352 
FOREST AND STREAM 
March i6, 1912 
all very well to get good, groups with a single barrel 
gun, but what about a double?” The first shot at 30yds. 
from a double gun with the fore-end lightly resting on 
a pad was a clean miss of a 15in. by 18in. target. The 
distance was shortened to 15yds. to find where the shots 
were going^ and as the table rest is a somewhat cum¬ 
bersome thing to drag about, the shooting was done in 
the ordinary standing position. A bull was scored, and 
the series was continued, and regarded as somewhat of 
a fluke, but when the same fluke was repeated with the 
left it ceased to look like a fluke. 
Gunmakers may be able to say whether barrels laid 
together with a trueness suitable for shot charges may 
be expected to behave up to this standard with bullets. 
Our experience is for the moment confined to one gun. 
Ten shots at 30yds. (Sin. bull) from same gun with 
Kynoch Destructor bullets. 
(Quarter size reproduction.) 
As regards sighting, the shlot of the top lever screw 
made a very effective back sight, and the front bead 
did the rest. Possibly the many rounds that our expert 
fires per annum when measuring velocity gives him an 
unusual power of planting charges on a particular spot. 
Certain it is that sportsmen often complain of the dif¬ 
ficulty of taking stationary shots when the same objects 
would be invariably hit flying. If one round is e.xtended 
to a series of fourteen, as in the present instance, the 
effect on the nerves is distinctly trying. Private sports¬ 
men w'hen testing a lifle generally break down at about 
the fourth shot. These reflections form a suitable intro¬ 
duction to the final right-and-left at 30yds. The last shot 
was undoubtedly pulled a trifle high.—London Field. 
Iowa Wins Rifle Championship. 
Washington, D. C., March 9. —University of Iowa to¬ 
day was declared by the National Rifle Association as 
winner of the championship of the Western Intercollegi¬ 
ate Rifle Shooting League, having won all nine matches 
of the series. University of Minnesota, with eight vic¬ 
tories and one defeat, takes second place, while Purdue, 
Michigan Agricultural College and University of Cali¬ 
fornia are tied for third place, with six victories and 
three defeats. Arizona and Nebraska are tied for sixth 
lace, with three victories and six defeats. College of 
t. Thomas was last, with only one victory out of the 
nine matches. 
The Iowa team will shoot with the winners of the 
Eastern League for the championship of the United 
States as soon as the eastern matches finish next week. 
It is likely Massachusetts Agricultural College will win 
the eastern championship, standing this week one match 
ahead of Princeton, with which she will shoot next week. 
Western League results this week were: Iowa de¬ 
feated Michigan, 958 to 855; Purdue defeated St. Thomas, 
927 to 796; Minnesota defeated Michigan Aggies 926 to 
886; California defeated Arizona, 922 to 854; Nebraska 
defeated Kansas, 861 to 0, by default. 
Genesee Counfy F. ®. G. P. Ass’n. 
Batavia, N. Y., March 9.—At our regular monthly 
meeting last night we admitted twenty new members and 
had another rifle contest for a rifle. In the qualifying 
round the side captained by Mr. Childs scored 2752, by 
Mr. Farwell 2747, only 5 points difference with 58 shoot¬ 
ers. The ten high men then shot for the rifle, which 
was won by Mr. Wm. Susat. Scores follow, possible 
250; Farwell Watson and Case handicapped 5yds.: 
Wm. Susat 238, M. Mason 236, N. A. Whitcomb 231, W. 
H. Squires 229, E. S. Watson 224, W. Tyler 223, J. 
Osborne 222, F. M. Farwell 215, Arch Case 209, M. E. 
Barnes 202. C. W. Gardiner. 
FISH PROPAGATION IN WEST VIRGINIA 
Continued from page 333. 
State, except for artificial propagation, should 
be prohibited. I know of one case in particular, 
where nonresidents of this State spent a num¬ 
ber of days along one of the finest trout 
streams, and during this period caught hun¬ 
dreds of trout and shipped them out of the 
State. This should certainly be prohibited by 
law. ■ 
Third—The question of an open season for 
catching our game fishes is of special im¬ 
portance. As streams are more easily fished 
out that lakes, and of the latter we have none, I 
would recommend that our laws provide a 
closed season of eight months for brook trout 
and rainbow trout, viz., from Sept, i to April i, 
and for small-mouth black bass and large-mouth 
black bass, a closed season from Nov. i to July 
I. These periods will well protect these fishes 
during their spawning seasons, and at the same 
time allow a reasonable open season. 
Fourth—Under the prsent law it is lawful to 
take and keep a trout of four inches in length. 
This provision should, by all means, be changed 
and the limit in length be increased to six 
inches. 
It will be seen that I have not confined myself 
very closely to the subject of this paper. I 
have taken this liberty because I believe the 
points upon which I have touched are of special 
importance just at this time. 
In conclusion, let me say that I predict a 
bright future for the sportsmen, and the 
people of West Virginia in general who are 
interested in our game animals, birds and fishes. 
The problems are numerous and difficult, but 
they will be solved. The interests of the lum¬ 
berman. the miner and the tanner, and the 
sportsman will alike be protected by wise legis¬ 
lation on the part of our Legislature. 
I look forward to the time, in the not distant 
future, when it shall be our privilege and pleas¬ 
ure to at times lay aside the busy cares of life, 
and taking up our rods and reels and proceed 
along our favorite streams, those pure limpid 
waters once so characteristic of the streams of 
West Virginia, and thence return to friends and 
loved ones with our creels “heaped up, pressed 
down, and overflowing.” 
GAME FARMS. 
Working under an act passed by the Legis¬ 
lature last year, appropriating $io,ooo for the 
establishment of game farms, the Massachusetts 
Fish and Game Commission has decided upon 
the policy of establishing two or more game 
farms in diflerent sections of the State. Ac¬ 
cordingly the first start will be made in the 
town of Wilbraham. The commission has 
leased for a term of years 150 acres of land in 
the southwest section of the town, and work has 
begun in getting the farm under way. A build¬ 
ing is being erected, and before spring opens 
yards, pens and coops will contain large num¬ 
bers of pheasants, quail, Hungarian partridges, 
prairie chickens, wild turkeys and ducks of dif¬ 
ferent species. From time to time as is re¬ 
quired additional land will be leased, and it is 
expected that thousands of birds will be sent 
out from this farm to different sections of the 
State. 
Wilbraham, which is now noted for its cele¬ 
brated peaches, will soon have a world-wide 
reputation as a producer of artificially reared 
game birds. The section in which this farm is 
located has always been one of the best sections 
of the State for wild quail and partridge, and 
the commission feel that no better place could 
be selected for this game farm. The members 
of the Springfield Fish and Game Association 
are delighted over the prospect of having a 
large State game farm in the western part of 
the State, and much credit is due to their officers 
in bringing about this result. Doubtless as 
soon as the spring opens large numbers of 
people will be interested to observe the dif¬ 
ferent game birds, and hundreds of automobiles 
will daily pass the farm. 
The Springfield Republican says that the com¬ 
mission has leased the farm of John H. Reader, 
and two adjoining tracts, all of which is ideal 
land for game propagation. Mr. Reader has 
been successful as a raiser of chickens and 
turkeys, and at the present time has a large flock 
of tame turkeys and one wild Virginia turkey, 
which he hatched for Robert O. Morris from 
eggs received from Virginia. This bird is now 
nearly full grown, and is a handsome specimen 
of the turkeys that once covered all of West¬ 
ern Massachusetts. This bird is very tame, and 
will eat out of Mr. Reader’s hand, and readily 
answers to the name of “Wildy.” Mr. Reader 
will be retained by the commission. The build¬ 
ing now being erected will be used during the 
winter as a shop, in which coops, pens and 
yards can be built, ready to receive the birds 
as fast as they are shipped from the State game 
farm at Sutton. 
Superintendent Arthur Merrill was in Wilbra¬ 
ham the other day in company with Commis¬ 
sioner George H. Graham to make final 
arrangements for starting the work. The com¬ 
mission now has about 800 pheasants and 200 
quail for breeding stock, besides large numbers 
of Hungarian partridge, ducks and prairie 
chickens, all of which will be propagated on the 
Wilbraham game farm. The full board of com¬ 
missioners after looking at game farms in 
Missouri, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey 
and New York pronounced the Wilbraharn lo¬ 
cation an ideal one for propagating game birds. 
All birds will be hatched and reared in con¬ 
finement, and when they are at the right age 
will be shipped to different sections of the State 
for restocking depleted covers. It is proposed 
to allow a liberal consignment of birds to be 
liberated on State reservations and in all sec¬ 
tions where shooting is prohibited, so as to give 
the birds a chance to propagate and overflow 
into the shooting covers. The Springfield 
Country Club has applied for a consignment of 
pheasants, and with the large area that they con¬ 
trol it is believed that the birds will increase 
rapidly. 
PROTECTION FOR BIRDS. . 
The secretary of the State Game and Fish 
Commission has made an appeal for the protec¬ 
tion of game birds that should receive the at¬ 
tention of every one interested in their preserva¬ 
tion. Thus far the winter has been very hard 
on them and unless some care is taken of them 
now many of them must perish. The‘secretary 
asks that all who can do so make it their busi¬ 
ness to feed the birds as often as they can and 
provide shelter of some kind for them. 
It is reported that many birds are already 
starving, and this is no doubt the case. The 
heavy snows have covered up the natural feed¬ 
ing grounds, so that for some time they will 
have to depend upon “charity” if they are alive. 
Sportsmen, both in this State and in New Jersey, 
ought to interest themselves in doing what they 
can to tide them over the winter.—Philadelphia 
Enquirer. 
KILLED BY WILD ANIMALS. 
The most recent statistical abstracts for India 
show that within ten years no fewer than 243,663 
persons have been killed by wild animals and 
snakes in that country. Of this vast number of 
victims 8,894 were accounted for by tigers, 
4.355 by leopards, while 219,249 succumbed to 
snake-bites. In the same period 968,329 cattle 
were killed, chiefly by tigers and leopards. In 
1909, 190,871 licenses to destroy wild animals 
came into force under the Indian Arms Act.— 
Shooting Times. 
