March 5, 1910.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
370 
serve counties. The provisions of Section 73, 
regulating the burning of timber, are made to 
apply to certain named towns and counties in¬ 
stead of to “all towns in the State forest pre¬ 
serve.” Various changes are made in the game 
provisions of the law, including a new provision 
that violation by a non-resident or alien, where 
the penalty under present law for residents is 
$60, is to be subject to a penalty of $100. 
By Assemblyman Howard, of Tioga.—Making 
the open season for trout in Tioga county from 
April 16 to July 15 instead of from April 16 to 
Aug. 31. 
The Assembly has passed a bill relating to the 
number of tip-ups that may be used in Big Sandy 
Pond, Oswego county. 
By Senator Stilwell.—Making the prohibition 
against taking fish, birds or game in a private 
park or on private lands, or trespass for that 
purpose, apply to every case where the act is 
performed without the permission of the owner 
of the private lands or the persons having the 
exclusive right to hunt and fish in the private 
park. The present law makes this unlawful 
only after notice prescribed in the act. The 
necessity for this notice as preliminary to a 
criminal prosecution is abolished. The prohibi¬ 
tion against taking game from land purchased 
for the Croton aqueduct in Westchester county 
is extended so as to cover land taken by any 
municipality for water supply purposes. 
Effects of the Storm. 
New Orleans, La., Feb. 23.—Editor Forest 
and Stream: The shooting season in Louisiana 
expires on March 1 for doves, snipe, sandpipers, 
geese, brant, ducks, rails, coots, gallinules, tat- 
lers, curlew, plover, quail and one or two othei 
species of birds. On March I the fishing season 
will open when all species of fish may be caught 
except black bass or green trout. Blue-winged 
teal ducks can be killed up to April 15, but wood- 
ducks cannot be hunted after March 1. It is 
stated by hunters that the season has not been 
as good as last year for game, and especially 
ducks in certain sections. This is ascribed to the 
storm of last September which destroyed the 
grass in the marshes and prairies. The high 
water did a great deal of damage and the re¬ 
sult has been the ducks and other game could 
not find seed from grass to feed upon. 
G. W. Fields, who attended the recent conven¬ 
tion of game commissioners in New Orleans, 
says in Massachusetts the experiment of burning 
the grass at the end of the season proved a fail¬ 
ure, and instead of burning this grass they allow 
it to grow and also plant alfalfa and wheat and 
several kinds of grass producing seeds. He 
says these were planted in the preserves and it 
has worked well. Mr. Fields advises the hun¬ 
ters in New Orleans to try the experiment. 
The ducks and other birds inhabiting the 
marshes near New Orleans on the Louisville 
and Nashville railroad have heretofore found a 
great deal of food in the shape of wild rice and 
grass seed. It is stated that much of this supply 
during the present season was cut off by the big 
storm of last fall and as a consequence ducks 
and geese weije quite scarce. In the Barataria 
section ducks and geese flourished, and in places 
along the gulf and at the mouth of the river 
game was more abundant than ever before. 
F. G. G. 
Massachusetts Game Sanctuaries. 
Boston, Mass., Feb. 19. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: The only objection to the game sanc¬ 
tuary measure that seemed of any weight was 
that at the expiration of the year s close time 
(or whatever the limit might be) there would- 
be a rush to get the game and the hunters would 
soon exterminate it. This might be obviated by 
the issuance of only a limited number of special 
licenses to those desiring to enter upon the 
hitherto forbidden ground. In speaking on the 
bill H. A. Estabrook, a veteran hunter, of Fitch¬ 
burg, and in 1903 chairman of the Massachu¬ 
setts Central Committee for Protection of Fish 
and Game, stated that the various reservations 
of the State consist of some 25,000 acres on 
which no hunting is allowed, and that the num¬ 
ber of acres of posted land is great and con¬ 
stantly on the increase. This is doubtless true, 
but such inclosures are not in reality sanctuaries. 
On them no attempt is made to destroy the 
enemies of ' the birds except possibly in rare 
cases. While for the time being it may seem a 
deprivation to have tracts of land set apart as 
sanctuaries, but wherever it has been tried the 
experiments have proved of great benefit. In 
this connection I wish to present the testimony 
of Wm. Brewster before our legislative com¬ 
mittee in 1907: 
“I have always believed strongly in sanctuaries. 
We have had some splendid object lessons in 
the closing of ponds. The results are extra¬ 
ordinary. Fresh Pond, which was entirely shot 
out, partly through my own efforts, and where 
at length very few ducks were seen, was closed 
to shooting with the result that a few black 
ducks, gulls and various waterfowl came back 
again. Gradually the numbers increased. We 
counted 300 or 400 ducks and 2,400 gulls at one 
time. They have increased over in Spot Pond 
very largely. Probably the same thing can be 
done elsewhere, and if we could establish sanc¬ 
tuaries for partridges, quail and other birds in 
various towns it would be one of the most im¬ 
portant steps. It would be the greatest thing for 
sportsmen, for the birds then would have a 
chance to collect, rest and increase and they 
would overflow into the neighboring covers.” 
One of the most interesting speakers at the 
hearing was James H. Bowditch whose ideas are 
given quite fully in a recent letter to the Trans¬ 
script. In part it follows: 
“The present bill before the Legislature aims 
to provide the birds with what they want in the 
best form possible, just a few bits of plain wild 
nature, interfered with only by the ordinary pur¬ 
suits of the country farmer or agriculturist. The 
ruffed grouse delights in woodlands that are cut 
off here and there for fire wood, but otherwise 
left undisturbed. The quail flourishes in more 
open country interspersed with fields of oats, 
buckwheat, corn or potatoes. He destroys the 
potato bug and hosts of other insects and seeds 
of weeds injurious to the farmer. Give birds in 
general this free country traversed and used only 
by the owners thereof and conditions are ideal 
for eggs and birds. This protection is what the 
proposed new bill aims at and many a farmer 
will gladly join hands with lawmaker and sports¬ 
man to insure the birds a safe nesting place and 
consequent increase in numbers. This holds 
specially true in populous parts of the State 
where the birds are now few and far between, 
and where the increasing streams of trespassers 
and gunners make peaceable farming life thor¬ 
oughly discouraging. A few well chosen bird 
sanctuaries in such localities would be much wel¬ 
comed by and greatly benefit the entire com¬ 
munity.” FI. H. Kimball. 
Illegal Duck Shooting. 
Raleigh, N. C.—Feb. 26.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: A very interesting report is made on 
conditions in Currituck county, the noted duck 
region, by Tom Addicks, of the State museum, 
who has been there collecting ducks which are 
being mounted by State Taxidermist Herbert 
Brimley. Mr. Addicks secured twenty-two 
species, male and female, in some cases three 
specimens. Mr. Addicks says that day and night 
shooting goes on along Currituck Sound and 
that the roar of guns, including eight-bores, is 
in evidence almost all the time. That county is 
not under the protection of the Audubon law 
now, and the county commissioners pay the war¬ 
dens they have appointed only $2.50 in case of 
conviction, but not otherwise. The result can 
be guessed at, as there is always more or less 
danger in going after the violators of the law. 
In one case some men went out before sun¬ 
rise to shoot, - and an ex-member of the Legisla¬ 
ture and various other witnesses appeared against 
them, swearing that they themselves were wait¬ 
ing for the sun to rise before they started for 
the ducking ground and saw the other people 
out on the water and far aw r ay. The violators 
introduced a lot of men who swore everything 
was all right and so nothing was done. Secre¬ 
tary Gilbert Pearson, who was here, heard the 
statements by Mr. Addicks. He said that some 
people in Currituck and in other counties, too, 
which have been taken from the Audubon law 
and protection, express their desire for the re¬ 
peal of the present law giving county supervis¬ 
ion. Secretary Pearson said he had spoken 
eleven times this winter before sportsmen in New 
York and other States and found their enthu¬ 
siasm and interest in protecting game inspiring. 
He said he wished it would affect certain com¬ 
munities in this State. Up North in counties 
where there are barely a handful of birds the 
people are enthusiastic and trying in every way 
to bring about an increase and give the best 
sort of protection, but in certain parts of North 
Carolina there is utter carelessness, no matter 
whether there is entire extermination or not. 
Fred. A. Olds. 
Recent Publications. 
The second volume of the Breeders’ and Ex¬ 
hibitors’ of Dogs Guide Book and Directory for 
1910 (published by the Bulletin Company, 16 
Church street,. New York, F. J. Skinner, man¬ 
ager), contains 259 pages of valuable informa¬ 
tion. The standards of .the recognized breeds, 
with descriptive and historical matter pertain¬ 
ing to them, all illustrated by portraits of typical 
dogs, are a liberal education to the reader. Other 
valuable features are a breeder’s diary and calen¬ 
dar ; a glossary of canine terminology; shows 
for 1909 with a list of judges and breeds to 
which they were assigned; several thousand 
names of breeders and exhibitors; a list of 
specialty clubs and their officers and of field- 
trial clubs and their secretaries; of sportsmen's 
journals, bench show handlers, etc. Price, $1. 
