234 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Feb. 22, 1913 
and nesting soon begins. Then the country- 
resident can do much for the birds by way of 
watching their enemies and putting a load of 
shot into some prowling, half-wild house cat 
or blood-thirsty weasel. Then, too, the shotgun 
will prove an effective ally to put down the too 
numerous owl, hawk or other plunderer. Re¬ 
member to spend a few spare moments in lo¬ 
cating the nests of the birds as early in the 
season as possible. Then it is an easy matter to 
keep an eye on them while the eggs are being 
incubated and the little, downy nestlings yet 
too young to seek the safety of the tall grass 
when danger approaches. A well-directed shot 
often saves a whole brood, for once let a 
prowler find the spot and it stops only with the 
empty nest. 
And so we say that the man or woman 
who wishes to do something for the preserva¬ 
tion of game birds, yes, and animals, may do 
much along lines herein suggested. Later, 
when the laws have been arranged so as to 
permit the owner of the land to own the game 
as well as the timber and other natural pro¬ 
ducts, we may find other ways of increasing the 
numbers, such as breeding, turning loose birds 
as breeding stock from other sections, and giv¬ 
ing them the run of the farm while looking 
after their welfare, just as one does with his 
poultry. We have not yet approached scien¬ 
tific agriculture among the masses, so that 
every spot of land is used for some good pur¬ 
pose, and it is likely to be many years before 
that time is reached. Until then every farm 
has spots of ground that are not adapted to 
ordinary agricultural pursuits, which, by a 
little attention, may be made a covert for the 
raising of wild game in abundance. 
We still lack laws which protect the farmer 
in the full enjoyment of his game and allow him 
to send his friends a brace of partridge or sell 
an honorable stranger a half dozen quail to be 
shot from his coverts. When the farmer real¬ 
izes that he is full and complete owner of his 
wild game, and that it may be made a valuable 
asset, he will gladly spend the few moments 
required in assisting the birds and in keeping 
down their wild enemies. But, till that time 
comes, something must be done, or in most 
sections we shall have no wild game left to en¬ 
joy. Let us do what we can now that we may 
at least retain enough old birds to stock our 
coverts. Nozv is the time to act. 
Inverted Trees. 
A FORErr.N railway company has solved the 
plan of getting good shade trees in a short 
time, though they may be small. 
These trees are so arranged that after two 
years’ time they will give as much shade as 
trees in the ordinary way of setting out would 
give that are fifteen or twenty years old. The 
company gets a small elm tree, preferably dig¬ 
ging this, roots and all, from the ground. The 
tree then is set. the top part being set into the 
ground and the roots are left in the air. The 
tree then grows, forms roots on what originally 
was the top of the tree, and the original roots 
that now take the place of the branches begin 
to leaf out and form a complete foliage very 
quickly.—Chicago Tribune. 
The Defective Fish and Game Law. 
Albany, N. Y., Feb. ^.—Editor Forest and 
Stream: Fully to reply to Brother Marshall 
McLean’s attempted defense of the “Uniform” 
Fish and Game Law, would take too much of 
your valuable space, and, moreover, I stand by 
my original assertions. If Brother McLean 
helped draw the law, then he should at once 
amend the voucher which I copied in the Comp¬ 
troller’s office in December. In it he made 
affidavit that he worked on the marine fish-, 
eries section. Mr. Lawyer, in his affidavit, took 
the credit for the fish and game section. But 
admitting that these affidavits did not mean 
what they said, how does the trio who, it is 
now asserted, did the fish and game work, 
square the statement of Brother McLean to the 
effect that the “uniform” statute is a great and 
good production, the most perfect ever, with 
the fact that within a fortnight the Conserva¬ 
tion Commission has had introduced more than 
too amendments to correct the law? Only 
partly to describe them took nearly two news¬ 
paper columns. Verily, I fear that my asser¬ 
tion that the “uniform” law was “based neither 
on scientfic knowledge nor actual conditions” 
will have to stand. Leaving out the game sec¬ 
tion entirely, I should personally have been 
ashamed to have drawn the fisheries section. 
It was not based either on scientific knowledge 
or actual conditions. It was drawn in many 
respects to please men who run railroads and 
summer resort hotels, both of whom want early 
seasons to attract the early visitor. If Brother 
McLean wants any names mentioned in this 
connection, I can accommodate him. Denial of 
m3' assertion that “attempts to secure amend¬ 
ments were futile” seems best explained on 
Brother McLean’s behalf by saying that he did 
not know. I was actively engaged in legisla¬ 
tive newspaper work when the “uniform” law 
was in the making and know personally that 
this was true. 
Protests from up-State fishermen were 
ignored. The president of the Lake George 
Association told me only last summer that his 
were suppressed. I personally know that no 
attention was paid tO' a protest made by the 
U. S. Fisheries Commission. The statement 
that matters as to Lake George have been ad¬ 
justed by the Conservation Commission to the 
satisfaction of everybody has no foundation m 
fact. There is a very general dissatisfaction 
with the law as it applies to that lake, for the 
very reason that the law takes no cognizance 
of existing conditions, and is not in accord¬ 
ance with scientific teachings. The concession 
made last season b}' the commission, in defer¬ 
ence to a demand from fishermen and property 
owners at Lake George, was for one year only. 
It never would have been necessary to make 
this demand if the law had been drawn by some 
one with a knowledge of the inland waters of 
the State. There is just as much need for 
considering the cold mountain waters separate¬ 
ly as there is for making an exception for the 
warn waters of Long Island. 
The Conservation Commission seems to 
have adopted the policy of denying that any 
defects exist in their pet statute. The fact 
that it has had to be practically made over 
within a year is sufficient answer to this atti¬ 
tude. It also should cause Brother McLean to 
sit up and take notice. This “perfect statute’’ 
was to do away with any more efforts to amend 
the fish and game law in the Legislature! Yet 
this very session the commission itself has had 
introduced more amendments than appeared at 
any two previous sessions. If the “uniform” 
law is a perfect work of man in Brother Mc- 
I.ean’s estimation, ma}' hunters and fishermen 
be forever preserved from anything worse. 
Personally I much regret that Brother McLean 
and his associates feel it necessary to hide be¬ 
hind such men as Dr. Hornaday and Dr. 
Palmer when the defects of their work are 
pointed out in good faith. 
John D. Whish. 
American Game Protective and Propa> 
gation Association. 
Opinions on winter and spring shooting of 
wildfowl by twenty-nine experts have been com¬ 
piled and published by the Long Island Game 
Protective Association to show why the pro¬ 
posed amendment to the conservation law, mak¬ 
ing it legal to shoot ducks on Long Island dur¬ 
ing these seasons, should be defeated. These 
opinions are from eight State game commis¬ 
sioners, nine prominent ornithologists, seven 
grange and association officers, two editors, one 
college president, one State Senator and one 
attorney general, including such prominent men 
as Edward Howe Forbush, State Ornithologist 
of Massachusetts; Frank AI. Chapman, of the 
American Aluseum of Natural History; Dr. 
George Bird Grinnell, T. Gilbert Pearson and 
Dr. E. W. Nelson. 
Commenting on this, the following statement 
has just been issued by the American Game Pro¬ 
tective and Propagation Association of New 
York: 
“It seems incredible that there should be 
a movement on foot at the present time to put 
New York State, which is now the leader in 
good game legislation, back in the ranks of 
those that allow duck shooting at a time when 
the killing of one means the destruction of a 
whole flock. If the proposed amendment should 
become a law, ducks could be killed up to the 
31st of Alarch, long after they are mated, and 
when, in some cases, they have begun to nest. 
“W'inter shooting is hardly less objection¬ 
able, for during January and Eebruary the birds 
have much to contend with in the forces of 
nature, and shooting at that time drives them 
about, prevents their proper feeding and mating, 
and forces them away from the district. If the 
small number of men on Long Island who wish 
special legislation in favor of selfish interests 
are successful in putting it through, the fall 
shooting throughout the rest of the State will 
be only 50 per cent, as good as though the birds 
were protected for the remainder of the year. 
