116 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Jan. 27, 1912. 
Published Weekly by the 
Forest and Stream Publishing Company, 
127 Franklin Street, New York. 
Edward C. Locke, President, 
Charles B. Reynolds, Secretary, 
S, J. Gibson, Treasurer. 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
The Forest and Stream is the recognized medium of 
entertainment, instruction and information between Amer¬ 
ican sportsmen. The editors invite communications on 
the subjects to which its pages are devoted. Anonymous 
communications will not be regarded. The editors are 
not responsible for the views of correspondents. 
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six months. Subscriptions may begin at any time. 
Remit by express money-order, registered letter, money- 
order or draft, payable to the Forest and Stream Pub¬ 
lishing Company. 
The paper may be obtained of newsdealers throughout 
the United States, Canada and Great Britain. Foreign 
Subscription and Sales Agents—London: Davies & Co., 
1 Finch Lane; Sampson, Low & Co. Paris: Brentano’s. 
ADVERTISEMENTS. 
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There are 14 agate lines to an inch. Preferred positions, 
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A discount of 5 per cent, is allowed on an advertise¬ 
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Advertisements should be received by Saturday pre¬ 
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THE OBJECT OF THIS JOURNAL 
will be to studiously promote a healthful in¬ 
terest in outdoor recreation, and to cultivate 
a refined taste for natural objects. 
—Forest and Stream, Aug. 14, 1873. 
FEED THE BIRDS. 
Some of the rural mail carriers of the North¬ 
west have asked the Government’s permission to 
feed the starving birds along their routes. That 
the request will be denied is scarcely to be ex¬ 
pected. Much excellent work can be done by 
these men, many of whom relieve the monotony 
of their lonely and often difficulty journeys by 
taking note of the wild life along the way. It 
is interesting, if not surprising, to see how 
familiar the average rural mail carrier is with 
the habits and haunts of game and other birds 
that they see daily, and the wish to stop and 
scatter a little grain here and there is as natural 
ps it is commendable. 
The practice of feeding the birds is gaining 
friends everywhere, but it is not so widespread 
as it should be. There is altogether too much 
apathy apparent among farmers and others who 
profit through the increase and lose in the de¬ 
crease in the number of birds about their places. 
Before the clearing of all lands fit for cultiva¬ 
tion -there was little need to look after the wel¬ 
fare of the birds, but to-day the natural she’ters 
and feeding places are few and a different plan 
of action is necessary. 
Reports from a number of places widely sepa¬ 
rated show that the recent cold snap found the 
birds in poor condition, and as the winter is still 
young, there is urgent need of supplying our 
b'--ds with food and, if possible, shelter. It is a 
good investment for individuals as well as clubs 
and associations. 
SIMPLIFIED GAME LAWS. 
The report of the i^ew York Conservation 
Commission, transmitting to the Legislature the 
codification of laws relating to fish and game, is 
a remarkable document, deserving of the atten¬ 
tion of all sportsmen. The codification work 
was performed by a committee composed of 
George A. Lawyer, president of the New York 
State Fish, Game and Forest League; Marshall 
McLean, of the Camp-Fire Club; and John B. 
Burnham, president of the American Game Pro¬ 
tection and Propagation Association. The com¬ 
mittee was assisted by Dr. Tarleton H. Bean, 
State Fish Culturist, and a large number of 
sportsmen, breeders and dealers attended the 
open meetings held at various times. 
Among the proposed changes in the bill, which 
is now before the Legislature, are some which 
are marked departures from the provisions of 
the present law. Prominent are the follow¬ 
ing. 
Increasing the number of protectors to one 
hundred and twenty-five. There are ninety-five 
protectors now, and they are required to cover 
a very large territory. 
Making it legal to kill two adult male deer 
during six weeks ending Nov. 15 up State, and 
two weeks in certain Catskill counties. 
Limiting the number of wildfowl one person 
may take to twenty in a day, or thirty-five if 
two persons shoot in company. 
Reducing to twenty the number of black bass 
one person may take in a day, or thirty-five if 
two persons fish from one boat. 
Changing the general trout season to May i- 
Aug. 31 and April i-Aug. 31 on Long Island, 
with a seven-inch and ten-pound limit; Long 
Island rainbow trout season, April i6-Sept. 30. 
Fixing a fishing license fee of $2 for non-resi¬ 
dents sixteen years of age or over, and a trap¬ 
ping license fee of $10 for non-residents. 
Permitting residents to bring into the S‘ate be¬ 
tween the dates Sept. i6-Jan. 10, as his personal 
baggage and for his own use, game or fish law¬ 
fully taken fifty miles or more outside the State. 
A special license only is required in addition to 
the usual tags. 
The special local provisions which have cum¬ 
bered the laws heretofore were left out in the 
revision, and the language of the sections is 
plain. It remains to be seen whether the Legis¬ 
lature will take kindly to the suggestions, and 
the people accept them with a good grace. They 
are worthy of careful consideration and wide 
comment. 
SPRING SHOOTING SANCTUARIES. 
The Long Island Game Protective Associa¬ 
tion, through its President, Ottomar H. Van 
Norden, has made an extensive canvass with a 
view to obtaining the opinion of sportsmen, as¬ 
sociations and State commissions on the spring 
shooting question. Mr. Van Norden informs us 
that his association is greatly encouraged by the 
replies he has received. He says: 
I have been receiving many letters from various points 
of the country, and in not a single instance, either from 
individuals or from State fish and game commissioners, 
have I received an endorsement of spring shooting. 
The sentiment seems to be universally against it, and I 
find that we are not alone in the fight, by any means. 
This is encouraging and proves that sports¬ 
men are fully informed as to what is the best 
policy to pursue in the protection of wildfowl. 
With no spring shooting and with the spreading 
sentiment in favor of no sale, a material increase 
in the number of wildfowl can be looked for in 
the autumn. 
Another important step which must be taken 
in order to still further conserve wildfowl is the 
setting aside of certain lands and waters as 
sanctuaries. There should be a number of such 
places along the Atlantic coast, the Mississippi 
River and the Pacific coast, maintained by States 
or by the Government. There are now many 
private lands where wildfowl find rest and quiet 
during spring or summer, depending on latitude, 
but more are needed, particularly in the Missis¬ 
sippi valley. Barren sandbars, grown over with 
smartweed and willows, are ideal for the pur¬ 
pose, and there are thousands of these all along 
the great river. The Missouri, until a few years 
ago frequented by hordes of geese and ducks, 
is no longer visited, by them in numbers, owing 
mainly to incessant shooting during nearly half 
of the year. 
This is a matter of much greater importance 
than is generally known, but it is one which is 
deserving of the support of all sportsmen’s as¬ 
sociations. 
Rutherford Page, who was killed at Los 
Angeles on Monday of this week, when the aero¬ 
plane in which he was flying was wrecked, was 
a well known sportsman and amateur photog¬ 
rapher. His age was twenty-seven years, an,d 
his home was in West Thirty-eighth street. New 
York city, where his mother, two brothers and 
two sisters reside. He was a nephew of Dr. Geo. 
Bird Grinnell, the author-naturalist, and his com¬ 
panion in many shooting and exploring trips. 
Mr. Page graduated from Yale College in 1910. 
He was granted a license as an aviator two days 
before his death, and had won his first and last 
race just prior to the fatal accident. 
Canoeing on the Zambesi River in Africa is 
not without its perils, according to a noted 
traveler who says that the hippopotami have 
been shot at so much that they have grown 
peevish and likely to attack small boats. He 
cites a case where two young married couples 
were canoeing on the river above the Victoria 
falls. A hippo overturned the canoe and two of 
the four were drowned, their bodies going over 
the falls. One couple, strangely enough, was de¬ 
prived of the wife, the other of the husband. 
»? 
The New Jersey Fish and Game Commission 
has secured a site for the State Game Farm, the 
purchase of which was authorized by the last 
Legislature. About 400 acres of land has been 
purchased at Forked River, fronting on Barne- 
gat Bay, and it is believed- that this land will be 
suited in every way to the breeding of game 
birds. For this purpose the commission has 
planned to expend several thousand dollars dur¬ 
ing the present year. 
The New York Conservation Commission is 
prepared to sell to residents for reforesting pur¬ 
poses this year a large number of small trees 
at very low prices. White pine transplants will 
be sold at $3.50 a thousand. Young Scotch and 
red pines, European spruces, Carolina poplars, 
larches, black locusts and basket willows will also 
be supplied at prices which are much lower than 
those formerly asked. 
