Dec. 24, 1910.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
1019 
was deprecated and a return to former trespass 
laws, recommended. It was also agreed that no 
person under sixteen years of age should be 
licensed to hunt unless accompanied by parent 
or guardian. 
The association favored a deer season of six 
weeks ending on Nov. 15, and approved a reso¬ 
lution against the serving, in restaurants, hotels 
and clubs, of grouse, woodcock and quail. 
The Rensselaer County Association favored 
the trial of all game and fish cases before county 
courts. 
A resolution was passed favoring an appro¬ 
priation of $80,000 with which to establish at 
least five State game farms similar to the Sher¬ 
burne farm; one on Long Island, one north and 
east of the Mohawk Valley, one west of the 
Genesee River and the other two discretionary. 
To Propagate Quail. 
Springfield, Mass., Dec. 17.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: At the annual meeting of the 
Springfield Fish and Game Association, held at 
the Highland Hotel on the evening of Dec. 15, 
the executive committee gave a report favoring 
the stocking of this territory with more fish and 
game. 
Much interest is being manifested in the rais¬ 
ing of quail at the State hatchery at Sutton, 
and a committee has been appointed to visit the 
hatchery and inspect the work that is being car¬ 
ried on by Superintendent Merrill. Four hun¬ 
dred quail were hatched during the past season 
and 300 were liberated. It is proposed to start 
a small hatchery near Springfield in the near 
future. 
Edwin H. Forbush, of Boston, told of the 
work that is now being carried on by the Audu¬ 
bon Society. Fie said the society is very anxious 
to stop all spring shooting, but that they were 
in favor of giving the sportsmen plenty of game 
to shoot. He said that the intention was when 
the hunters’ license bill was passed that the 
money should go for the propagation of game, 
and the Audubon Society was in favor of chang¬ 
ing the present law so that the money could be 
used for game only. 
Herbert K. Job, State Ornithologist, of Con¬ 
necticut, gave a very interesting lecture with 
some beautiful colored pictures. Mr. Job advises 
the propagation of our own native game birds 
such as quail and partridge, and believes that 
good results will be attained if the matter is 
rightly handled. Fie says our motto should be 
that we will plant two birds where one is de¬ 
stroyed. 
The following officers for the ensuing year 
were chosen: President, Mayor Edward H. 
Lathrop; First Vice-President, Samuel D. Sher¬ 
wood; Second Vice-President, Clinton Gowdy; 
Third Vice-President, Dr. F. H.. Saunders; 
Fourth Vice-President, William J. H. Nourse; 
Secretary and Treasurer, George B. Graham; 
Assistant Secretary, George W. Rice, Jr.; 
Executive Committee, A. C. Merrit, Dr. E. A. 
Gates, Charles R. Culver, James P. Hatch, John 
B. Smith, A. E. Snow, George P. Taylor, Henry 
Loeb. J. D. Law, Paul Herrick and Charles S. 
Ballard; Reception Committee, C. W. Cowles, 
George Gehle, Fred Flinkley, A. E. Wood¬ 
ward, Dr. Harry Lukes, W. A. Cone, D. C. 
Keeney, John Colton, FI. K. Cooley, H. G. Web¬ 
ster, A. E. Lerche and W. M. Lester. 
George H. Graham. 
Massachusetts Game. 
Boston, Mass., Dec. 17.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: According to the tabulated returns of 
the commissioners of fish and game to yester¬ 
day, the number of deer killed in the State dur¬ 
ing the six-day open season was 1,387. The 
prohibition of the use of rifles accounts in part 
for the fact that no person was killed during 
the season. Another reason may be the fact 
that all the hunters were strongly impressed 
with the possibilities of danger, and everyone 
kept a sharp lookout at all times. One of the 
wardens in speaking of scenes which he wit¬ 
nessed declared that no one would have believed 
it possible that so many men would turn out 
for the sake of getting a deer. In certain locali¬ 
ties the fields were alive with hunters. One 
deer wounded slightly by the first shot was 
fired at by a score of hunters, and it was difficult 
to decide to whom the carcass belonged. 
The town in which the largest number of 
deer was killed is Harvard, where there were 
forty-three reported. Twenty-four were killed 
in Palmer and the same number in Wilbrahan, 
in Hampden county. Worcester heads the list 
with 433; Franklin. 290; Berkshire, 224; Hamp¬ 
den, 231; Hampshire, 198. 
William Davis, of Springfield, secured a buck 
which it is claimed weighed 450 pourfds in Blancl- 
ford, and C. W. Howard, of Pittsfield, shot a 
300-pound doe in Hancock. Alfred Rice, twelve 
years old, shot a buck in Claremont. 
The successful women hunters who sent in 
reports were Miss Margaret A. Graham, of Lud¬ 
low ; Miss J. C. Cutler, of Shrewsbury, and 
Mabel A. De Rocker, of Florida. Thirty-three 
wounded deer were reported from Worcester 
county, twenty-two in Franklin, twenty in Hamp¬ 
shire, fifteen in Hampden and eleven in Berk¬ 
shire. Incidental to the open season there was 
one death, that of S. P. Morgan, of Ayer, at¬ 
tributed to heart failure due to over exertion- 
while hunting. 
Sportsmen are glad to know that the paid 
deputies under instructions from the commission 
are distributing food for the quail. Callers from 
a south shore town report sufficient depth of 
snow to make good sleighing, which of course 
will make it difficult for birds to find food. 
Henry H. Kimball. 
For a Later Deer Season. 
Commenting on woods accidents and probable 
remedies for them, the Journal of Albany, N. Y., 
says: 
“Deputy Commissioner John B. Burnham, of 
the Forest, P'ish and Game Department, expresses 
the belief that a long hounding season would re¬ 
sult in the extermination of the deer, and that 
a short hounding season would be more danger¬ 
ous to human life than the present method of 
hunting. Statistics, he says, show that more 
hunters were killed when hounding was in vogue 
than are killed at present. 
“Mr. Burnham calls attention to the fact that 
the hunting region of New York State is con¬ 
venient to the most densely populated section 
of the country. The State’s hunting ground is 
accessible, he points out, to several millions of 
people. More than 500,000 guns and rifles are 
annual’y sold in the United States and 'a con¬ 
siderable portion of these come into the hands 
of men who hunt in this State. A short hound¬ 
ing season, it is held, would result in an im¬ 
mense influx of sportsmen and could hardly 
fail to result in a considerable loss of human 
life. Hounding is a method of hunting which 
has. been found too destructive to the supply to 
be permitted in any of the Northern States. 
“ ‘The ideal game law,’ Mr. Burnham said, ‘is 
one so arranged as to season and method of 
hunting that no more than the increase of any 
game variety is killed during the open season, 
so that a sufficient breeding stock is left over 
each year to maintain the supply- When this 
balance is seriously impaired, the extinction of 
the game is only a matter of time. Even a 
short hounding season would be a serious menace 
to the deer supply, in my opinion. There are 
not many deer dogs in the Adirondacks now, 
but with hounding permitted their number would 
increase, and there would b'e more dogs in the 
mountains than ever before.’ 
“ ‘If any change is to be made in the hunt¬ 
ing law,’ Mr. Burnham said, ‘it should be an 
extension of the deer season fifteen days later 
than at present, with the restriction that no deer 
be killed except bucks with horns three' inches 
or more in length.’ Mr. Burnham said the range 
of deer in this State is greater than at any time 
within the last seventy-five years, and that it 
is probable there are more deer in the State 
now than any time in the history of the State. 
The extermination of wolves and the restrictive 
laws, he said, were responsible for this condi¬ 
tion.” 
Lewis H. Garrard’s Book. 
Among the many letters appreciative of the 
recent article in Forest and Stream headed “A 
Boy 'in Indian Camps” is one from Dr. A. T. 
Woodcock, of Byron, Ill. He refers with feel¬ 
ing to a sentence referring to the discomfort of 
a long day’s travel in a storm on the plains, and 
describes such a ride taken years ago along the 
Platte River. He says: 
“Riding up the Rush Creek Valley I turned 
into the old Platte road. Inside of a mile a 
storm broke. It swept with fearful velocity up 
the wide valley of the river, and in an instant 
the broad, shallow Platte was changed to a mass 
of dancing, creamy 'foam, and the rushing wind 
sheeted the rain so fiercely against our faces 
that at first we could hardly breathe. The light¬ 
ning darted hither and yon, now on the river, 
and now revealing the low bluffs with blazes of 
startling light, while all about the thunder 
boomed, crashed and roared. Several bands of 
half wild horses tore madly by me, and my 
horse Billy, ordinarily so level-headed, became 
a little rattled and tried his best to stampede 
with each bunch, but I held him with a firm 
hand. Finally the storm settled into a steady 
downpour and the old horse marched bravely 
through it. I was glad to see the Coombs and 
Pursinger sod ranch buildings loom up in the 
storm a short distance ahead.” 
In portions of the Western country, where 
timber was scarce, the old ranch houses, bunk 
houses, stables and often the corrals, fences and 
sheds were built of sod. These might be used 
as forts from which to stand off a small army 
iof men, as was done in the old fight at Adobe 
Walls when Cheyennes, Kiowas and Comanches 
attacked the camp of buffalo hunters there. 
