouraged and 
assisted in establishing fish pends and rearing 
therein supplies of food and game fish. 
The organized sportsmen and farmers of the 
state are apparently much alarmed over the ques¬ 
tioning of the constitutionality of the Weeks- 
McLean Law for the Federal protection of mi¬ 
gratory game birds. I am of the opinion that the 
only way to afford the migratory birds, the 
feathered interstate travelers, the general and 
sectional protection which their rapidly diminish¬ 
ing numbers require, is by means of the co-opera¬ 
tion between the National Government and the 
several states, assured by this congressional en¬ 
actment. If ultimately it be held unconstitutional, 
then I should favor amendment of the Federal 
Constitution in order to secure a constitutional 
enactment of a measure similar to the Weeks- 
McLean Law, so as to preserve for future gen¬ 
erations the game birds of the American conti¬ 
nent, and to insure to the agricultural interests 
of the United States, which suffer annually a 
loss of $200,000,000 from insect pests, an adequate 
supply of the “farmers’ feathered friends,” the 
insectivorous birds. 
Martin H. Glynn. 
