108 
FOREST AND STREAM 
July 27, 1912 
bushes along the shore a blackduck sitting on 
her nest. How she did flatten herself out and 
concentrate her whole being on hiding. I have 
hunted and shot her shy race for many years, 
and it was a new sensation to be so close to one 
of them alive. The wild duck industry at the 
farm is very promising and comparatively easy. 
Will they not in time raise sprigtails, baldpates, 
goldeneyes, redheads or canvasbacks and teach 
the rest of the country how to keep up the supply ? 
The raising of the English pheasants is also 
comparatively easy and I saw scores of broods 
presided over by common hens. These are in 
charge of a Scotch game keeper of experience 
and training. When turned out wild they may 
survive the winters and be as numerous as they 
are in Oregon. There is certainly plenty of 
cover for them. 
Almost as interesting as the woodduck 
problem and far more difficult, I should sup¬ 
pose, is the attempt to raise young ruffed 
grouse in captivity. These birds are native to 
the region and nest in the neighborhood of the 
farm. I saw several broods that had been 
hatched by common hens and were doing well. 
They are quite fearless and will not hide from 
strangers like the young pheasants. Mr. Torrey 
tries to reproduce natural surroundings for 
them and has them in a rather thick growth of 
young poplars. It is an experiment on which 
much depends. 
BY GOLDEN GATE. 
The deer hunting season in game districts 
2, 4 and 5, comprising the central counties of 
California, is ,now in full swing and promises 
to be a highly successful one if the success of 
the season is to be judged by the number of 
deer slain. The reports received by city sports¬ 
men early in the season to the effect that deer 
were very plentiful in these districts induced an 
unusually large number of them to get out on 
the opening day, and many bucks have been 
killed. The majority of the bucks brought in 
have been in poor condition, however, most of 
them being still in velvet. The opinion is gen¬ 
eral among sportsmen that the open season 
should not commence anywhere in California 
before the 1st of August, and even a later date 
is favored by many. The question of a revision 
of the game laws is now receiving the attention 
of the many game protective associations 
throughout the State, and it seems very likely 
that there will be some wholesale changes when 
the Legislature meets next January in regular 
session. Changes may be made at that time in 
the boundaries of the present game districts, as 
these were established more from a geographical 
standpoint than from any other. 
In Santa Cruz county bucks seem to be 
very plentiful and some large ones have been 
bagged already. William Little, of San Fran¬ 
cisco, brought down a seven-pointer at Waddell 
Creek, this being one of the largest ever killed 
in that vicinity, and the only seven point buck. 
There are quail in the neighborhood, and 
I heard two cock birds whistling bobwhite. No 
attempt has as yet been made on the farm to 
struggle with the heretofore unsolvable prob¬ 
lem of raising young quail in captivity, but I 
have no doubt it will be undertaken. The farm 
was started only this spring and has got under 
good headway in an astonishingly short time. 
They would be much further advanced if con¬ 
tractors had not failed to supply some of the 
pheasants until too late in the season. 
In short, I spent a most delightful day, 
learned a great deal and was most handsomely 
entertained by the very agreeable and compe¬ 
tent superintendent and his wife. I recommend 
all sportsmen, naturalists and nature lovers to 
apply at once for membership in the American 
Game Protective and Propagating Association 
at its headquarters, 111 Broadway, New York. 
It is the organization we have long been waiting 
for. It is not confined to this one game farm 
I visited and which is merely a starter. It is 
nation wide in its purpose, prepared to deal 
with every problem of game preservation in 
Legislatures and in the field. It is intelligent 
and broad-minded in its management, and if we 
all support it there will be money and influence 
to carry out its plans. It is part of the great 
movement to teach the American people the 
conservation of their natural and national re¬ 
sources. 
The Boulder Creek Gun Club gave a venison 
barbecue on July 7 and had plenty of venison 
for all. During the day a blue rock shoot was 
held on the club grounds. The officers of this 
club are: W. J. Caesar, President; Thomas 
Maddock, Vice-President; James Maddock, Sec¬ 
retary-Treasurer; Clyde Hickey, Official Scorer. 
Mayor James Rolph, Jr., of San Francisco, 
enjoyed a few days’ sport early in the season 
in company with three friends, the party ac¬ 
counting for four bucks. 
The California Fish and Game Commission 
has commenced an important investigation of 
the deer of this State that will extend over a 
period of several years, and which, it is hoped, 
will throw light on a number of questions touch¬ 
ing upon the conservation of game. This work 
will be carried on under the able direction of 
Frank C. Clarke, a graduate of the University 
of California, who received the unqualified 
recommendation of Chas. A. Kofoid, professor 
of zoology at this institution. Mr. Clarke is 
especially well fitted for this work, having been 
raised in the northern counties of the State 
where deer are plentiful, and having made a 
special study of animal life at the University. 
Last summer when a serious epidemic broke out 
among the deer of Trinity county, Mr. Clarke 
was sent there and rendered a report of much 
value to the commission. The new work of the 
commission will be to determine as nearly as 
possible the distribution and number of deer 
in the State, the ratio of the sexes, the effect 
of a prolonged killing of the males, the ques¬ 
tion of protection and conservation by law, the 
problem of a full utilization of the annual pro¬ 
duct of the deer herd, the problem of disease 
and the problem of protection from the ravages 
of lions, coyotes and other varmints. In addi¬ 
tion to making a study of the three species of 
deer found here, the black-tailed, white-tailed 
and mule-tailed deer, Mr. Clarke will devote his 
attention to elk, mountain sheep and antelope. 
He is getting in touch with every deputy of the 
commission in districts where deer are to be 
found, and expects to get much valuable data 
from the observations of these men. 
The offices of the California Fish and Game 
Commission have been removed from the Balboa 
Building to the Mills Building at Montgomery 
and Bush streets, San Francisco, where much 
more space than formerly used has been secured. 
It is anticipated that at an early date work will 
be commenced on a State Building for this city, 
and the commission will then have permanent 
quarters and ample room, not only for the trans¬ 
action of business, but for the display of speci¬ 
mens of California animal life. 
Camp Food. 
Pittsburgh, Pa., July 12 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: There seems to be a prejudice against 
oatmeal as an article of diet for campers and 
canoeists. This arises, I believe, from the fact 
that few know how to cook it properly and 
many confound it with rolled oats. Personally, 
had I to choose between oatmeal, rice and corn- 
meal for use in the woods, I would take oameal 
every time. 
To cook oatmeal properly, for one person, 
add half a pint of dry coarse oatmeal (the kind 
our grandmothers used) to a little more than 
a quart of boiling salted water; let it boil for 
ten minutes, stirring and skimming off the pasty 
scum that rises to the top; then place the kettle 
where it will cook slowly for twenty minutes, 
giving it an occasional stir to prevent it from 
sticking to the kettle. Eat with milk, butter or 
maple syrup. 
You will have more oatmeal cooked than 
you may care to eat at one meal. Pour the sur¬ 
plus into a spare cup or bowl, as a mold, and 
allow it to cool and harden. At the next meal 
it may be eaten cold or fried. To fry prop¬ 
erly, remove the oatmeal from its mold, cut in 
slices, dip in flour and fry until brown. 
Never soak the oatmeal before cooking. 
Never cook it in a double kettle. In either case 
you would get a pasty mess almost as bad as 
rolled oats, but not quite. Make your maple 
syrup in camp from maple sugar; it is easier to 
carry. Get your wife or the cook to show you 
how. Lorna. 
Louisiana Game Conditions. 
Alabama State Game and Fish Commis¬ 
sioner John H. Wallace, Jr., returned last week 
from Baton Rouge, La., where he addressed 
the Legislature on the subject of conservation. 
Mr. Wallace was met at Baton Rouge by a com¬ 
mittee of prominent and influential sportsmen. 
There is pending before the Louisiana Legisla¬ 
ture a bill for the protection and preservation 
of game, birds and fish, embracing the principal 
features of the Alabama statute, and Mr. Wal¬ 
lace advocated legislation along the lines of the 
Alabama law. 
Mr. Wallace said: “While I had anticipated 
iiiiiim 
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IF “ " - ... 
_ 
Hunting in California. 
