JUNE 16, 1906.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 



MIKE. 
fines collected from the work of unpaid deputies 
are divided equally between the State and the 
informer or complainant. 
The secretary of one of the clubs of Eastern 
Massachusetts reports that quail are plentiful in 
his section, but, he says, “we are not advertising 
them,” so I refrain from mentioning his name 
or that of his town; suffice it to say, it is a region 
in which the birds have been well cared for the 
past three years, and the result speaks for itself. 
There is some difference of opinion among our 
bird hunters on the question whether or not the 
severely cold rain which fell on the 26th and 27th 
of May (some four and a half to five inches) has 
destroyed young partridges. The general belief 
I find to be that few, if any, broods had hatched, 
but where the nearly hatched eggs were in nests 
made in swamps or near the banks of streams, 
may have been sterilized by being submerged. 
In such a case would the old bird lay eggs 
and bring out a later brood. 
The other morning I had the pleasure of meeting 
a goodly number of sportsmen and others inter- 
ested in the protection and propagation of game 
and fish of the town of Southbridge. 
The Rod and Gun Club there has been active 
the past season in liberating quail, and is desirous 
of stocking the streams, of which there are sev- 
eral exceedingly good ones, with fingerling trout 
the coming fall. As a result of the meeting, many 
names were added to the roll of membership. 
Those present manifested a deep interest in Presi- 
dent Cheney’s plan to develop an expansion of 
' the club’s work and interests. 
The officers and members are desirous of de- 
veloping fully the game and fish resources of 
the town, and the club bids fair to become an 
important factor in carrying on the various lines 
of work which devolve upon the State Associa- 
tion and allied clubs. It has already voted to take 
“club membership’ in the State organization, 
thereby being entitled to one member on the 
Committee for Enforcement of Laws and one 
on the Legislative Committee of the State Asso- 
ciation. This plan of forming a close alliance be- 
tween the clubs and securing information on 
matters of general interest from headquarters, is 
meeting with much favor among the various or- 
ganizations in different sections of the State. 
It is believed that the plan will be even more 
effective in promoting the fish and game interests 
than that which has been employed for several 
years with good results through the Central Com- 
mittee for Protection of Fish and Game. The 
latter originated as a result of a convention held 
in November, 1899, and was a powerful auxiliary 
of the State Association in securing the anti- 
sale law on partridge and woodcock in 1900; 
‘ 
CAMPS OF THE BUCKSKINS. 
also in its re-enactment as a permanent statute 
three years later. The members of the Executive 
Committee of the Central have held office for two 
years, and a convention of protectors has been 
held biennially since 1899. The new plan of club 
membership will provide a constant force for 
legislative work and enforcement of laws in which 
every club is at all times represented, and this 
force should resemble a standing army of regular 
soldiers rather than a volunteer militia. By this 
plan the outlying clubs will be able to render 
more assistance in the work of education, which 
must be constantly carried on, for the reason that 
they will be furnished early information in regard 
to bills presented to the legislature, dates of 
hearings as well as general news as to what is 
being done either by the general government or 
by neighboring States towards game protection 
or propagation. 
Through the liberality of President Cheney, the 
Southbridge Club has just installed a new Leggett 
trap on an eminence owned by their president, 
and I witnessed some good shooting there on 
Memorial Day. 
Mr. J. P: Love, of Webster, writes me that 
the Rod and Gun Club of ‘that town has liberated 
several dozen quail this spring, and that the 
town pays over to the club some money to assist 
in fostering fish and game interests. 
A somewhat similar bit of news came to me 
yesterday when I met a well-known citizen of 
Hingham, who told me his town voted an appro- 
priation of $250, to be used under direction of a 
special committee for the enforcement of fish and 
game laws. Your readers may recall the fact 
that three years ago the town of Cohassett made 
an appropriation for the purchase of game birds. 
In Dr. Field’s report of the work of the State 
Commission for 1905, he makes an estimate of the 
number of deer at the present in the State as 
5,000. He further suggests an increase, prior 
to the date of the expiration, of the restriction 
and killing (Nov. 1, 1908), of as many more, and 
that, without materially reducing the number, at 
least 1,000 might properly be killed, the value of 
which would. be in the neighborhood of $30,000, 
and if 2,000 were killed the crop would net twice 
as much, the only expense to the State being 
the money paid to wardens for their protection. 
In this connection a suggestion in reference to 
the care of deer from a correspondent in Hol- 
brook may be of interest. He writes that, in his 
opinion, some arrangements should be made to 
supply the deer with salt; that last season they 
were drawn “into our very yards” looking for 
salt, and thus fell a prey to dogs. He recom- 
mends that wardens place a piece of “cow salt” 
in the swamps. Fewer of them would be killed, 
THE “BUNCH.” 
for the reason that they would remain with their 
young in the woods.. We know how eager cattle 
are for salt when out in pastures, and that a 
“salt lick” is one of the devices of deer-hunters. 
H. H. KIMBaA tt. 
Summer Resort Fiction. 
PertH Amsoy, N. J., June 10.—Editor Forest 
and Stream: In a reputable New York evening 
paper of yesterday appear these headlines: “Game 
Plenty at Elizabethtown.’ Then follows a letter 
from a regular or special correspondent, dated 
Elizabethtown, New York, June 8, wherein he 
says: “The woods and waterways now afford 
the finest kind of hunting and fishing. Within 
the past week considerable game has been taken 
in the woods on the Hurricane and other moun- 
tains in this vicinity.” 
Is this. lawbreaking, or is it simply summer- 
resort fiction? What sort of “game” may be law- 
fully killed in June in the Adirondacks? | 
QUERIST. 

An Alligator’s Fast. 
Sr. AUGUSTINE, June 4.—George Reddington, 
proprietor of the large alligator farm at South 
Beach, is preparing for an interesting experiment 
with his collection of reptiles. There are quite 
a number of ’gators which will begin laying soon 
and Mr, Reddington will prepare nests for the 
reception of eggs and attempt to raise young 
ones. In the farm there are forty-odd alligators 
ranging in size from the chief, more than nine 
feet long, to small ones of only a few feet. The 
largest reptile in the collection was captured just 
one year ago in the canal a few miles south 
of here and this alligator took its first meal since 
captivity a few days ago. This demonstrates how 
long they can live without food. This alligator 
farm is one of the largest in existence and is 
visited annually by thousands of interested tour- 
ists, who also enjoy other features of the zoo.— 
Jacksonville Times-Union. 

“In the Lodges of the Blackfeet.” 
SacinAw, Mich., May 28.—Editor Forest and 
Stream: Is Anderson’s “In the Lodges of the 
Blackfeet” to be published in book form? If so, 
I want several copies. I think it is the best In- 
dian story I ever read and the best thing that 
Forest AND STREAM has had for a good many 
years, with all due deference to many other able 
contributors. W. B. MersuHON. 
