FOREST AND STREAM 
273 
Game protectionists are agreed that game laws 
alone are insufficient to prevent the rapid de¬ 
crease of game and that at the present time, the 
two most important measures for its protection 
and increase are the game sanctuary and propa¬ 
gation. 
Obtaining a six thousand acre tract of land in 
Massachusetts, in the town of Plymouth and 
South Carver, near Cape Cod, the American 
Game Protective Association established a pro¬ 
pagation plant and began to raise game birds 
with the view of sending them to its members 
throughout the country who would protect them 
in refuges, enable them to increase, and in due 
time release them in order that the covers might 
be restocked. This farm, known as the East 
Head Game Fawn, has numerous lakes, ponds and 
pond holes which are natural feeding grounds 
for wild fowl. The natural cover is excellent 
for quail and grouse, and these birds are numer¬ 
ous. It has, within its borders, a large tract of 
wild land wonderfully suited to the heath hen, 
which is now extinct on the continent of North 
America, but which is being propagated at 
Martha’s Vineyard with a view to again intro¬ 
ducing it on the continent. The region is well 
suited for the needs of pheasants, for thousands 
of them have been raised year after year during 
the last ten years within a few miles, and they 
winter well there. 
A forest nursery has been set out on the farm, 
and from time to time trees will be transplanted 
from this nursery to various parts of the prop¬ 
erty with a view of reforesting that portion of 
the tract where the trees have been destroyed by 
forest fires. Shrubs, such as barberry, hawthorn 
and sumach, which furnish food for upland birds, 
have been set out. Buckwheat and other grains 
are raised for the birds. Wild celery has been 
planted in many of the ponds, and grain is thrown 
in and around them so that the water fowl will 
remain and nest in the vicinity. English ring¬ 
necked pheasants in large numbers have been 
raised during the last year and a half. Mallard, 
pin tail, black and wood ducks, wild turkeys, 
Canadian geese, snow geese, and most important 
of all, quail and partridge, have been successfully 
raised. 
As the farm is within a few miles of the sea, 
near the base of Cape Cod, and almost directly 
in the line of flight of birds from Cape Cod to 
Buzzard’s Bay, it affords a natural refuge for the 
wild fowl which pass here in large numbers in 
their migrations and find shelter and food during 
storms at sea. The land is posted and no shoot¬ 
ing except to destroy vermin is allowed. This is 
the most important wild refuge in the North and 
corresponds with the Ward-Mcllhenny Refuge 
in Louisiana. If similar ones can be established 
at suitable intermediate points on the Atlantic 
Coast, the question of wild fowl conservation 
will be determined. This will have to be done by 
private capital, as there is no prospect of Federal 
or state action along that line. 
With the permission of the fish and game com¬ 
missioners of the State of Massachusetts, eggs of 
the native quail and ruffed grouse were taken 
from nests on the property and in the immediate 
vicinity, placed under bantam hens, and from 
those hatched during the first year a substantial 
breeding stock of quail and partridge obtained. 
During the second year the eggs were taken from 
these birds and placed under hens. By this method 
it is possible to get seventy-five or more eggs 
from a quail and a very substantial number from 
the ruffed grouse. The young birds are fed on 
ants’ eggs, chopped hard boiled eggs and speci¬ 
ally prepared foods. They find much insect life 
which is their natural diet, as they have access to 
plenty of green stuff. During the last season, 
from a clutch of eighteen quails’ eggs hatched 
under a bantam, seventeen survived, and seven 
young birds from a clutch of eight eggs of the 
ruffed grouse were hatched under the grouse hen. 
All of these birds are strong and healthy, and 
barring 'incidents, will furnish good breeding 
stock for next season. This second generation of 
ruffed grouse has created much comment and in¬ 
terest. 
Good roads run to the farm, and a very com¬ 
fortable bungalow has been built for the use of 
visitors who desire to study the methods em¬ 
ployed there. It is the intention of the associa¬ 
tion to give instruction to those who may wish 
to start a similar farm or have a similar sanc¬ 
tuary with the hope that such will become com¬ 
mon throughout the United States. 
One of the directors of the association made a 
study this last summer of conditions in the State 
of Connecticut and found that there was avail¬ 
able about one-third of the entire acreage of the 
state suitable for game sanctuaries and game 
farms. This land is not desirable for agriculture 
and therefore is of comparatively little value. It 
is his plan to induce public spirited citizens of 
the state to acquire such tracts for sanctuaries, 
where game may increase, and thus restock the 
covers. In Massachusetts there are about 2,000,- 
000 acres of forest land. Several years ago, Mr. 
E. H. Forbush, the state ornithologist, made a 
canvass of the public lands of that state, which 
have been made game bird reservations under the 
law, and he found that there were about 50,000 
acres of these lands, all under protection of the 
state authorities. He thinks that at least 1,000,- 
000 acres might be made available for refuges for 
the protection of wild life, without interfering 
with its value for forestry purposes. In the State 
of Vermont, there are large tracts of timber and 
abandoned farm land which would make good 
game refuges, some of them ranging from five 
to fifteen thousand acres. Under the law of this 
state, the authorities may establish such refuges, 
and one has just been so established. 
Undoubtedly, inquiries now being made by the 
association will develop similar conditions in al¬ 
most every state. Effort will be made to have 
such lands set aside for game refuges. 
Two public spirited citizens, interested in wild 
life conservation, about two years ago, acquired 
about four thousand acres of waste land in the 
State of Connecticut, with view of establishing 
there a sanctuary for wild fowl and of increasing 
the supply of game by scientific propagation. 
They sent an expert to Lake Winnipegosis in 
Manitoba to study the habits of the ducks, which 
nest and breed in that locality, which is in the 
heart of the great duck breeding grounds of this 
continent, and to bring young ducklings to form 
a nucleus for the propagating work. 
About thirteen different species, including a 
considerable number of canvas-backs, were thus 
procured, pictures were taken showing their 
nests, and the situations and conditions surround¬ 
ing the breeding places of these birds have been 
reproduced on the Connecticut Farm. A certain 
number of them are pinioned, so as to supply a 
breeding stock, but a large number are allowed 
to migrate with the wild fowl which come to the 
refuge on their migrations. The birds born and 
bred in the refuge return to it on their flights 
north, knowing that they will find protection in 
their old home. The experiment has been most 
successful. 
With the awakening of public interest evidenced 
by the strong support given by people in every 
part of the United States in the campaign for the 
enactment of the Migratory Bird Law, those in¬ 
terested in the preservation of wild life have been 
encouraged in the belief that these ideas of arti¬ 
ficial increase of the game supply by propagation 
and its natural increase, with the help of such 
refuges, will sooi. restore our wild life so that 
its extinction will be impossible. 
Albany, Jan. 26.—Senator Felix J. Sanner, 
chairman of the Senate Conservation Committee, 
introduced four bills to-night appropriating $15,- 
000 each for four State game preserves, to be 
located on Long Island and in the northern, west¬ 
ern and eastern sections of the state. 
It is proposed to use these game covers to pro¬ 
pagate and distribute game birds throughout the 
state. 
GREAT IS THE CHATHAM COTTONTAIL. 
Raleigh, N. C., Feb. 17, 1914. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The attached clipping is from The Siler City 
Grit, a paper published at Siler City, Chatham 
county, North Carolina. 
Chatham county has been noted for years as 
the home of the cottontail in this state, and the 
figures here published seem to bear out the con¬ 
tention. It is situated in the central part of the 
state, and the chief shipping point above men¬ 
tioned is about fifty miles due west of Raleigh. 
The country is rolling, very much like that 
around here, with mixed farming—corn, wheat, 
cotton, tobacco—and quite a lot of the unculti¬ 
vated areas are in broom straw and second- 
growth pines. The original growth is mostly 
mixed hardwoods. 
And in spite of the great number of rabbits 
killed annually, the stock seems to keep up. 
Nineteen twelve, it may be noted, was the year 
we had so much snow. 
Yours very truly, 
H. H. BRIMLEY. 
“For the past two months we have published 
each week the number of rabbits shipped from 
Siler City, and now that the season has closed, 
it may be interesting to note that a compilation 
of those figures show that the total number 
shipped this winter amounts to 18,059. And it 
must be borne in mind that these figures apply 
only to Siler City, whereas there are three other 
shipping points in western Chatham. 
“The number shipped this year is unusually 
large, considering that there was no snow. A 
comparison for the last five years shows the fol¬ 
lowing : 
1910 . 19,671 
1911 . 16,573 
1912 . 26,060 
1913 . x 3,979 
1914 . 18,059 
“From the above it is seen that the shipments 
are larger every other year. 
“Some one may doubt the correctness of these 
figures, but they can be verified by reference to 
the books of the local produce dealers. 
“Great is the Chatham rabbit.” 
PLENTY OF QUAIL HERE. 
There are about half a million quail in Spo¬ 
kane county, Wash., according to a recent esti¬ 
mate of R. B. Wales, game warden, who adds that 
this condition is the result of propagation and 
protection by the authorities, co-operating with 
the public. “This number is all the more remark¬ 
able when it is noted that this is the only county 
in the state which allows quail to be killed,” says 
Mr. Wales. “If the season on Hungarian part¬ 
ridge is kept closed until 1920, as the law now 
provides, there should be close to a million of 
these birds at that time. We plan to plant golden 
and Japanese pheasant.” 
