Dec. 25, 1909.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
1019 
Ducks in Imperial Valley. 
Los Angeles, Cal., Dec. 12. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: That close and careful observer, Allen 
Kelly, for whose judgment I always have cher¬ 
ished a high regard, has undertaken, I fear, a 
rather thankless job in upholding some of the 
Imperial Valley ranchers who have been charged 
with lack of respect for game laws, particularly 
in the matter of seasons. In a recent communi¬ 
cation he speaks of the scarcity of ducks about 
Imperial in summer, excepting on the lagoons, 
and says that in all respects, but chasing ducks 
out of the barley fields, the game laws are ob¬ 
served as strictly at Imperial as elsewhere. 
I understand there has been little shooting 
about Imperial this season, and there has been 
but little here, either, as compared with the rule, 
so Mr. Kelly is duplicating my mistake in this 
regard. It is a notorious fact, however, that 
night shooting is practiced regularly about the 
Imperial Valley barley fields, and brother Kelly 
is too much of a sportsman not to know it, and 
to know that a lot of the market hunters who 
have shot there the last few years paid no at¬ 
tention to bag limits except to evade detection. 
Furthermore, I am informed by game protec¬ 
tion officials that there is no use of arresting 
anybody for any violation of the duck law around 
Imperial, as a farmers’ jury would acquit the 
accused every time, whatever the evidence. 
Regarding the method of planting now prac¬ 
ticed about Imperial, I acknowledge the corn. 
The Imperial farmers are progressive and even 
America’s Nile cannot be wasted ruthlessly at 
so much per acre foot. But a few years ago 
I knew of some planting that was done in the 
Egyptian way and am curious to know if it is 
not done occasionally yet. 
Now, regarding the reversal of duck migra¬ 
tions, which Mr. Kelly thinks I have done. Of 
course this is largely a matter of conjecture, 
but each should have his reasons. Mine for be¬ 
lieving our first flight of ducks came from Im¬ 
perial are (1) the lack of breeding facilities for 
the great number of ducks seen here at the open¬ 
ing; (2) the immense number of wildfowl that 
are known to breed and remain over in the 
lower Colorado marshy country below the line 
in Mexico, and on the headwaters of the Gulf 
of California; (3) the fact that the northern 
bred birds are always more fully feathered and 
further advanced than those raised in the south; 
(4) the reports of sportsmen who have been 
down the Colorado and examined these birds, 
found them pin-feathered and undersized, cor¬ 
responding exactly with the birds we are shoot¬ 
ing here; (5) similar reports from the San 
Joaquin Valley sportsmen who say their birds 
do not leave until they are replaced by arrivals 
from the north, which is at the first general 
storm, usually early in November; (6) the ap¬ 
pearance of great flocks of ducks and small, ap¬ 
parently family parties coming into the clubs 
from the southeast about the first of October, 
nearly all sprigs; (7) the fact that nine-tenths 
of our early birds are sprigs, and that these show 
more fondness for breeding in warm climates 
than most others is generally understood. 
Of course more or less of our birds leave for 
Imperial when there is a storm here, just as they 
come to us from Imperial on a southeaster. 
Ducks travel about a great deal. I hear the 
Salton Sea is alive with them now. 
I believe Mr. Kelly derived his idea that no 
ducks remained over from excursions about the 
settled portions of the valley rather than from 
a trip down the river. Had he taken this I am 
quite sure he would have found just what others 
have reported to me from this section—a myriad 
of all sorts of ducks and snipe, with every ap¬ 
pearance of breeding going on to a most ex- 
tensive degree. Edwin L. Hedderly. 
Springfield Fish and Game Association. 
The Springfield Fish and Game Association 
held its annual meeting at the Highland Hotel, 
Springfield, Mass, the night of Dec. 9. There 
were more than eighty members present, and Ed¬ 
ward H. Lathrop’s declination to become their 
president for another year was refused with 
much enthusiasm. The new officers, therefore, 
are as follows: President, Edward H. Lathrop; 
1st Vice-President, Samuel D. Sherwood; 2d 
Vice-President, Clinton Gowdy; 3d Vice-Presi¬ 
dent, Dr. F. H. Saunders, of Westfield; 4th Vice- 
President, William J. H. Nourse, of Worcester; 
Secretary and Treasurer, George H. Graham; 
Assistant Secretary, George W. Rice, Jr.; Exe¬ 
cutive Committee, A. C. Merritt, E. A. Gates, 
Charles R. Culver, James Hatch, John B. Smith, 
A. E. Snow, George P. Taylor, Henry Loeb; 
Entertainment Committee, J. Douglas Law, Geo. 
H. Graham, A. C. Merritt, J. B. Smith, A. E. 
Snow; Press Committee, Paul C. King, J. Brewer 
Corcoran; Reception Committee, Clinton W. 
Cowles, George F. Gehlte, Fred Hinckley, A 1 
Woodward, Harry Lukes, W. A. Cone. 
Salem D. Charles, president of the Massa¬ 
chusetts Fish and Game Protective Association, 
with which the local association is affiliated, criti¬ 
cised the State Fish and Game Association, and 
outlined the bills which will be introduced in the 
next Legislature and which his association sup¬ 
ports. He believes the present commission in¬ 
efficient, and favors a single commissioner with 
a good salary. He urged that the organizations 
of Western Massachusetts get together and work 
for their own interests instead of seeing all the 
money go for work for lobsters, oysters and so 
forth. He spoke with bitterness of the men who 
take an automobile, perhaps, and go from place 
to place shooting all the birds and leaving the 
covers devoid of a partridge. In a bill which 
he has drafted for the next Legislature the fish 
and game commission is given authority to close 
for not more than three years any section, town 
or county which is depleted of game birds. The 
place would be posted and a man left in charge 
to see that the law was obeyed. This would give 
that section an opportunity to recuperate, and he 
believes will prevent the necessity of a closed 
season throughout the State. 
Mr. Charles drew attention to the fact that 
the commission had over $50,000 to spend, and 
asked what Western Massachusetts got out of 
it. The commission put out 112,000 fingerling 
trout, which anyone can buy for $8 a thousand. 
The State association itself put out over 70,000. 
He held that hatcheries were being maintained 
where conditions were not such as to make it 
possible to raise trout. In Maine the commis¬ 
sion last year put out 2,500,000 fingerling trout 
and got only $25,000 from the State. There is 
no more difficulty in raising trout than cabbages, 
he said. There ought to be a hatchery in the 
western part of the State where all the trout 
needed could be raised and put out by men who 
knew, into the right kind of streams. 
Mr. Charles’ remarks were endorsed by a vote 
of the members. 
Rebellious Louisianians. 
New Orleans, La., Dec. 7. —Editor forest and 
Stream: Some citizens of Lulu, De Soto parish, 
in this State, in mass meeting assembled, have 
adopted a resolution refusing absolutely to pay 
the hunting, fishing or seining taxes or to ob¬ 
serve or regard in any way any ruling of the 
State Game Commission. The resolution de¬ 
clares that every citizen has the right to hunt 
and fish without being taxed, the game and fish 
belonging to all the people of the State. The 
citizens defy the game commission and warn 
the wardens not to attempt to enforce the laws 
on the subject. 
President Frank M. Miller, of the State Game 
Commission, gave out an interview to-day de¬ 
claring it his purpose to enforce the laws re 
gardless of the defiant attitude of the citizens 
in De Soto parish. As a sworn officer, placed 
in charge of the commission by authority of an 
act of the Legislature, he is charged with the 
execution of the laws and he will do it if it 
takes the combined effort of all the game war¬ 
dens in Louisiana. He declares that he will 
make no discrimination and will enforce the 
laws in every parish, town, hamlet and city in 
this State. The issue is thus squarely made and 
it seems probable that the game commission will 
be guided by the advice and counsels of Gover¬ 
nor J. Y. Sanders, Attorney-General Guion and 
Attorney Amos L. Ponder, of the commission. 
The resolutions adopted by the citizens of 
Lulu are as follows: “We, the undersigned, 
law-abiding citizens, positively refuse to pay for 
privilege of hunting and fishing, as we have a 
free and public right to do. We are desirous 
of upholding the majesty of any good law, but 
we enter our protest against the game and fish, 
and do-not consider it worthy of attention. We 
respectfully ask game wardens and their depu¬ 
ties or representatives not to interfere with us, 
and we furthermore pledge ourselves to each 
other to stand together and not submit to the 
rulings of the game law, regardless of the con¬ 
sequences. This is not a petition to the repre¬ 
sentatives to have the game law repealed, nor 
is it a howl from a mob, but we are speaking 
out against the game law, thinking we are per¬ 
fectly justified in what we have said.” 
President Miller’s statement follows: “I re¬ 
gret that any body of men should unite to defy 
and violate any law, but I have been delegated 
to enforce the laws for the conservation of game 
and fish in this State, and I shalk certainly do 
so. DeSoto parish will not be made! an excep¬ 
tion and I shall enforce the law there if I have to 
use every warden in the State for the purpose. 
The season for catching all but salt water fish 
has closed and remains so until March 1. The 
only fish that can be caught now are the black 
bass or green trout over four inches long, cat¬ 
fish, buffalo, gaspargou and all varieties of salt 
water fish. The hunting season is open for all 
game but woodcock and prairie chickens. The 
. reports from the various parishes show that 
100,000 licenses have been issued to hunters in 
Louisiana, and it is thought that this number 
will be greatly increased within the next few 
weeks. F. G. G. 
