654 
FOREST AND STREAM 
May 24, 1913 
the noted dog Wrestler, which competed in the 
Irish setter trial of 1891. The dog is said to 
have accompanied the cars to the moors each 
morning during the trials, usually running ahead 
most of the way, and at the end of his ten-mile 
journey was as eager to run as though he had 
just left his kennels. 
The utility of the Irish setter as a hunting 
dog is not the only thing that makes him a de¬ 
sirable dog to own. His appeal to the dog 
fancy is equally as strong as to the hunting fra¬ 
ternity. In England, he seems to have gained 
more favor as a show dog than as a field 
worker. At least he appears to have capti¬ 
vated the ladies of that country with his win¬ 
ning Irish ways and his pleasant disposition. 
They have shown him a preference over the 
other setters, which is undoubtedly pleasing to 
his Celtic nature, and he is always strongly in 
evidence wherever lady exhibitors are to be 
found. He is not as particular with whom he 
associates as some other dogs, and will usually 
make friends with almost any one who treats 
him kindly, although a bit shy until he becomes 
acquainted. While this trait may be resented 
by some as a lack of loyalty to his master, it 
has its redeeming feature. It is a comfortable 
feeling for one to be assured that he can leave 
his house in charge of his dog and rest content 
that when he returns he will find everything 
just as he left it because the faithful animal 
will not allow a stranger to enter his home ex¬ 
cept over his dead body. But it is also a com¬ 
fortable feeling for him to possess the knowl¬ 
edge that his faithful dog will not be over- 
zealous in the performance of his duty and en¬ 
deavor to dispossess his neighbor's child, or his 
best friend, of their clothing through a case of 
mistaken identity, so that there is something to 
be said on both sides. And after all, the Irish 
setter often makes an excellent watch dog, and 
will give warning just as resolutely on the ap¬ 
proach of what looks to him like a suspicious 
character as many dogs of a more combative 
disposition. 
He is somewhat of a rover, and why should 
he not be when we take into consideration the 
nature of his calling, and the fact that the sport¬ 
ing blood of generation upon generation is cours¬ 
ing through his veins? But he always finds his 
way home, and a pretty sight he makes as we 
watch him coming lightly back across the stubble 
fields during the shadowy twilight of a fall 
evening, treading gently from hillock to hillock, 
now lifting his handsome head to sniff the air, 
now lowering it again, running first to one side, 
then to the other, until finally, after having ap¬ 
parently examined the entire field to his satis¬ 
faction, he reaches his point of destination, and 
with a joyful bark springs to his master’s side, 
and looking up for an approving pat, speaks as 
no human language can—of moors and root 
crops, of red grouse and partridge, of gentle 
breezes and fall sunsets, the eternal kinship of 
nature. 
His Way. 
PORTRAYED BY “FLIGHTS OF FANCY.” 
They ,Tsked him, if with bait or fly 
He lured fish to their death. 
And got from him this apt reply: 
“1 fish with bated breath.” 
American Protective and Propagation 
Association. 
History of First Year’s Work. 
Immediately after the organization was per¬ 
fected, communication was established with the 
game commissioners of each State and with the 
different game protective bodies throughout the 
country, and assistance was offered in enforcing 
the game laws and instructing game wardens. 
A number of States availed themselves of this 
offer, notably Delaware, where in two weeks one 
of the association’s wardens brought about more 
convictions for violating the game law than 
were secured in all the preceding years. Similar 
work has been done in Virginia, Massachusetts, 
Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, Vermont, Connect¬ 
icut, New York and other States. 
In Massachusetts a man who had baffled the 
local authorities for years was brought to justice 
by one of the association’s wardens, convicted, 
heavily fined and imprisoned. A special agent of 
the association assisted in organizing a State 
game protective association in Texas, and nu¬ 
merous local societies in other parts of the coun¬ 
try. He also made a trip in the interest of the 
many deer which were starving in Mississippi 
on account of last season’s floods. Food was 
provided for these animals, and hundreds of 
them were saved through his efforts. Contribu¬ 
tions have been sent to assist game protective 
work in California, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ar¬ 
kansas and Virginia. 
The game laws of New York and Vermont 
have been codified with the assistance of the 
association. An active part was taken in obtain¬ 
ing the passage of a law prohibiting the sale of 
game in Massachusetts, and the association’s 
officers -have appeared before numerous conven¬ 
tions and meetings of game protectors, address¬ 
ing them on the subject of game protection. 
Addresses of this kind were made before the 
Biennial Convention of Game Commissioners at 
Denver, Colorado, in August, 1912, and before 
the Conservation Congress held in Indianapolis, 
October, 1912, with a result that this body passed 
a resolution urging the enactment of the Weeks- 
McLean bill. At the annual meeting of the West 
Virginia Fish and Game Protective Association 
and at many similar gatherings, addresses have 
been made. An exhibit of birds raised on the 
association’s farm was shown at the Virginia 
State Fair and exhibits were also given at the 
State fairs of Massachusetts and New York. At 
all of these, literature was distributed, and the 
exhibitors daily addressed large crowds on the 
subject of game protection. 
In addition to work of this kind carried on 
by the association’s officers and agents, J. Alden 
Loring, one of the naturalists who accompanied 
Colonel Roosevelt on his African expedition, was 
engaged as a special lecturer. His work in this 
line was conducted in half a dozen States, with 
the aid of colored slides showing many forms 
of native bird and animal life. 
The association was instrumental in having 
a specialist from the United States Bureau of 
Animal Industry sent to Utah to investigate and 
remedy a disease which killed two million ducks 
there in 1910 and recurred in the summer of 
1912. 
In April, 1912, the association established 
a game farm on Cape Cod, where birds are raised 
which are distributed to members. A large num¬ 
ber were sent out the first year, and it is ex¬ 
pected that ten thousand will be reared during 
the season of 1913. The farm consists of 5,700 
acres of marsh, field, lake and woodland, and is 
admirably suited for the pheasants, quail, ruffed 
grouse, black, wood, mallard and pintail ducks, 
Canada and snow geese and wild turkeys which 
have been placed there. 
In the first year of its life the association 
enrolled about 3,000 members, including eighty- 
seven clubs and State organizations which have 
large memberships, so that it represents several 
hundred thousand sportsmen and game protec¬ 
tionists. There are members in every State of 
the Union except Nevada. 
A Federal Tax oi\ Cartridges. 
Tompkins Corners, N. Y., May i. — Editor 
Forest and Stream: I hope that you approve 
of the proposition which I have been urging for 
a Federal tax on cartridges. At their best, 
cartridges are a luxury; at their worst, an in¬ 
strument of crime. Nobody proposes to tax 
them out of existence. Nobody proposes a tax 
which would make a gunner hesitate to dis¬ 
charge his weapon at any legitimate game. But 
it is entirely possible and practicable, by a 
moderate tax, to lessen the wanton, purposeless 
shooting of small birds by village idlers and the 
conscienceless class of hunters generally. 
It will be generally admitted, I think, that a 
tax on cartridges, sufficient to pay the expense 
of the enforcement of the migratory bird law, 
would be entirely just. It is the use—and mis¬ 
use—of cartridges which makes necessary that 
law and practically all other game laws. The 
wild creatures belong to all the people. Living, 
they may be enjoyed by all. Slain, they profit 
only the killer. If the people as a whole con¬ 
cede to a portion the right to slay, that portion 
should not object to paying the cost of the 
necessary regulation of their privilege. 
If you are able to give the proposition your 
support, those whom I represent, as well as my¬ 
self, will be greatly gratified and encouraged by 
the fact. I am convinced that it is only a ques¬ 
tion of time until its justice and expediency will 
be generally recognized. 
Thomas M. Upp, 
National Organizer, Order of Backwoodsmen. 
[Our opinion on this was expressed in an 
editorial in last week’s issue.— Editor.] 
Gulls at Sea. 
American gulls are said to^ follow a ship 
all the way across the Atlantic and back. Tney 
will go as far as the English Channel and from 
there they take up the trail of a west-bound 
steamer home again. They like the ships that 
carry immigrants best because the more pass¬ 
engers a vessel carries, the greater quantity of 
scraps are liable to be thrown overboard. In 
the same way that American gulls cross east¬ 
ward and back, English gulls convoy liners 
westward and back. The English gulls differ 
from those which are familiar in this section 
in that they have black feet, yellow bellies and 
gray-white wings and backs. 
“For right down comfort, give me an old 
shu.”—Josh Billings. 
