832 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Dec. 28, 1912 
High Gun 
AT DENVER, 1912 
HANDICAP, SEPT. 10-13 
Mr. R. H. Bruns, shooting his 
LEFEVER 
made the marvellous run of 
283 without a miss. 
On the 700 single targets, in¬ 
cluding handicaps, Mr. Bruns 
scored 683 out of 700. 
The second day of the tourna¬ 
ment on the day’s program of 
200 targets, Mr. Bruns and 
his Lefever gun scored 200 
out of 200. A world’s re¬ 
cord for ten traps. 
On the 5 00 single 16-yard 
target for amateurs, Mr. Bruns 
scored 494 out of 500. 
ANOTHER WINNER AT THE 
PACIFIC COAST HANDICAP 
Mr. L. H. Reid, shooting his Lefever gun, won 
second high average with 381 out of 400. 
Why don’t you shoot a LEFEVER? 
Write for Catalog 
LEFEVER ARMS COMPANY 
Guns of Lasting Fame 
23 Maltbie Street Syracuse, N. Y. 
FOR ARCHERY SUPPLIES 
Write for Archery Catalogue. 
E. I. H0RSMAN CO. 365 Broadway, N. Y. 
Taking the Pucker Out of the Persimmon. 
The popular demand for the large and 
beautiful Japanese persimmon has been re¬ 
tarded by the marked astringency of the fruit 
when firm and tempting to the eye, says the 
Scientific American. Moreover, if the fruit is 
allowed to ripen until the “pucker” is lost it 
becomes soft and mushy, decaying very rapidly. 
In Japan they have for years practiced the 
art of removing the “pucker” by sealing the 
firm fruit in barrels which have been rinsed 
with “sake,” a sort of Japanese beer. Our 
bureau of chemistry finally took the hint and 
has recently found that the same effect is ob¬ 
tained by keeping the persimmon in carbon di¬ 
oxide from three to five days. 
Some varieties come out of this “process¬ 
ing,” as it is called, as firm as an apple and may 
be peeled and eaten like an apple with great 
satisfaction. Our native American persimmon, 
however, does not respond to this treatment. 
The fruit grows easily on the Gulf Coast, and 
the demand is increasing. When the growers 
and retail dealers learn that persimmons may 
be put on the market in firm, rosy and edible 
condition the industry will take on new life. 
Fox-Farming a Gold Mine. 
Some years ago a Canadian farmer, while 
hunting strayed cattle in the woods, found two 
silver-fox pups, a male and a female. He 
swapped them with a neighbor for a cow and 
a few dollars to boot. The neighbor experi¬ 
mented for several years with various kinds of 
pens and treatment, but finally became discour¬ 
aged and sold the foxes for eighty _ dollars. 
This second man gave over his experiment to 
a third man, who lived on an island in Cas- 
cumpec Bay. The quiet of the new place, the 
increasing tameness of the foxes, and the in¬ 
telligence of the new keeper produced condi¬ 
tions that relieved Mme. Reynard’s nervous ap¬ 
prehension for her young’s safety, and three 
pups were reared to maturity in two seasons. 
This success, the result of eight years’ experi¬ 
mentation, gave a strong impulse to a brand- 
new industry. Farmers have not many new in¬ 
dustries to turn to nowadays, and this one be¬ 
gan in earnest. About six men possessed a 
knowledge of the fine art of rearing foxes in 
captivity, and jealously guarded their secret 
until 1910. Up to that time no live foxes were 
sold except some light “silvers” to distant 
places. 
The surplus animals were killed and the 
pelts marketed in London. One dark silver 
pelt was sold for $3,000 at a London auction, 
and in 1910-n prices of $2,700 and $2,500 were 
obtained. Since then as much as $3,500 has 
been realized, the highest price ever paid for 
the pelt of any kind of animal. 
Now that the secret is out, fox-farms are 
springing up in Canada in all directions, and 
henceforth it would seem that the production 
of costly fur is only a problem for the animal 
husbandman. Perhaps the day will soon come 
when books of fox, marten, otter, and mink 
pedigrees will be published. One fox-farm re¬ 
cently visited by the writer on the banks of 
the St. Lawrence contained eighteen animals, 
for which the owner demanded $75,000.—From 
“Fox-Farming” in Strand. 
Ten Million Oyster Shells. 
Oyster shells have of late become quite 
valuable. It has been discovered that they are 
excellent to build roads with; they are also 
used for fertilizers and the manufacture of but¬ 
tons. Nowadays, says the Wide World Maga¬ 
zine, the oysterman saves his shells and sells 
them at a profit. The biggest pile of shells in 
the world is situated at Hampton, Virginia, on 
Chesapeake Bay, the greatest of oyster waters. 
This miniature mountain is the product of one 
season's catch of one man, Frank Darling, the 
millionaire “King of the Oystermen.” The pile 
is fifty feet high and a hundred and fifty feet 
long, and contains about two hundred thou¬ 
sand bushels of shells, which yielded about five 
million oysters. These shells will sell for ten 
thousand dollars, and before the next season 
the pile will have disappeared, to make room 
for another as large. There are many oyster- 
shell hillocks in the Chesapeake Bay region, 
though none quite so large as this. 
Trapping a Game Keeper. 
A West Highland gamekeeper one after¬ 
noon, not very long ago, came across a number 
of young men from a small neighboring town 
ransacking his best grouse stretches, and evident¬ 
ly making a heavy bag. Being alone, he deemed 
it prudent not to challenge them, but he devised 
a little scheme which he believed would result, 
if cleverly executed, in their being nicely trapped. 
Pie guessed that the boat which had conveyed 
them thither lay anchored in a certain creek, and 
concluded that, if he could, disguised, secure 
a passage with them to the town, he could get 
them handed over to the police immediately on 
landing. Their “swag” and gear would form 
irrefutable proof of their guilt. He hurried 
home and effected such a transformation in his 
personal appearance as old clothes and an appli¬ 
cation of the razor rendered possible. He then 
repaired to the place where the boat was fast¬ 
ened, and patiently awaited the return of the 
impudent marauders. They appeared in due. 
time, laden with plunder, and jubilant and happy. 
The fantastically arrayed keeper meekly begged 
a passage to town, which was cordially granted. 
They all embarked, and the oarsmen bent to 
their work. When about a mile from the shore 
they reached a large buoy considerately provided 
by a solicitous Government to warn navigators 
of the presence of a sunken rock. Straight for 
this colossal hogshead the boat was steered, and 
when it had been touched, the ragged passenger 
was peremptorily commanded to climb to its top. 
Expostulations and entreaties were alike in vain. 
It was clear that his disguise had been pierced 
and his mission correctly guessed. It was equally 
patent that the boisterous youths were bent on 
administering a salutary lesson in punitive jus¬ 
tice. He was compelled to leave the boat and 
climb to the apex of the rickety and isolated 
float. The young men bade him an effusive and 
affectionate farewell and sped along on their 
homeward voyage. Next morning the poor game- 
keeper was rescued from his perilous position 
by a passing yacht, after having been nearly terri¬ 
fied out of his seven senses.—Shooting Times & 
British Sportsman. 
Catching Turtles for Market. 
Catching mud turtles for the eastern mar¬ 
ket is not only exciting, says the Chicago Inter 
Ocean, but it is extremely remunerative. For 
several months past hundreds of pounds of mud 
turtles have been shipped via the boat line to 
Chicago billed to Philadelphia, where they are 
placed on the market as ocean terrapin. So 
fine and highly flavored is the flesh of the 
turtles caught in this locality that a great mar¬ 
ket has been opened for them in the east, where 
even a connoisseur of ocean turtle cannot dis¬ 
tinguish them from the real article. 
The variety of turtle shipped is the dia¬ 
mond-back. about the gamiest and best known 
fighter of the mud turtle family. Because of his 
aggressiveness he is crowded into a box with a 
half dozen others of the same size, where there 
are just enough holes tO' admit sufficient air to 
keep him from going to waste on the way. If 
he was given any more liberty the freight hand¬ 
lers would be minus some fingers, besides stor¬ 
ing up a lot of grievances against the shipper. 
The diamond-back turtle brings the shipper 
from $3 to $5, according to his size. The ones 
shipped from here vary in weight from thirty 
to fifty pounds, and are some turtles. 
On a day when the weather is particularly 
fine the turtles are sure to show themselves. 
They will come up on top of a floating log and 
sun themselves. Sometimes as many as forty 
or fifty will occupy one log, ranging in size 
from infant turtles to grownups. As they are 
not fast travelers, when driven to the shore it 
is not difficult to corral them, but a bite from 
one of them has been known to bring serious 
results to the one bitten. For this reason the 
occupation is not as agreeable as some others 
might be, and not one to be chosen as a pas¬ 
time. 
A Missouri Deer Farm. 
In a half developed hill country a few agri¬ 
cultural side lines may mean the difference be¬ 
tween farming at a loss or at a profit. Chalmer 
Roseberry, of Stella, Mo., has half a dozen of 
these side lines, and the most unusual of them, 
deer farming, has in recent years proved the 
most remunerative. 
There was no demand at all for deer in the 
Ozark hills when a little over twenty years ago 
as a boy of sixteen Roseberry penned off one 
and a half acres for a fawn which a neighbor 
gave him for a pet. The first fawns that the 
young deer farmer sold a few years later 
brought $20 a pair, and grown deer $30 a pair. 
The demand for the animals for parks and 
circuses and country places recently has got 
far ahead of the supply, and Roseberry’s com¬ 
mon or Virginia whitetails are fetching $50 to 
$60 for a pair of fawns and $75 to $85 for a pair 
of adults.—Farm and Fireside. 
