Our Cover This Month

Nebraska's state flower is the Golden Rod, designated by an act of the Legislature. There are many varieties of this native prairie plant. The one chosen by the Legislature bears the botanical name Solidago Serotina.

The color plates from which this beautiful cover page was made were loaned by the State Department of Publicity, anew department under the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture expending a fund vote by the Legislature for the purpose of informing Nebraskans and the outside world of the marvelous resourses and development of this great state.

Let Your Boy Outdoors!

It is said that a good sermon needs no application. The following excerpt from an article by Harry Emerson Fosdick, appearing in a recent issue of The American Magazine, would seem to fall in that category:

"Some of us look back upon a glorious youth. I, for one, can bear witness that not one boy of my old gang went permanently wrong. Our play was right—we roamed the woods, fished the streams, built our shanties by the brookside, and played our games. Today I walk the streets of New York to watch the boys and girls. It is estimated that out of every 100 boys on Manhattan Island, 80 spend their leisure time on the streets and that of all the things that they can do there, 50 per cent are inimical to character, 20 per cent are downright illegal. Of course, we have a crime wave, largely made up of juveniles. We are making criminals in our great cities faster than we can put them in jail."

Wholesome recreation is a large factor in character building. The great outdoors affords many of the best opportunities for such recreation. The conservation of the native wild life of Florida will go far towards providing for the youth of this and of coming generations that wholesome recreation that is needed, and to place it within access of rich and poor alike. Such a work should enlist the interest of the entire citizenship of Florida.

OUTDOOR NEBRASKA

Commission Purchases New Fishing Lakes

NEBRASKA now has twenty-three lakes and recreation grounds for its citizens. With the twelve meandered lakes in the state, the grand total is thirty-five.

Purchases of additional holdings have been made at every meeting of the commission during the past few months. The last purchase was made July 25 and consisted of 1,500 acres in Cherry County. This is known as "Ballard's Marsh." It is considered one of the finest feeding and resting grounds for migratory birds in Nebraska, It is also used quite generally for fishing, and a goodly number of large bass have been taken here during the past two seasons.

The following projects have been taken over by the Commission since the last issue of "Outdoor Nebraska":

Located in the Lake group in Cherry County. This purchase consists of approximately 300 acres, part of which is under water and the balance is land adjacent to the lake. It is planned to plant this property with trees as soon as practicable. The lake will be open to fishing.

Pibel Lake, located in Greeley County, and near Spalding, consists of 65 acres, part of which is under water. This lake while small has been famous for its bass fishing. The property is well timbered and has a resort building in connection with it. It is planned to lease the resort to some reliable person who will operate the same and furnish rooms, meals, boats, etc., to those desiring such service.

A small tract of fifteen acres on the Blue River was purchased. This tract is for camping purposes and also to give the public access to the river. This tract is located on the D L. D. Highway between Milford and Dorchester.

A small lake containing approximately 20 acres was purchased in Furnas County, near Oxford. There is 10 or 15 acres of timber with the lake, thus making a nice camping and picnic grounds.

Holdings on Turcott or Club Lake, located in Morrill County, about twenty miles southeast of Alliance, was secured recently. This is a very good fishing lake and will accommodate a large number of anglers. The lake has been well stocked with fish for a, number of years.

A tract consisting of approximately 20 acres has been purchased in Sherman County, near Litchfield. When this is developed it will provide a nice fishing lake with suitable camping and picnic grounds. Development work will begin shortly.

A small acreage was purchased on Champion Lake in Chase County. About ten acres was obtained, part of which is on two sides of the lake, thus permitting the public to fish without trespassing on private property.

Most of the larger lake property was purchased for $10 an acre. Where smaller tracts were obtained, it has been necessary to pay considerably more, especially where the land or water was cut out of the heart of farms and ranches. However, the commission feels that it has been able to purchase these tracts at a very reasonable figure, and that all of them will eventually be worth many times their cost to the citizens of the state.

The superintendent of the San Marcos (Tex.) station advises that his brood pond No. 6, which he stocked with 30 adult bass early in the spring, became infested with crawfish to a considerable extent. The crawfish interfered with the production of bass since they muddled the water and destroyed vegetation. When it appeared that no small bass would be obtained from the pond the water was drawn off and over 800 pounds of crawfish were removed.

Begin Scientific Study Nebraska Lakes

WILL the Nebraska Game Commission be operating insect hatcheries in the future?

From scientific studies now being made by the Commission it is not beyond the realm, of possibility that hatcheries will be built where countless millions of tiny aquatic insects will be raised and dumped into nursery ponds as food. for young fish.

It is the aim and desire of the Nebraska Game Commission to get accurate and scientific data relative to the life of fish. It is realized that in the past there has been a tremendous waste in stocking and raising fish because too little was known regarding spawning, food, disease, water conditions, etc. Hatchery officials and fish culturists have known that certain things happened, but they seldom knew exactly why these conditions came about. Not enough attention has been given to investigation and experimental work.

The first phase of this vast field of research work undertaken by the Nebraska Commission is the food problem. This in itself is a wide field and requires much investigation and study. Thus far the work is progressing nicely and already -some very interesting facts have been brought to light.

A field laboratory has been set up in the lake group in Cherry County, while a small experimental laboratory is in operation at Lincoln. The field unit deals primarily with natural condition, while the Lincoln unit is working more along experimental lines. For example, the field laboratory in Cherry County has been studying the water conditions, the plant life and the food of the perch and bass in such lakes. The Lincoln unit is experimenting in the forced culture of insects consumed by small fish and diseases to which game fish fall prey.

Hackberry Lake also contains a great variety of submerged plants, the most dominant being the common Hornwort and the small pond weed Potamogeto pusillus). Curly Pond Weed, Sago Pond Weed, Water Moss and Bladder Wort were also found.

It has been established beyond all doubt that the various pond weeds, especially the smaller varieties, are of little value for rpoviding fish food. Where the growth of these weeds is too great it even becomes harmful, because of winter decay and thereby the formation of gas which is injudious to fish life. The Hornwort and the Bladder Wort are by far the most important as they harbor the microscopic plant and animal life eaten by small fish.

Hackberry Lake, because of the abundance of suitof food for small fish. It is impossible to dip a tea cup of water from this lake without picking up insect life. This consists primarily of microscopic Crustacea a.nd the larva of various flying insect life. Now, the problem that confronts the investigators is why Hackberry Lake, with its splendid vegetation and its countless mill;ons of insects, does not contain many fish. As a matter of fact, the fish have not been doing as well in Hackberry Lake as they have in some of the others where the food is much less.

At this writing it is impossible to say definitely what the answer may be. However, several factors are being dealt with and it is believed that ultimately

Senate Committee to Study Wild Life Resources

SENATORS Frederic C. Walcott of Connecticut and Harry B. Hawes of Missouri, are the authors of a resolution recently adopted by the U. S. Senate creating a special committee to make an exhaustive investigation of wild-life conditions and to make recommendations to the Senate in the next Congress for needed federal legislation.

Fortunately the two senators who proposed the resolution are not only deeply interested in the subject, but are well informed. Senator Walcott, who has been named chairman, has been active in conservation work for many years in his own state and has been identified with game restoration work generally. He was a director of the American Game Protective Association for a number of years, is still a member of its advisory board, and was several times chairman of the National Game Conference. Senator Hawes has long been identified with federal legislation, is an ardent sportsman and a keen student of wild-life problems.

The other three members of the committee, referred to specifically below, are also Senate members whose names are identified with progressive conservation legislation.

The resolution creating the committee reads as follows:

"Resolved, That a special committee of five Senators to be composed of three members from the majority political party and two members from the minority political party, to be appointed by the President of the Senate, is authorized and directed (1) to investigate all matters pertaining to the replacement and conservation of wild animal life (including aquatic and bird life) with a view to determining the most appropriate methods for carrying out such purposes, and (2) to report to the Senate as soon as practicable, but not later than the beginning of the first regular session of the Seventy-second Congress, the results of its investigations together with its recommendations for necessary legislation."

The committee has been assigned quarters and has employed an active secretary from whom the following announcement recently came:

A special committee of the United States Senate has been appointed to investigate all matters pertaining to the replacement and conservation of wild life (including aquatic and bird life) with a view to determining the most appropriate methods for carrying out such purposes, together with its recommendations for the necessary legislation.

The committee has been instructed to report its findings to the Senate as soon as possible and not later than the beginning of the first regular session of the next Congress. It has been given full power to call witnesses and take testimony under oath and also to call for the production of all data in connection with the subject. This action by the Senate is. the broadest and most comprehensive yet taken to conserve the birds, fish and wild animals of our nation.

The activities of the committee will necessarily cover a vast range of subjects, including federal game reservations, bird sanctuaries, wild life in our national parks and forests, the problem of migratory birds, of upland birds, of predatory animals and of fishes of the Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf and inland waters. The study will also have to deal with the seal industry, the fish industry, the fur industry and all others connected with wild animal, aquatic and bird life. The plan of the committee is to make an exhaustive study of all of these problems and of the laws connected with them. To do this they will call upon the Biological Survey and the commissioners of bird sanctuaries and game reservations of the Department of Agriculture; the Bureau of Fisheries of the Department of Commerce; the national parks and national monuments of the Department of the Interior; the state departments of game and fisheries and all national organizations in any way connected with the subject.

This is a research work of very large proportions and will probably require a year or more to assemble, classify and digest the facts. After all recommendations from governmental, individual and private sources have been assembled and studied, it is the intention of the commission to recommend to the United States Senate any change or additions that they consider necessary in or to existing laws pertaining to conservation.

The committee is strictly non-partisan. In the appointment of it, Vice-President Curtis chose not only those Senators whom he considered best qualified, but he also endeavored to distribute his selection geographically. The Pacific states, the Atlantic states, the Central and Southern states, and those adjacent to the Canadian border are all represented.

Senator Frederic C. Walcott is chairman. He was for seven years president of the Connecticut State Board of Fish and Game and was chairman of the State Water Commission. He has been a leader for many years in investigations having to do with the conservation and preservation of game in various parts of the country.

Senator Harry B. Hawes, vice chairman, has been a widely known authority on fish and game for twenty-five years. He is author of the Upper Mississippi Wild Life and Fish Refuge Bill, which \vas the first constructive measure involving the direct expenditure of government money for reclamation and conservation of the waters of the upper Mississippi river. He is also the author of various other bills relating to the preservation of fish and game and is a member representing the Senate on the Migratory Bird Refuge Commission. As a member of Congress he was spokesman for the Izaak Walton League.

Senators Hawes and Walcott are the authors of the present resolution on wild life resources. The other members of the committee are as follows:

Senator Key Pittman, who is now beginning his 18th year in the United States Senate, has been identified with national legislation in relation to fish and game conservation throughout his career. Part of his early life was spent in Alaska where he took prominent part in the gold rush as prosecuting attorney at .Nome. He

EDITORIAL

Conservation is finding the proper balance between preservation and utilization—Dr. Henry Baldwin Ward.

The following report shows the 1929 receipts of the Game and Parks Commission's activities, as prepared by the State Auditor who each year examines the

In our last issue of Outdoor Nebraska we took the Bureau of Biological Survey and the authorities at Washington to task for not showing more speed and consideration to the middle west in the establishing of migratory bird feeding grounds and preserves.

It seems that we were a bit hasty in our desire to see these preserves established. At the very time we were writing our editorial, several representatives of the Bureau were working in Nebraska. Unfortunately, the Bureau did not keep the Nebraska, Commission posted on its activities and it was not known that work had already been undertaken in Nebraska. However, the federal and state authorities have held several conferences and everything is moving along nicely.

A large tract has already been surveyed in Garden County, and federal surveyors have been at work the last few weeks in Brown and Cherry Counties. The men who have made these surveys, especially the one in Garden County, feel that these are excellent feeding-areas for ducks and that preserves in these sections will do much good.

This is an excellent start in the taking care of one of the finest resources we have in America. It is regrettable that action was not taken years ago. Any sportsman who as a boy watched these birds making their way northward each spring and to the south again in the fall knows full well what a tragedy it would be to North America if the ducks and geese were to become extinct.

Even dead trees play theif part in conservation and several bird societies throughout the country are pushing a campaign to save hollow trees as homebuilding sites for insectivorous birds.

Many species of valuable birds including all the woodpeckers nest in hollow trees and stumps, and if these shelters are not found in one section they will migrate to a place that meets their needs.

While lifeless trees or stumps are not often regarded as having artistic value to well kept grounds, they can be made to add to the beauty of any property besides serving an advantage to valuable birds. Excessive limbs or parts of the trunk can be cut off or a stump hollowed out and the remainder covered with vines to relieve its nakedness.

"Automobilists please look out for grouse!" is the plea of Minnesota game conservationists.

The scientists have found one of the most difficult problems to be the restoration of ruffed grouse when once depleted. Following a period of scarcity, observations during the past season by Minnesota wardens show that this prized game bird may be slowly reestablishing itself in the wild state.

As it has proved almost impossible to raise ruffed grouse under artificial conditions, due to numerous diseases which are contracted by this species in captivity, and since the bird seems to be overcoming its own propagating problems in the wild, every effort is being made to warn automobile tourists to be on a special lookout for them along the roadside.

It will require the utmost care to keep the grouse from going the way of its cousin, the heath hen, only one of which is alive today.—American Game Protective Association press service.

Many New Federal Fish Hatcheries Authorized

PURSUANT to an act of the recent session of congress the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries is authorized to begin an extensive five year program of expansion which will include 30 new fish-cultural stations and substations in as many states to be constructed during the five-year period, besides new fisheries laboratories in Washington, Texas and Alaska, two new modern steel distribution railway cars, increased maintenance and personnel for the Division of Fish Culture, inquiry and Fisheries Industries, details of which are as follows:

The bill is similar to one that was passed by the previous congress but which was vetoed by President Coolidge because in excess of the administration's financial program, says the American Game Protective association press service.

This blanket act is intended to dispose and take the place of a multitude of separate bills proposed by members of congress, many of which have been pending for some time, and to provide for a comprehensive program of hatchery development instead of piecemeal growth under the previous method of procedure. Provision is also made for corresponding increase in research equipment and personnel of the Division of Fish Culture, and for additional railway distribution cars. The act was signed by President Hoover and became a law on May 21.

NEW YORK—Evidence that certain species of fish travel great distances from their beeding areas is shown by a Pacific salmon. .After being marked with a metal tag by the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries in Alaskan waters, the salmon was caught 1,300 miles away 44 days later in a Siberian stream, according to report received by the American Game Protective Association.

For more than a decade the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries has been carrying on its marking experiments, Using metal tags each of which bear a serial number. Fishermen who return these tags to the bureau receive from 25 cents to $1.00 depending on the specie of fish.

Marking experiments have shown that regardless of how much salmon may indulge in the wanderlust they always return to home waters for the spawning season.

Another way of marking is to remove certain fins in such a manner that no confusion with unmarked fish can result.

Game and Park Activities

The present season has been one of the worst for salvaging fish for many years. Owing to ponds and lakes drying up it has been neeessary to remove thousands of fish to deeper water. In many cases heavy losses have been encountered, owing to the bad condition of water and the extreme hot weather.

The Platte River has been dry several weeks from Columbus to North Platte, all the water being taken out by irrigators. While many thousands of fish were removed from this stream by five state crews, nevertheless there was a loss of many fish that were too large to move or in holes where they could not be taken with seines.

During the past spring a total of 309,000 adult bullheads were moved from Sandhill lakes to eastern and southern Nebraska. This is the greatest number of these fish ever moved in any one season.

All of these fish moved averaged from six to eight inches in length. Approximately 200,000 of them were taken from lakes near Hyannis, while 100,000 were taken from Cherry County.

After nearly five years of controversy, Sand Beach Lake has been restored. The Game and Parks Commission took the matter under consideration immediately upon its organization and, after several conferences, were able to get the matter definitely settled. A dam was constructed early in, July and the ditch is now ready for the water to come from rains to fill this lake.

Sand Beach Lake at oxe time was famous for its bass. It was drained through a diversion of water from Chip Creek.

Spillways at Dewey, Willow, Clear and Moon lakes were constructed by the Commission this summer. It 's believed that these spillways will greatly improve these lakes by holding back enough water to give them a more permanent shore line and give them a greater depth in winter.

The Spillway at Red Deer, owing to exceedingly heavy rains early in the spring, washed out in June. This spillway will undoubtedly be rebuilt at an early date, with sheet piling being used to keep the water from cutting beneath the cement work.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is well pleased with the reception given its four reels of motion pictures the past few months. Dozens of showings of these pictures have been made and all viewing them were very pleased with them. Many schools have also used them and a message of conservation carried to the young people.

These pictures are available without cost to all organizations, schools etc.

The Commission made plantings of trees at six of its holdings this spring and practically all of them are doing nicely. Mr. Chas. Boyd, formerly in the nursery business at Ainsworth, Nebraska, is in charge of a crew who give continual attention to these plantings. It has been found that the planting of trees is the minor part in raising them and that care is the big part of the work. Mr. Boyd hopes to be able to make a nice growth on all the 1930 plantings. Among the holdings where trees were planted are Cottonwood Lake, near Merriman, Long Lake in Brown County, Rat and Beaver Lakes, in Cherry County, Fremont Sand Pits, Rowell Lake, in Antelope County, Cottonmill Lake, in Buffalo County and the new Memphis Lake. A large number of shrubs and trees were also planted at the Gretna, Valentine and Rock Creek Hatcheries.

Owing to the low water in Lake Quninebaugh and the large number of game fish therein, the Game Commission has declared an emergency at this place and will attempt to save these fish by pumping water from the Missouri River. It is estimated that the cost will be around $2,500 part of which interested property owners will be asked to bear. Lake Quinnebaugh, in common with all other Missouri River overflow lakes is in bad shape ov/ing to there being no June raise in the Missouri River.

Development work is under way on a number of the recreation grounds recently purchased by the Game Commission.

A dam and spillway is being constructed at the lake near Oxford.

The Memphis lake has been planted to trees, stocked with brood fish and fenced.

Long Lake tract has been planted to trees and fenced.

Cottonwood Lake near Merriman has been planted to trees and fenced.

The Wild Cat Hills Game Reserve, near Gering, is now being developed. Approximately one^third of the reserve will be fenced this summer. It is hoped to have the reserve ready to stock with young animals this fall.

The Rowell Lake grounds have been planted to trees, and a windmill constructed.

For me fishing is sport, fun, recreation, business, health, but all these are nothing compared to the elusively intangible something else which must go nameless.

Fresh-water fishing is tranquil, restful, thoughtful, gentle, contemplative, wholesome. It brings the music of /the singing brook, the peace of the shining lake, the endless joy of the running river. Loneliness and solitude of the forest, the enchantment of the mountain torrents the intimacy of birds, the changing surface of waiter are the portion of the fisherman. The cares of the world slough off like scales, and in a day, as if by magic, a man is changed, renewed.

These are the intimate associations of fresh-water fishing. The game itself, the details of tackle and method, are inexhaustibly different for each and every fisherman. Inventive genius and innocent egotism walk hand in hand. Every fisherman is his own law. Be he ever so modest there will lie deep in his heart the unvoiced conviction that he is or will be the luckiest and best fisherman. He will learn from his brother anglers, but always he could, if he were asked, tell more thsn he learns.

There is much written about the fraternity of anglers. It is (true and a very beautiful thing. But almost universally the angler is a lone wolf. If comrades or other fishermen line the banks, still he is alone in thought. It is contact with nature, not with man, that rejuvenates the angler. He has enough and too much of the madding crowd at home. He may fish with a worm, a crayfish, an artificial bait, or a fly, but there is no difference in the soul of the thing. The aristocratic dry fly-fishing expert may imagine he alone is lord of the river and lake. But he misses the truth, while at the same time he lives the' very thing I am trying to explain.

Personally, whether I catch a bass or trout or no fish at all is a small matter. I row among the lily pads and watch the clouds gather. Or I stand under the stately white pines, pausing to catch the fragrance of trailing arbutus on the air. Mountain laurel and rhododendron mass pink and white against the green. Or if it is autumn there are the rare fringed gentian, the goldenrod and the purple aster. What measureless content in the amber-colored stream, murmuring on forever! The glory and the dream are there, and perhaps they are what I mean.

Salt-water fishing is strenuous. It is entirely different, yet possesses that same charm, magnified incalculably. It is more primitive than fresh-water fishing because it has to do with the sea—the mother of all creation.

I have no salt in my blood. My ancestors were hunters, pioneers, and one of them was an Indian. I loved the woods and the streams beyond all else. As a boy I would sit for hours beside a waterfall, and I have caught myself many a time screaming up at the torrent. And yet despite the fact that I was a landlubber and feared the sea I became, after many agonizing years of development, a salt-water angler for the big game of the sea.

As sport it is vastly superior to hunting tigers in Burma or Siberia. It possesses infinitely more danger than most people suspect. To stalk a huge broadbill swordfish is as exciting and thrilling as elephant hunting, and the chances of success are a hundred to one against you. The incredible patience, the incredfble endurance needed, not to mention skill and strength, are the outstanding features in successful fishing for the great tigers of the ocean.

Tarpon of the Everglades, the savalo of Mexican waters, the sailfish of the Gulf Stream, are game fish the Atlantic angler can look forward to mastering after he has served his apprenticeship on striped bass, channel bass, kingfish, barracuda and amberjack.

For (the Pacific angler who can roam afar there is an amazing and marvelous sport in store. But to experience it in its breath-taking fullness he must indeed have the time and means to venture to far waters. For the commercial interests, the net-boats and the canners have almost ruined the fishing from Pudget Sound to Cape San Lucas.

Beyond these waters there yet await the ambitious angler a variety of great game fish—the gallo and sailfish of the Mexican coast, the striped marlin and golden dolphin of the South Seas, the black marlin and the magnificent leaping marko of New Zealand the white shark of the Great Barrier Reef, and the unknown species of the Indian Ocean. And lastly the king of them all, old Ziphias Gladius, the broadsworded swashbuckler of the Seven Seas.

The range between fresh-water and salt-water angling is infinitely various. The beautiful and wonderful fact is that any fisherman can find his place, however little and inexpensive, and by his own unaided effort, by his spirit and joy, enter into the hierarchy of this noble calling and from it renew his eternal youth, his love of nature, his sense of the divine mystery in all things, his faith in man, and his belief in God.—Zane Grey, in the American Legion Monthly.

Sportsmen and conservationists in Ohio are to be congratulated on getting together the splendid group of citizens and guests who recently attended the annual convention of the League of Ohio Sportsmen and the other conventions held in Columbus during the week of March 3rd.

At these meetings it was made plain that the hunting and fishing organizations, granges, farm bureaus, American legion, federated women's clubs, school interests, boy and girl scouts and others, are keen for concerted action in a new program of conservation in Ohio.

It was generally recognized that conservation cannot come into full flower in a month, or a year,, or two years, but must come from slow, sure growth. The importance lies in the actual setup and launching of a definite program, wider in scope than heretofore aittempted.

In this connection, we wish to acknowledge receipt in this office of Volume I, No. 1, of "Outdoors Ohio," the bulletin issued by the Department of Agriculture and Divison of Conservation, dealing with farm problems and all aspects of hunting, fishing and conservation of natural resources.

This particularly interesting bulletin will serve as a means of bringing useful information to thousands of citizens of the Buckeye state.

What Other States Are Doing In Game Affairs

"While most people think that growing game birds means putting them in a pen and taking care of them like chickens, such is not the case, the Missouri Game and Fish Department points out in its urge to farm boys and girls to help grow Bob-white quail. A dozen pair of quail properly cared for on any Missouri farm will, under ideal conditions, increase to more than 3,000 birds in three years.

Hunting cats, sharp shinned hawks, crows and other predators must be kept in check, and food and cover provided for the game birds.

Most farms have plenty of cover in summer and fall but it is the winter and spring season that cover is especially needed. Cover and feed may be provided by leaving the grassy swamps and the weedy and brushy fence rows and thickets alone, and by growing grapevines and other cover. There should be at least one cover on each 40 acre tract. Cover is best located on the edge of a woods or in the open and should occupy as much space as a large house.

Grass should not be burned off farms as game is driven away by this and the new crop of grass benefits none by the process. Fence rows should not be cleaned out too thoroughly during plowing time and hay fields checked for nests before hay is cut. Young farm boys and girls especially interested in growing quail find :'it interesting work to go over the hay fields before the first cutting is made and locating all nests. A stake is driven in the ground near each nest and the mower and bull rake can be driven around this and the nest saved. Quail nests are most easily located by searchers walking toward the west as in most cases the nests, usually covered with whisps of grass and partly hidden, open to the east."—Missouri Game & Fish News.

Nearly two million game birds were killed in Minnesota by sportsmen in the open season of 1929, according to records from office of the state game and fish commission. Mallards and blue-bills led all others in the number killed, with 398,555 and 326,502 respectively. Hunting licenses totaled 110,536 in the season. The following figures show the complete kill, as taken from the postcard report attached to all hunting licenses:

"In order to determine the extent of the migration of walleyed pike in Lake Champlain, the United States Bureau of Fisheries working in conjunction with the Canadian government, will inaugurate a tagging experiment on a wholesale scale taking about 5,000 walleyed pike at Whitehall and an equal number at the Swanton hatchery of the Bureau of Fisheries near the northern end of Lake Champlain. The fish will be tagged just before they are liberated after having spawned. A small tag marked on one side U. S. B. F. and numbered on the cither side, will be affixed to each fish.

Records made at the time of tagging include the sex and total length of the fish.

Any one catching any of these tagged fish in New York State is requested to return the tag to the Conservation Department with a letter or postcard giving the following information:

Complete protection afforded by state and federal statutes has resulted in the marked increase of the wood duck in California, according to the announcement of the Division of Fish and Game of the Department of Natural Resources. During the past five years there has been a vast increase in the number of these birds, said to be the most beautiful species of duck in the world, in many parts of California.

Deputy C. O. Fisher of the fish and game body states that a flock of at least 5,000 ducks of this

Mink, marten, muskrat, badger, otter, seal, fox, rabbit and raccoon—the leading sources of raised-in-America furs—are the stars in a Department of Agriculture motion picture just completed. This new film, in three reels, will have its world premier this month (May) at the International Fur and Hunting Exposition in Leipsig, Germany, after which it will be released in the United States.

The romance of furs—the adventuring, trapping, voyaging, tanning, dyeing and merchandising'—together with a pictorial survey of the fur industry of the United States makes a film of varied interest.

Scenes in natural color showing human film stars in the latest models of American furs, including sables and seals, ermine, lynx, nutria and fox, provide a particularly attractive and happy ending for this educational film.

Some of the scenes were made in Hollywood, some in the department's motion picture studio in Washington, but most of the film was made "on location". A crew from the Office of Motion Pictures, Extension Service, Department of Agriculture, traveled as far west as California to get scenes at the U. S. Biological Survey rabbit station where specialists experiment on various breeds and study diseases of rabbits; as for north as Saratoga, New York, for scenes on the government's fur farm where experiments with fur-bearing animals are carried on; as far south as the marshes at the mouth of the Mississippi and Sabine Rivers to make muskrat pictures. They went to Minneapolis and Milwaukee and vicinity for the pictures of mink and silver and blue foxes; to Ohio for the raccoon farm scenes, to southern Louisiana for raccoon trapping and skinning scenes; to northern New York for the marten farming pictures. One has a glimpse of a fox fur farm in Wisconsin, the largest of its kind in the world, and of the 160,000 acre muskrat ranch in Louisiana. Together these give the spectator some idea of the size and extent of the fur industry of the United States.

From the film one learns (that in the United States today native furs come chiefly from three sources: From lone trappers, mostly boys__from intensive fur farms, and from great preserves. One also learns that otter is the fur that werv^s best of all; that rabbit is the fur that masquerades most of all, and that a large percentage of all the fur used in the world (whatever its name) is just rabbit.

The film, planned to offer to visitors to the International Fur Exposition at Leipsig a brief but comprehensive visual idea of the fur industry of the United States, will perform the same service to the people of this country.

This new three-reel film, which takes about fortyfive minutes to show, will be available to borrowers in the United States in the late summer or early fall. Application should be made to the Office of Motion Pictures, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. No rental is charged. Borrowers are required to pay transportation charges from Washington and return. If individuals and organizations wish to purchase prints the department may authorize the purchase of prints of its films from a commercial manufacturer at contract prices, the result of competitive bidding. Many have availed themselves of this privilege.

"The vast numbers of young men which made up the personnel of the expeditionary forces of the United States and Canada in the World War were by a great majority outdoor men and sportsmen. This is particularly true of men from the western states and Canada. A great majority of these young men were familiar with outdoor life, sport, and the use of firearms when they entered the service. They were, therefore, not novices in the use of implements of war.

Since the close of the war and the return of the soldiers from Europe the activities of former service men have centered in the American Legion in this country and the Canadian Legion in Canada. This tremendous body of young, vigorous and active men is the greatest force for promotion of worthwhile public welfare projects in existence. Conservation of our natural resources is a matter of the most vital interest to the future welfare of the country and it is encouraging to note that the American Legion is taking an active interest in many phases of conservation affairs. This has been particularly manifest with reference to care and protection of wild birds and animals, in which most members of the Legion take an active interest. A few cf the activities in which the Legion has recently been engaged follow:

The famous Canadian Legion has joined the American Legion in an effort to bring about the setting aside of a large section of the Rainy river watershed in Southem Ontario and northern Minnesota as a great international recreational area where resources may be conserved and where wild life may propagate and be saved from extinction. In this enterprise the Minnesota Legion has been particularly active.

More than 3,000 of the 10,000 posts of the American Legeion in different sections of the country are taking a definite part in the movement to establish sanctuaries where wild life can multiply, supervised shooting igrounds, and the conservation of natural resources.

SENATE COMMITTEE TO STUDY WILD LIFE RESOURCES

is thoroughly familiar with the national park, national forest and game sanctuaries of America.

Senator Charles L. McNary has uniformly supported wild life conservation. He is the author of the Fish and Wild Life Refuge Bill and the amended Alaska game laws. Senator McNary is chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and has in this capacity become an authority on the farmers' needs in the matter of conservation.

Senator Peter Norbeck is likewise with Senator Hawes on the Migratory Bird Refuge Commission. He is author of the Migratory Bird Conservation Act. He is also author of the Protection of the American Eagle Bill and the Predatory Animal Control Bill.

The Committee has chosen as its secretary, Morris Legendre, a graduate of Princeton and a Rhodes Scholar to Oxford. He has made extensive studies of wild life not only in the United States, but also as a member of scientific expeditions to Africa, Asia, Alaska and the South Seas.

FLOOD CONTROL TO HELP WILD LIFE

That a scientific solution is at last being sought for the problem of flood control and its relation to conservation and restoration of forests and wild game life is evidenced by two bills which are being sponsored by the U. S. House of Representatives Flood Control committee, says the American Game Protective association news service.

While many remedies have been recommended, and many legislative measures seeking flood control, which is so necessary to conservation of natural resources, have been proposed, the bills referred to are the only ones that have given practical consideration to all the problems arising out of flood conditions.

If these bills are passed, provisions will be made to take possession of the run-off waters between the Allegheny and the Rocky Mountain systems, including all of the watersheds of said systems whose waters drain into said valley, by means of reservoirs, dams and soil storage; for the purpose of controlling the supply of water to the navigable rivers thereof at low-water seasons; for reforesting lands adjacent to the streams and rivers of said district; for the promotion of fish culture and that of wild animal and bird life; for the aiding of agriculture and the furnishing of added waters for municipal uses, and the promotion of navigation.

Repesentative Willis G. Sears, of Nebraska, a member of the sub-committee on Reservoir Control, summarized present conditions and the remedy offered in a speech before the house on February 26, when he said:

"It is conceded by the most eminent engineers that the final solution of the flood problem is at the source. The entire flood problem should be treated in a comprehensive whole valley plan of flood control.

"A careful study of soils should be made by expert engineers and a complete and comprehensive educational campaign instituted to demonstrate the advantages of the storage of moisture in the soil.

"Terracing of all sloping surfaces to prevent the rapid run-off of the excess precipitation should be demonstrated under careful engineering supervision in each district.

"All work of this nature would take care of the cultivated surfaces and prevent erosion and assist materially in stopping the rapid movement of the surplus water.

"In the mountain sections and on the great range district special attention should be given with reference to overgrazing of the pasture lands, which destroys the grass and exposes the surface to the direct and rapid flow of surface waters. Special attention should be given to reforestation and a comprehensive plan should be adopted which will assist in flood prevention and the restoration of valuable pasture lands.

"We estimate that from 25 to 50 million acre-feet of water may be conserved throughout the Mississippi Valley by co-operation of the Board of Public Works with landowners."

Fish life cannot live in polluted waters, is harmed and dies in floods. Wild fowl must have fresh water free from oil and other pollution. To protect and propagate game birds and animals in upland or valley covers means that natural moisture must be conserved and washouts of surface soil and cover growths prevented Every time a flood takes place wild life nests and breeding places are destroyed by wholesale.

This can only be prevented when co-operation between every agency working for conservation of natural resources is secured.

CHEYENNE BOTTOMS REFUGE

Another important step was taken in providing for adequate sanctuary for waterfowl in the United States when the so-called Cheyenne Bottoms Migratory Bird Refuge Bill was signed by President Hoover and became a law on Thursday, June 12th according to the American Game Protection Association News service.

This bill has been pending in Congress for the last two sessions. It was introduced in the Senate by Senator Henry J. Allen of Kansas and in the House by Congressman Clifford R. Hope of the same state and was in charge of these two members during its entire course through Congress. It failed to receive a vote during the first session in which it was introduced but was pressed more vigorously at the last session and was first passed in the Senate April 10, 1930, carrying an appropriation of $300,000 for the purchase of not to exceed 20,000 acres of marsh land in what is known as the Cheyenne Bottoms in Burton County, Kansas. When the bill reached the House it was suggested by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget that the funds for the purpose be deducted from the $600,000 appropriation authorized for the Norbeck-Andresen Migratory Bird Conservation Act due to be appropriated for the year beginning July 1, 1931. Objection to this arose as an interference with the purpose of the Norbeck-Andresen Act and the Bureau of the Budget was persuaded to approve a special appropriation of $250,000 instead of $300,000; whereupon the bill was amended to correspond with this recommendation and was passed by the House of Representatives on Monday, June 9th. On the following day the amendments were accepted in the Senate and the bill was repassed by that body. On Thursday, June 12th it was signed by President Hoover and became a law.

The provisions of the bill require that the $250,000 appropriated, or so ,far thereof as will be necessary, be used to purchase or otherwise acquire the land desired. The bill does not contain any provision for future maintenance.

Other amendments were added to the bill while it was under consideration by the House having to do with the administration of it by the Secretary of Agriculture and which provisions are similar to those contained in the Norbeck-Andresen Migratory Bird Conservation Act.

WILD TURKEYS RELEASED

Wisconsin is making an experiment in releasing wild turkeys in the hope that they may again become established as a feature of the wild fauna of the state. Vain hope is the pessimistic prophecy of most naturalists. While the wild turkey was once found in limited areas in southern Wisconsin and Minnesota, the pressure of civilization was too great and has disappeared In the mountain and forest regions of the east and south there is less interference with its natural habitat, agriculture is less intense, climatic conditions are less rigorous, food is more plentiful and this noble native species still persists.

"An optimistic statement from State Game Warden England as to the results and prospects in connection with planting the refuges with deer, elk and turkeys in addition to smaller varieties is especially interesting for the information that the latter have in part been recruited from domestic stock. Turned out to shift for himself, the domestic turkey rapidly takes on the habits of the wild cousin and in a generation or so can be expected to revert or devolute until it conforms perfectly to the untamed breed.

Common experience goes to show the very thin veil that separates the tame or domesticated from the wild turkey. Even in looks it happens frequently that the bird of the farm lot often conforms so closely to his brother of the woods that only an expert can tell the difference between them in the feathers. On the table, the darker meat and the gamey flavor mean simply a change of habit and diet. For however fond the domestic turkey may be of his regular meals and roost, he never forgets his kinship or common instinct with the game bird. Often, indeed, the wild turkey visits the barnyard, and when he departs again to the woods, some of his tame brothers and sisters are as like as not to go native with him.

All of which suggests something we have long wished to see put to experiment, that being the possibility of converting the guinea into a wild bird. For if a turkey holds the characteristics of the native breed, the guinea is apparently even less forgetful of the call of the open. It is a natural ranger, with a passion for secreting its eggs and bringing up its young apart from the domicile. It has constantly to be cropped in order to keep it from flying out of the township, and when it comes to taking cover it does so with the ability of quail, pheasant or grouse.—Times, Raleigh, N. C.

COMMISSION AUTHORIZES PURCHASE REFUGE AREAS

The purchase of a 32,555-acre tract in South Carolina and of 5,180 acres in Colorado as migratory-bird refuges has been approved by the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, acting on the recommendation of the Bureau of Biological Survey of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. These areas will constitute the first bird refuges to be acquired by purchase under the Migratory-Bird Conservation Act of February 18, 1929, by which Congress authorized the expenditure over a 10-year period of nearly $8,000,000 for surveys and acquisition of lands for migratory-bird refuges. The actual acquisition of the two areas will proceed immediately after July 1, 1930, when funds appropriated under the act become available to the department. The average price for these lands authorized by the Commission is $1.13 an acre.

The unit to be acquired in South Carolina is in the Cape Romain region, Charleston County, on the Atlantic seaboard; the other is in the San Luis Lake region, Alamosa County, Colorado. Specialists of the Biological Survey have examined and appraised both areas from the standpoint of food resources for wild-fowl and from other angles and have found them to be ideal bird refuges. South Carolina has already facilitated the acquisition of the Cape Romain unit by enacting a bill granting to the Federal Government control of all state lands in the proposed refuge that are between the high and low water marks.

WOOD DUCKS INCREASING IN CALIFORNIA

species spent the fall months on Lake Almanor, in northern California, only leaving when the lake became covered over with ice at the time of the first freeze.

Another flock of ducks of this species wintered in the Butte Creek section, according to Deputy A. E. Miner of Gridley. The estimated count of this flock numbered some 5,000 birds. Deputy Victor E. VonArx reported to the Division of Fish and Game that several hundred wood ducks wintered in the Bodega Bay region.

A few years ago the wood duck population of the state had been so reduced in number that grave doubts were entertained that sufficient stock was still left to allow the birds to reproduce to anything like their former numbers. From the present indications it would seem that not only are the birds holding their own, but they are actually increasing rapidly in parts of their range. It is the endeavor of the Division of Fish and Game to bring the birds back to their former numbers throughout the state.—Division of Fish and Game— California

TO TAKE W/LDFOWL CENSUS BASED ON BAND MARKED BIRDS

NEW YORK—A census of the waterfowl resources of the United States, to be made on the basis of banding returns, is considered by the U. S. Bureau of Biological Survey to be a practical method of judging the seasonal fluctuation in the numbers of ducks and kindred specie, according to information received by Carlos Avery, President of the American Game Protective Association, who urges that all sportsmen cooperate to make such a census successful. All should report bands to the Survey Bureau at Washington, D. C.

Frederick C. Lincoln, associate biologist of the Bureau, who is author of a circular, "Calculating Waterfowl Abundance on the Basis of Banding Returns," based his estimates on the relation that exists between the number of ducks banded each year and the number of these banded ducks killed in the next hunting season.

"To assume a case," writes Mr. Lincoln, if in one season 5,000 ducks were banded and yielded 600' first season returns, or 12 per1 cent, and if in that same season the number of ducks killed and reported by sportsmen were about 5,000,000, then 5,000,000 would be equivalent to approximately 12 per cent of the waterfowl population of 42,000,000 for that year. To assume further; if in the following season, another 5,000 ducks were banded, and should again yield about 600 first-season return records, but a total kill of 500,000 birds fewer, then the total duck population for that year would be about 37,500,000 or an indicated decrease of 4,500,000 in the continental waterfowl population. Although such figures would only be approximations, they would have merit because they would be based on facts that appear to stand in a definite relationship to each other."

BEGIN SCIENTIFIC STUDY NEBRASKA LAKES

the problem will be solved. This may take considerable experimental work, but the solution is believed not impossible. For example, it may be that the trouble in this lake is because of the tremendous amount of vegetation; in other words the vegetation has become so abundant it has covered all the available spawning ground with muck and this putrid, muddy bottom does not permit spawning. In good spawning lakes there should be large areas of water from six to thirty inches deep where the bottom is sandy or contains gravel and where there is little vegetation. Such places are not to be found in Hackberry Lake at the present time. Perhaps some of the vegetation can be killed out in places, spawning nests provided, etc. At any rate, the investigations now under way will follow up these clues and work until the facts are ascertained.

A very interesting feature of ihe work now being done is a study of the digestive tracts of small bass and perch as well as a study of the tracts of the adult bass and perch. Small bass from the state hatcheries and several lakes are taken and the tracts studied. At the time of this writing the stomach contents of thirty-five bass had been studied. These little fishes were about three weeks old and were from the Cherry County lakes The stomach content was found to be very much the same in all the specimens taken. Those specimens taken from the hatcheries and nursery ponds have not as yet been completed.

The small bass used in this experiment were the large-mouth bass. They were from one-half to three-quarters inch in length. Practically everything found in their stomachs consisted of microscopic crustacea. This was namely of two orders: Cladocera (called water fleas because of their jumping movements) and Copepada (commonly called cyclops because of one median eye).

The following report shows the stomach content of four fish taken at random, from the thirty-five:

At Lincoln, experiments are now under way in which attempts will be made to raise both water fleas and cyclops in mass production. University laboratories have raised them many times in limited numbers. If a method can be devised whereby millions of them can be produced and dumped into bass nurseries, there should be no reason why the number of fish raised in these nurseries could not be greatly increased. At least, vegetation and cultures of protozoa upon which these insects feed could be introduced in the bass nurseries.

Another interesting feature of the work now in progress is the study of the water for oxygen, carbon dioxide, etc. Mule, Dad's, Duck, Rat and Beaver Lakes have been tested. None of these lakes showed as much dissolved oxygen as Hackberry, due probably to the fact that none have as much plant life in them. These plants, in the presence of sunlight continually give off oxygen. None of these lakes, except Duck, showed a considerable amount of dissolved carbon dioxide. The lakes vary on alkaline content but in no case was the amount great enough to be of apparent harm to fish life.

MOTORISTS URGED TO PROTECT WILD LIFE

NEW YORK—Today is the season of vacation. A few more than 40,000,000 Americans spent their vacations last year in the great open spaces. An even greater number will spend their vacations this year in the great outdoors, it is estimated, according to reports reaching the American Game Protective Association here. A healthy trend is shown toward Americans "Seeing America First." Steamship bookings are running several thousands behind the figures of the same time last year.

"The vacation season always means the killing of an enormous number of wild creatures. Some of the slaughter is unavoidable, but much of it can be avoided by exercising ordinary care. Reports are reaching the Association to the effect that many of the greatly traveled highways are strewn with the bodies of wild birds and animals, killed by automobiles. A particularly large number of rabbits and song birds are killed, the greater number at night. The headlights blind them. Avoid, if one can without endangering human life, striking these helpless creatures, and thus help to conserve wild life for the enjoyment of yourself and others," Carlos Avery, President of the Association, urges.

"A mother black duck and her thirteen ducklings received unusually chivalrous treatment from motorists near So. Winsor, Conn., recently. The mother was leading her brood across a well-traveled road. Three men riding in an automobile stopped as the brood, strung out, struggled across. They got out and acted as traffic policemen until the brood was safely across. Several cars were held up and the occupants of all but one car took the action kindly. They were restrained, nevertheless, from running over1 the brood. Millions of motorists will undoubtedly face similar situations for the summer is the season of babes in the wood, field and swamp, and, unfortunately on the highways too. Please be careful of the wild life," Mr. Avery pleaded".

"FOREST OR WASTELAND" IS THEME OF LATEST FOREST SERVICE FILM

How millions of acres of forest land have been laid waste and how they can be brought back to forest growth is the story of "Forest or Wasteland," a new Forest Service motion picture in three reels, just released through the office of Motion Pictures, U. S. Department of Agriculture.

"Forest or Wasteland" shows how over large areas forests have been cut to satisfy the Nation's insatiable   OUTDOOR NEBRASKA 17 appetite for wood, until the land has been stripped and repeated fires have completed the destruction. Each year an average of 143,500 fires damage some 36 million acres of timberland. Ninety per cent of forest fires are man-caused and preventable. In a series of spectacular forest-fire scenes, the film shows that when whole hillsides are denuded of trees, and slash and debris is left after cutting, fires almost invariably follow. The fires consume the ground cover where seeds lie dormant; young seedlings are killed; and hopes of a new forest are blasted.

Showing pictorially that the constructive measures adopted are as yet inadequate, the film asks the question, "What must we do about our forests?" and gives a constructive answer. "We must adopt improved forest practices on our 370,000,000 acres of private land," the film says. "Public forests, state and national, must be enlarged and must be made fully productive through complete protection, more intensive management, and adequate planting."

Although "Forest or Wasteland" was prepared for a special group, the unusual scenic "shots" of virgin forests in many sections of the United States and the spectacular forest-fire scenes will be of general appeal. The film may be borrowed from the Office of Motion Pictures, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. The borrower is required to pay the transportation charges from and to Washington.

DROUGHT ENDANGERS MILLIONS OF FISH THROUGHOUT NATION

NEW YORK—Millions of fish throughout the United States are in danger of perishing in the smaller streams, lakes, ponds, bayous and pot holes because of the drought, according to reports to the American Game Protective Association with national headquarters here. Sportsmen, conservation officials and others are doing what they can to rescue the endangered fish and transfer them to permanent bodies of water.

The "June Rise" in the South took fish into the backwaters depositing them in small shall®w lakes and drainage ditches. The drought and evaporation has so depleted the water area that in hundreds of such places the fish can be seen floundering wfth their dorsal fins out of the water as their underparts scrape the bottom. Many thousands have already died and millions are in immediate danger of death.

"If you learn of any such conditions in your locality, please notify the nearest game warden, sportsman's organization, or deputy sheriff, Carlos Avery, president of the American Game Protective Association urges

"This perilous condition seems to exist in practically every state for the long drought was nationwide. And perhaps the worst is yet to come; for August is usually one of our driest months. So, if we may urge, please do everything you can to rescue fish in such a state and transfer them to permanent water. This is a conservation activity everyone may engage in with profit to the nation and state, town and community, for practically everyone fishes. We would advise against eating fish taken from such water for, under such conditions, they cannot be very sanitary," Mr. Avey concluded.

FARMERS HELPING TO RESTORE WILD LIFE, SAYS AVERY

NEW YORK—"The farmers hold the key to conservation and restoration of the greater percentage of wild life, and it is indeed gratifying to learn of their enthusiastic cooperation with Mr. Howell Buntin, state warden of the Tennessee Department of Game and Fish. Literally thousands of pledges were received from them in reply to Mr. Buntin's request that every care be exercised not to destroy quail nests during the mowing season. These farmers also are welcoming the use of their land for the establishment of small game refuges in every county of the state. Undoubtedly the farmers in every other state will cooperate just as enthusiastically when invited."

Thus Mr. Carlos Avery, president of the American Game Protective Association with national headquarters here, paid tribute today to the farmers and Mr. Buntin.

"Our hats are off to the farmers of Tennessee," Mr. Buntin writes. "This department has received thousands of letters from the farmers pledging their loyal support to the Game and Fish Department.

Our plan for the coming year is to establish game refuges in every county in the state. Creating refuges or sanctuaries is proving more effective in the preservation of wild life than legislation.

Conservation is a matter of public sentiment. If public sentiment is for it, it will succeed. If it is opposed to it, we are in a miserable plight. It is succeeding here, and it means the salvation of our game birds and animals while there is yet time to save them. It means that we will do more for those that come after us than those who preceded us did for us.

"Mr. Buntin has gone to the heart of the situation and with the support he is getting from the farmer success is assured," Mr. Avery said.

"You cannot 'law' game back; it wont put a bird on the hoof, so to speak. But the famer can put millions in the field, woods and waters by practicing environmental control and game management," Mr. Avery concluded his tribute to the farmer and admiration for Mr. Buntin's work.

TOURISTS URGED TO KEEP GARBAGE AWAY FROM WATER

NEW YORK:—An investigation of many sources of pollution which make many of the finest fresh water streams and lakes unfit for game fish or human beings shows that a great deal of contamination results from the careless fashion in which many tourists and vacationists dispose of refuse, according to the American Game Protective Association here.

"It seems to be a common practise to use certain forms of rubbish in filling in low places along lakes and streams that are detrimental to fish life and persons who go in bathing. Dried leaves, grass, garbage of all forms, ashes, sawdust, coal, cinders, log slabs, decayed wood, etc., all decompose at a rapid rate when mixed with water," Carlos Avery, President of the Association, said.

"It is a good rule not to dump garbage nearer than 10 rods from any body of fresh water. Whenever possible, pure dirt, sand or gravel should be used in filling in low places in lakes or streams," he advised.

DOGS TAKE HEAVY TOLL OF ALL WILD LIFE, SAYS AVERY

The majority of the millions of dogs in the United States will destroy wild life if given a chance, according to Carlos Avery, president of the American Game Protective Association

"Self hunters, or dogs that have been trained or have the instinct to point and run down game, cause untold damage," Mr. Avery said.

"J. T. Hammond, of the Kentucky Game and Fish Commission, believes that one loose bird dog will kill more quail in one hunting season than two average hunters.

"Dogs ravage the nests, destroy the eggs and kill the young birds. A great many dogs of mongrel breed have inherited the hunting instincts of a better breed of ancestors, and, if allowed to run loose, will develop the trait to hunt and destroy.

The greatest damage is done during the breeding season. If dogs the country over were tied up during this season when the young of quail, pheasants and other game species are helpless, the annual loss to wild life would be greatly reduced.

'Tie up the dog and save wild life," he advised.

POISON IVY CURED BY SPEARMINT LEAVES

NEW YORK—Anglers, hunters and outdoor lovers can find speedy relief from poison ivy by applying the leaves of the spearmint plant, according to W. T. Hunt, editor and sportsman of West Chester, Pa,

Mr. Hunt has observed over a period of years the effects of poson ivy, has used spearmint leaves to cure himself and claims it is superior to the majoriy of drug store remedies.

"The leaves of the spearmint plant are known to almost all who go into the fields," says Mr. Hunt "When the ivy poisoning appears or even after the blisters have formed, the application of the juice by rubbing the parts with the spearmint leaves will be found to relieve the condition at once, probably in a few hours. I am unusually susceptible to the poisoning but find spearmint is the real goods."

SCIENCE 'TAGGING" FAWNS TO LEARN HISTORY OF DEER

Science is advancing in various ways on the battle line to conserve and restore wild life. The latest innovation reported is that of "tagging" deer to try and learn more of their life history, ranging and feeding habits, and altogether, to determine their ideal environment, according to reports reaching the American Game Protective Association here. Tagging of fish, ducks, upland game birds and even song birds has been in operation for some years and much valuable data compiled which is being made use of to help create ideal conditions for the various species. For instance, the life history of different kinds of ducks is being learned rapidly, their flight lanes established, their favorite foods determined and other conditions necessary for their welfare ascertained. As a consequence, ideal refuges and sanctuaries are being established along the flight lanes.

Now comes the deer to be put under the microscope of exacting science. The conservation department of Michigan is tagging a number of wild fawns as rapidly as they can be caught. The location of tagging is carefully noted. When a tagged deer is taken later, comparisons with the original data will be made.

Suppose the deer is taken three years later several hundred miles away from where it was originally tagged.

"Why?" Science immediately asks, and then proceeds to find the answer. And within this answer will lie valuable life history of the wild deer that can be made use of in creating better conditions in the wild for this specie.

The study will continue over a course of years, and, it is expected, practically every state that has wild deer will make similar studies of their native species.

HUNCH HUNTING CAUSES HEAVY LOSS OF LIFE

"Take the hunch out of hunting and the guess out of gunning by never shooting at movement or sound," Carlos Avery, president of the American Game Protective Association, says in urging hunters the country over to cooperate with state game officials and conservation groups who have recently inaugurated educacational campaigns to stop the needless killing and wounding of many persons every year.

"Wind-Mown tree limbs or bushes and movements of fellow hunters or live stock nearby often cause optical illusions for the unwary," Mr. Avery said.

"With the 1930 hunting season for many game birds and animal species about to open, every hunter can do his part to stop the loss of human life.

"The careful hunter always holds the muzzle of a loaded gun down or in such an upright position over his shoulder when walking that his comrades will not be hit if the gun goes off accidentally. Many 'oldtimers' always unload during rest periods and before they get into camp at night. Never aim at anyone— you never can tell what might happen.

"When hunting, always be sure that you see the game," Mr. Avery concluded.

SOW SWEET CLOVER, GAME HEAD ADVISES

Hikers, campers, sportsmen, and others who go into the wilds can materially aid conservation of wild life by scattering quantities of sweet clover seed in suitable places such as open spaces in forests, along old roads and creek banks, according to Carlos Avery, president of the American Game Protective Association. The plants will make natural feed for game birds, deer, rabbit and other wild folk.

HAND-REARED GAME BEING LIBERATED

State game farms, sportsmen's clubs, and individuals are beginning their campaign of liberating hand reared game birds to local covers in practically every state in the union. Principal among the species are Bob White Quail, Ring Neck Pheasant, Hungarian Partridge, Mallard Duck and Canada Geese, according to advices reaching the American Game Protective Association here. Environment in most cases has been prepared for the liberated species.