MONTANA STATE F)

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Out Bshin'

A feller isn't tkinkin' mean,

Out fishhi';
His thoughts are mostly good and clean,

Out fishin';
He doesn't knock his fellow men,
Or harbor any grudges then;
A felloiv's at his finest, ivhen

Out fishin';
The rich are comrades to the poor

Out fishin' ;
All brothers to the common lure

Out fishin';
The 7irchin ivith the pin and string
Cayi chum ivith millionaire an' king;
Vain pride is a forgotten thing

Out fishin'.

A feller gets a chance to dream.

Out fishin';
He learns the beatities of a stream,

Out fishin';
An' he can ivash his soul in air
That isn't foul with selfish care,
An' relish plain and simple fare

Out fishin';
A feller has no time fer hate,

02it fishin';
He isn't eager to be great.

Out fishin';
He isn't thinkin' thoughts of self.
Or goods stacked high upon a shelf.
But he is always just himself.

Out fishin'.

A feller's glad to be a friend.

Out fishin';
A helpin' hand he'll always lend.

Out fishin';
The brotherhood of rod an' line.
An' sky and stream is ahvays fine;
Men come real close to God's design.

Out fishin';
A feller isn't plottin' schemes,

Out fishin';
He's only busy with his dreams.

Out fishin';
His livery is a coat of tan.
His creed: To do the best he can;
A feller's ahvays mostly man.

Out fishin'.

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MONTANA WILD LIFE

Official Magazine of The Montana State Fish and Game Commission

VOL. I.

HELENA, MONTANA, AUGUST, 1928.

NO. 3.

Dr. I. H. Treece

SPAWN - TAKING
operations a t
the Flint creek
station at George-
town Lake, near
Anaconda, have
been practically con-
cluded for the sea-
son with the total
crop harvested for
the six-weeks sea-
son thus tar total-
ing 39,258,734 eggs
of grayling, rain-
bow and native
trout. According to
figures compiled by
Kenneth McDonald,
super i n te n d-
ent in charge of the
Georgetown hatch-
ery, who is working under direction of
Dr. L H. Treece, veteran expert of the
Montana State Fish and Game Commis-
sion, the count shows 25,019,458 native
trout eggs, 390,456 rainbow trout eggs
and 13,848,820 grayling eggs. This
amazing supply of eggs, enough to sup-
ply the 14 state hatcheries for the sea-
son with a quantity left over for ex-
change with other states, has been dis-
tributed among the state stations where
tingerling trout are now being devel-
oped to restock Montana trout waters
to keep pace with the annual toll taken
by fishermen of the Treasure State and
our visiting neighbors who look toward
Montana as their summer playground.

The work at Georgetown Lake is am-
plified by the egg-take at the Lake
Ronan spawning station, about five
miles from Proctor. According to the
last count there completed by Leo Gil-
roy, superintendent in charge, who is
also working under direction of Dr.
Treece, the season's take has totaled
3,149,145 rainbow trout eggs and 98,520
native trout eggs.

This brings the total egg take for
the short spring spawning season at
the two Montana stations to 42,506,400.
The Flint creek spawning station at
Georgetown Lake is recognized as the
largest station of its kind in the world.
Experts assert that these eggs have
a commercial market value of about
$2.00 per thousand, hence the total crop
harvested during the season has an
actual value to Montana sportsmen of
more than $85,000.00.

Fish culturists in the employ of the
Montana Commission declare that this
season's work at the spawning stations
has been hampered by the late, cold
spring and the result has been a de-

crease of about 6.000,000 eggs taken
from Georgetown Lake with a corre-
sponding decrease in the take at Lake
Ronan. The Georgetown decrease is
shown largely in the native trout spawn.
Because of the fact that Georgetown
Lake remained frozen over until after
the opening of the fishing season in
May it became necessary tor the Com-
mission to extend the closed season
there for one month to permit spawn-
taking operations at the mouth of
Flint creek. Cold weather caused thou-
sands of trout to spawn in the mouth
of the creek without entering the traps
or to decline to make the run up the
creek to spawning haunts. More favor-

able weather conditions next year will
bring the count back to the enormous
total of former years, because of reve-
lations made by tests showing that the
fish still remain in the lake.

Under spawn-taking systems perfected
by the corps of experts working under
direction of Dr. Treece, a trout is sel-
dom lost during the artificial removal
of the eggs.

Trout that enter the traps at Flint
creek average from 16 to 30 inches in
length.

Rainbow trout, when caught in the
Flint creek traps, are being transferred
to the speedy fish trucks and removed
to Silver Lake, a few miles away, to

Experts Taking Eggs from Montana Trout

— Photo by Richard L-. Throssel of Billings.

Here are shown the fish experts of the Montana State Fish and Game Commission
at work taking spawn from grayling, rainbow and native trout at the spawning station
at the mouth of Flint creek where it empties into Georgetown Lake, near Anaconda.
The fish, held in the traps wnile running up the creek to spawn, are dipped out with
the tong-handled nets, stripped by the staff of experts, the eggs carefully placed in cans
and, after being thoroughly cleansed and fertilized, the eggs are then rushed to the
hatcheries. Dr. I. H. Treece, veteran fish expert of the Department, is shown bareheaded
in the immediate foreground clad in his slicker and waders, up to his waist in the cold
water stripping the big fellows. The spawning season usually lasts about six weeks and
hundreds of visitors are attracted to the station during the interesting operations.

MONTANA WILD LIFE

prevent the possibility of crossing the
rainbow with the native. The cross
that has resulted has produced a hybrid
that is barren of spawn at three years,
when the average trout begins repro-
duction under natural conditions.

After entering the runways the trout
are seined carefully and placed in han-
dling traps. The cool waters of Flint
creek flow through these traps and the
milling thousands of trout are kept in
their natural condition. Two to four
men experienced in the work are sta-
tioned at each handling trap and thou-
sands of visitors are annually attracted
to the spot to watch the interesting
operations.

The workers don waders and slickers,
wear a woolen glove on their left hand
to hold the trout and walk right out
among them. The trout are placed in
a handling box with the big dip nets.
The expert reaches into the box, grabs
a female with the gloved hand, holds
the fish by the head, swings the tail
under his arm, gently bends the head
backward toward the tail and, if the
trout is in proper condition for spawn-
ing, the eggs are brought forth by
stripping and caught in a prepared pan.

When a quart of eggs has been col-
lected a male of the same species is
caught and milt for fertilizing the eggs
is stripped into the pan. Experts stir
the eggs thoroughly with their fingers,
mixing them with the milt. The eggs
are then washed and placed in cans
with different varieties kept separate.

Dr. Treece estimates that under nat-
ural spawning conditions only about 10
per cent of the eggs hatch, while under
artificial or hatchery methods more
than 80 per cent hatch and are later
developed for planting in Montana
streams.

Immediately after each take is com-
pleted and the traps are emptied, with
the trout being returned to the lake
and their native haunts, the eggs are
placed in cooled, specially constructed
trucks built for the State Commission
and rushed to the hatcheries by express.

Upon receiving eggs at a hatchery
the first step taken after unpacking
is to ascertain the temperature. Then
follows the slow raising of the tem-
perature. After the eggs are tempered
they are put in baskets or stacks of
trays to eye or hatch.

There are two stages of eggs, green
and eyed. Green eggs are those which
have been fertilized, but in which the
incubation period has not started. Eyed
eggs are those which have been incu-
bated to a point where the embryo is
well defined and the eye spots are
plainly visible. If the eggs are green
and in water of an average tempera-
ture of 50 degrees, it will take from 14
to IS days for them to become eyed.

They are then syphoned out of bas-
kets into a tub or bucket for the pur-
pose of giving them a shock. This
shock is necessary to kill the blank or
unfertile eggs. The blank or unfertile

Woulds't Cast a Fly Into this Pool?

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— Photo by Richard L. Throssel of Billings.

Here's a sight for the sore eyes of fishermen. In the traps at the mouth of Flint
creek at the Georgetown spawn-taking station near Anaconda, the largest station of its
kind in the world, thousands of red-sided and rosy-cheeked rainbow, husky native trout
and fighting grayling are caught in the traps while battling their way upstream to
spawn. They are held in the "ripening" ponds and then artificially stripped of rtheir
eggs by experts in the employ of the Montana State Commission. This unusual photo-
graph of one of the ponds shows one small portion of one day's catch in one of the
traps. The picture was taken after the spot was shaded so that the fish, swimming in
cool creek water, could be caught by the lens of the camera operated by Dick Throssel,
well known photographer of wild life.

eggs are then picked out and the eyed
eggs are put back in the baskets to
hatch, which will take about 10 or 14
days. When the eggs hatch they are
called fry; after they begin to take
food they become advanced fry. They
remain advanced fry until they become
an inch long, when they reach the
fingerliug age, which is fingerling No.
1, meaning they are an inch long. They
remain in the fingerling class until a
year old, when they are called year-
lings.

When people are advised the number
of eggs in a basket or of fish in a can,
they often seem astounded when told
that a basket contains 25,000 or more
and a can from 1,000 to 2,000. The
method of counting eggs is to put ex-
actly four ounces in a certified grad-
uate. Experts then count the four
ounces and divide the total by four,
which gives the number per ounce. To
count fish, specialists put exactly four
ounces of water in the graduate and
then put in fish until the water comes
to eight ounces, which gives a fish
displacement of four ounces. They next
count the four ounces of fish, divide
the total by four and get a fairly accu-
rate count per ounce.

The inside dimensions of the average
standard trough in which the baskets
or trays are placed are 15 feet and
5 inches long, 14% inches wide and 6%
inches deep. The trough should have
a flow of eight gallons of water per
minute.

A trough will hold six baskets capable
of holding an average of 25,000 each,
or 150,000 eggs. It will hold ten stacks
of trays with six trays to a stack, or
360,000 eggs or fry. The average total
fish carried in a trough is about 50,000,
this amount depending upon age and
size.

And in this manner is the State Com-
mission restocking Montana's streams
and lakes.

WHIPPING

By Guy Hernis

(In Outdoor America)

DID YOU ever, dear old comrade.
Feel that all-consuming joy?
That is heir to all God's children,

Be they woman, man or boy.
The thrill I now refer to

Has its setting in a nook;
Quite secluded from observance.

In a happy, babbling brook.
With muscles tense. — but shaky;

Your trusty rod in hand;
Did you ever "whip a fly," Pal?

'Course you have, you understand.
Now a beaut.- darts to seize it!

Then a jerk, — to set the hook!
He misses! and you see him

Quickly vanish in the brook!
Then your heart goes pit-a-patter.

As you nervously prepare.
Once again to whip his "favorite,"

Hoping that he still is there!
Then you see a gleaming object.

And you draw the line up tight!
You observe a dash for freedom!

Boy, Oh! Boy, but they can fight!
In your creel you finally place him!

You have won the battle FAIR.
It's the game, that's worth the candle;

Shake! Old Timer, — you've been there.

MONTANA WILD LIFE

eaird the Wild Brood Stoek

By CARLOS W. AVERT, President American Game Protective Association

ARTIFICIAL help to nature in fish
propagation has progressed a long
way. Sole reliance on natural re-
production would mean little or no fish-
ing in much of our water.

Stripping of the spawn and milt from
wild fish and hatching of the eggs in
hatcheries results in enormously greater
percentage of hatch than is possible
from naturally deposited eggs for many
reasons, and the fry hatched in hatch-
eries are under control. In some cases
they must be planted at once, but in
others they are reared to fingerling,
and even adult stage, before planting.
Wide and general distribution to waters
requiring replenishing is made with
artificially hatched fish, while those
hatched naturally only serve to main-
tain the supply in the specific waters
in which they hatch.

Maintenance of a large supply of wild
fish in waters available for spawning
operations is of the utmost importance.
Overfishing of such waters results in
ruining the propagation work. Com-
plete closing of such supply waters to
fishing is entirely warranted.

Not all varieties of fish are suscep-
tible to artificial spawning; the trouts,
grayling, and wall-eyed pike or pike-
perch are three species, important as
food and game fish, which are. Most
parts of the country are unable to se-
cure spawn from wild trout, and must

depend upon retaining brood stock in
hatcheries, but in the mountain sections
of the west there are certain localities
where wild eggs may be had in large
numbers.

Montana has the largest trout and
grayling spawntaking station in the
country at Georgetown Lake near
Anaconda. Here more than fifty million'
rainbow and native black-spotted trout
and grayling eggs were taken in six
weeks last year. Elaborate systems of
dams and traps have been installed
by the State Fish and Game Commission
in the tributary streams flowing into
this lake where the fish are caught
as they are ascending the streams to
spawn. The number of fish handled
is indicated by the total take of eggs,
trout yielding about 2,500 eggs to
the female fish and grayling two or
three times as many. The aggregated
handled is around 100 tons of fish,
all of which are returned unharmed
to the water to return to the lake.
Montana is the only place in the United
States outside of Alaska where gray-
ling eggs may still be had in large
numbers, hence the great importance
of rigid protection of the sources of
supply.

Minnesota leads in the propagation
of the walleyed pike or pike-perch
by reason of the fact that this state
has a great number of lakes abounding

in this fine species of game and food
fish and the supply has not yet been
reduced by fishing to the point that
spawntaking has become unprofitable.
Steps have been taken there to safe-
guard the most productive lakes by
restricting fishing where the pike perch
congregate at spawning time. Other
states neglected to take this precaution
and as a result this valuable fish can
no longer be propagated in large num-
bers by artificial means, which will
result in time in their disappearance.
The figures from Minnesota are im-
pressive, over 430 million pike-perch
have been actually hatched and planted
in that stae in 1927, which means that
upwards of 600 or 700 million eggs
were collected at the various spawning
stations from wild fish, the usual per-
centage of hatch being from 60 to 65
percent average, though it sometimes
reaches over 85 percent, while probably
not over one to ten per cent deposited
naturally in the streams and lakes
every hatch, due to destruction by
predatory fish, smothering in sand and
mud, or failure to fertilize.

As the pike perch can not be retained
in ponds for breeding purposes as
trout are and eggs can only be obtained
from wild fish it becomes obvious that
the utmost care must be exercised to
safeguard the wild brood stock in
large numbers in their natural habitat.

Gam© Geaiirdiaes of Matioe Meet

SPORTSMEN of Montana and the
west are looking forward to the
week of August 27 to 31, inclusive,
which will be devoted to the conven-
tions of three national conservation or-
ganizations at the Olympic Hotel, Seat-
tle. The three organizations which will
hold their annual meetings at that
time are the International Association
of Game, Fish and Conservation Com-
missioners, whose dates are August 27
and 2S ; the American Fisheries Society,
August 29, 30 and 31, and the Western
Association of State Game Commission-
ers, August 30 and 31.

A committee of arrangements has
been formed, of which Charles R. Pol-
lock, State Supervisor of Fisheries of
Washington, is chairman, and Clinton
W. Rowley, Chairman of the Washing-
ton Conservation Council, is secretary.

There will be several interesting side
trips, including boat trips on Puget
Sound, trips to the Washington College
of Fisheries and to the state and federal
fish hatcheries and a trip to Victoria
and Vancouver, British Columbia, by
boat. A banquet will be tendered

delegates to all three conventions and
many other courtesies will be extended.

The programs of the three conventions
will stress problems affecting the west-
ern coast in particular but will, as
usual, include many questions of na-
tional and continental interest.

This meeting will be attended by
members and delegates and official rep-
resentatives of the federal and state
governments interested and is expected
to be one of the largest and most signi-
ficant gatherings of the kind ever held
in the country.

Some of the subjects of particular
interest to the west which will be
considered on the programs include the
problems of the halibut fisheries; the
maintenance of salmon in western
streams and their relation to hydro-
electric and other industrial develop-
ment; the Alaska fisheries; the pollu-
tion problem in western waters and
many others of equal importance.

The three conventions will be presided
over by Dr. Emmeline Moore of New
York, President of the American Fish-

eries Society; Mr. I. T. Quinn, Alabama
State Game Commissioner, President
of the International Association of
Game, Fish and Conservation Commis-
sioner; and Robert H. Hill of Helena,
Montana State Game Warden, President
of the Western Association of State
Game Commissioners. Papers and ad-
dresses will be presented by authori-
ties in administration and scientific
research of United States and Canada.
At the meeting of the State Fish and
Game Commission at Lewistown August
4, marking the opening of the three-
day season on sage grouse in Fergus,
Petroleum and Big Horn counties. It
was decided that the conventions at
Seattle shall be attended by a goodly
representation of Montana Fish and
Game leaders. Those who will attend
as official representatives of the state
commission are Chairman Thomas N.
Marlowe of Missoula, State Game
Warden Robert H. Hill of Helena,
John W. Schofield of Big Timber and
Dr. I. H. Treece of Anaconda, field
superintendents in charge of state
hatcheries.

MONTANA WILD LIFE

Gairp9 Poor Fishg HomHe Examiple

MONTANA sportsmen keenly inter-
ested in tlie scope of the con-
servation program of tlie State
Fish and Game Commission will appre-
ciate the stand taken by Henry O'Mal-
ley, United States Commissioner of
Fisheries, regarding the pestiferous
carp. Many of Montana's lakes are af-
flicted with the carp pest. Continued
efforts are being put forth by the State
Commission to rid the lakes of these
hibernating piscatorial hogs and experi-
ments with traps and nets are being
carried on constantly. Mr. O'Malley, in
a recent statement, declares that per-
haps the greatest value of the carp in
America has been that of the horrible
example and the warning to go slow
in attempting to fill our streams with
exotic forms of life.

"George Washington admonished
against entangling alliances, and re-
stricted immigration is a new note in
our policy," Mr. O'Malley points out,
"but with one or two exceptions it has
been a long-standing practice as re-
gards our game fish population. We
wavered in this policy and sought carp;
we got it, we have it, and we will con-
tinue to have it.

"The only other serious effort we
have made to graft any new shoots on
the family tree of American fresh-water
game fish was when we brought in the
European brown trout and its first
cousin, the Loch Leven. No disastrous
results have accompanied the spread of
this alien, and it has filled a need in
some sections. But this gives us only
a 50 per cent batting average on our
importations and the wisest course is
to proclaim our satisfaction with what
we have and let the rest of the world
roll by.

"The fisherman and hunter is the
only man who will tax himself by
means of licenses and will expend hi,'?
time, energy, and funds in other ways
to restock fields, forests and streams
with game and fish by which others
will benefit. He receives no duly cer-
tified guarantee that he will catch any
of the fish so provided. He takes his
chances gladly of being able to ulti-
mately prove to the fish that he is
smarter than competing fishermen.

"In paying tribute to the fisherman,
I would be guilty of bias if I did not
speak a good word for the fish them-
selves. The fish can be transmuted
into human health, vigor, and welfare
by the simple process of eating it. A
fish living in some meandering canal is
a manifestation of nature but a fish
tucked away in the alimentary canal is
a token of health and satisfaction. In
very recent times we have called on
the fish for further reinforcements and
the Bureau of Fisheries has actively
agitated the greater consumption of
cod-liver oil to combat rickets and that
accompanying scourge of humanity —
bow legs. My observations, happily fa-
cilitated by present fashions, have con-
vinced me that many millions of un-
fortunatecod must sacrifice their lives

and livers before the supporting ele-
ments of humanity are evolved from
the parabolic to the parallel.

"The United States has recently de-
veloped a new product for export in
the shape of so-called Unofficial Am-
bassadors of Good Will of which Colo-
nel Lindbergh and Will Rogers are
shining examples. I want to assure
you that there have been going out of
the country for a number of years of-
ferings which should be potent in es-
tablishing that much-sought good will.
We have been generous with some of
our treasured resources, especially our
native game fish. Many countries have
called for them and where there has
been any chance of successful trans-
planting, without depriving our own
people of what they need, such requests
have been met. The Michigander who
likes his Mackinaw trout need not go
without it if he happens to be in
Switzerland. Several Alpine lakes have
been stocked with them. Years ago,
bass, brook and rainbow trout were
emigrating to Great Britain and con-
tinental Europe. The Scandinavian
countries and Germany received bass
and there has apparently been a slow
extension to other regions. Word was
received recently from Buda-Pesth mak-
ing inquiry about small-mouth bass.
The eel is considered the champion
globe-trotting fish at the present but
South Africa has requested a shipment
of bass and miscellaneous fish which
would set a new non-stop record. In-
cidentally, rainbow trout are already
thriving in some waters of that country.

"In the Argentine, trouts and salmon
have moved in and some angry Argen-
tine has written pointing out a Yankee
characteristic to overdo a good thing
and stating that there are now too
many fish.

"Hawaiians, living under our flag, de-
serve all the advantages that the main-
land affords and they have rainbow
and brook trout fishing at least. The
Philippines chose bass and the goods
were received in fine condition. From
New Zealand come tales of good rain-
bow trout fishing and the establishment
of our Pacific salmon in their streams
to a limited extent."

Commissioner O'Malley said he was
supremely optimistic that true conser-
vation of our fish and game life will
become a guiding principle and an ac-
complished fact in our national con-
sciousness.

LO! THE POOR FISHERMAN

Consider the bold fisherman.

He arises at the voice of the bird.

He disturbeth the whole house-
hold.

He goeth forth laden with gear
and his mouth is filled with boast-
ings.

Far into the night he returneth.

He smelleth of strong drink and
the truth is not in him.

"My optimism," he said, "is based on
that interesting quirk in the American
character which leads us to give our
real interest and honest endeavor to
those prosaic affairs which constitute
our livelihood and natural existence but
impels us to reserve our real enthusi-
asms and our fervent aggressiveness
for those things that comprise our rec-
reation."

Deforestation with its attendant evils
has made it more difficult for papa and
mamma fish to raise as large families
as formerly, and they haven't practiced
birth control or favored companionate
marriages, according to Lewis Rad-
cliffe, United States Assistant Deputy
Commissioner of Fisheries.

"Reclamation of swamp, bayou and
marshland has destroyed the homes of
the little fish, compelling us to estab-
lish nurseries and orphanages to pro-
tect them from their big brothers and
sisters," he said. The clan of the
salmon and shad have encountered
man-made dams and other barriers on
their way to the places of their birth
to deposit their eggs and thus perpetu-
ate their race. Worse still, we are
pouring an ever-increasing flood of do-
mestic sewage and trade wastes into
our streams, making open sewers of
many of them. And then we indulge in
lengthy arguments as to why the fish
are disappearing.

WHAT BECOMES OF SHED HORNS

It has been pretty well settled that
horns of deer and moose which are
shed in the winter are eaten by rodents.
Many have been found which are partly
eaten which have the teeth marks of
mice, chipmunks, spuirrels andporcu-
pines. Horns disappear quickly after
they are shed as few are found in
the woods. A novel theory, interesting
but extremely improbable, has recently
come to United States Game Warden
Webster H. Ransom of Spokane, Wash.,
asking his opinion of it.

A game warden reports to him a
theory advanced by a lumber-jack that
deer eat their own horns by licking
them after they are shed until they
are consumed. As Mr. Ransom remarks,
a deer's tonguewould need to be con-
structed like a rasp or file to fit such
an explanation.

This is one of those instances, which
are numerous, of erroneous conclusions
on questions of natural history so
frequently arrived at by untrained ob-
servers. The fact that a man lives
close to nature does not necessarily
imply that he is an accurate or reliable
authority.

The amateur fisherman had hooked a
small trout and reeled it in until it
was jammed against the end of his rod.
Holding it in the air in a helpless way
he asked:

"What shall I do now?"

"Climb up the rod and stab it," was
the disgusted reply of his instructor.

MONTANA WILD LIFE

Bear River Marshes Meae More Duieks

MONTANA sportsmen who enjoy
hunting migratory waterfowl are
deeply interested in the vast con-
servation program undertaken in re-
storing the Bear River marshes in Utah
as a rest area for ducks, geese, and
other birds. Montana's ducks and geese,
with the exception of comparatively few
hatched on local lakes and potholes, are
migratory birds. Thousands take their
northward flight over the Bear River
marshes. In these flights they are de-
pendent on proper feeding grounds and
rest areas. In these marshes they find
food and sustenance to fortify them
against the rigors of the flight north-
ward. The Izaak Walton League of
America is piloting the way in this
conservation work, co-operating with
state authorities of Utah and adjoining
states.

Earl A. Fry, former president of the
Washington State Sportsmen's Associa-
tion, who is well known throughout
Montana, recently completed a trip over
the marshes with Dave L. Madsen, fish
and game commissioner of Utah. His
report is of interest to every Montana
sportsman. He writes in part:

"The public shooting grounds are
about seventy miles north of Salt Lake
City and the extreme north end of the
great Salt Lake where the Bear River
flows into the lake.

"Before starting operations the land
was a flat sagebrush country with oc-
casional knolls. Dyking has been car-
ried on by extending out from the
knolls of land which cut down the dis-
tance of dyking considerable.

"When completed this summer the
Utah State Game Department will have
between 70.000 and 80,000 acres within
their public shooting grounds. Money
spent in this work will amount to about
$50,000, this flooding over 17,000 acres.

"A series of large lakes are being
formed in the dyking work, each hav-
ing a gate control which allows water
to be run from one to another. Water
depth is not over boot high in any one
of the lakes. It was necessary to erect
a board wall along each dyke to build
to, mud and dirt being dredged up
alongside the fence. A mere mud dyke
would not hold from wave action during
windy weather. Ten-foot two-by-fours
are driven into the mud and the one-
inch material fastened to stringers for
the fence. It is expected that in time
the dykes will be of sufficient strength
to keep themselves up after the fencing
has rotted out. All dyked lakes are of
fresh water, the possible waterways
available before that time being ex-
tremely salty from the great Salt Lake.

"Mr. Madsen advises that they checked
470 shooters in one day on these lakes
last winter during the season. After
the first two opening days they allow
shooting only on Wednesday and Sun-
day. When the work is finally com-

MR. SPORTSMAN-
DC you realize —

That you provide all the funds used
by the Montana State Fish and Game
Commission —

That money derived from the sale
of hunting and fishing licenses is ex-
pended for the protection and propa-
gation of game and game fish —

That the State Commission and its
employees, including deputy game
wardens, are working to provide bet-
ter hunting and fishing for YOU —

That if it were not for your whole-
some cooperation, the Commission
and the wardens there would soon be
neither game to hunt nor fish to
catch —

That the man who hunts or fishes
in closed season, or takes more than
the limit, or breaks any of the rules
made for the benefit of all. is
CHEATING YOU?

pleted this summer Mr. Madsen intends
to call a conference of sportsmen for
the purpose of determining a method
of regulation for the grounds. This
will take in the establishment of blinds
and shooting stations and the regula-
tion of their use that the shooting will
not be bunched up.

'In addition to the state shooting
lands, it is expected that work will
start shortly on the federal dykes fol-
lowing passage of the appropriation
bill which will add between 60,000 and
70,000 acres.

"The bill calls for establishment of
60 per cent of the area for feeding
grounds and 40 per cent for shooting.
The preliminary work or survey on the
federal program was financed through
popular subscription among the sports-
men of the Pacific Coast.

"Conditions as to sick waterfowl could
not be observed at this time due to the
fact that this condition was practically
eliminated last fall with a large in-
crease in the water supply and the en-
larged areas of dyked fresh water lakes.

"The public shooting grounds can be
reached at all times of the year, the
local counties conditioning the roads.

"While we visited this district at just
about the time the waterfowl had largely
migrated to the northern districts, we
found a large number of many kinds.
Mr. Madsen advised that he had viewed
a band of 25,000 geese passing over
a given point in this territory last year.

"Waterfowl and shore birds seen on
this trip included: Sickle bill curlew,
western willett, avocet, gadwell. red
heads, broadbills, widgeon, green-winged
teal, cinnamon teal, pintail, mallards.

"In my estimation the work being
carried on under Mr. Madsen's office is
one of the greatest pieces of construc-
tive game restoration to be found in
America. They are taking the raw.

valueless land and turning it into a
duck factory which helps almost the
entire western United States.

"Another item of interest which I
found is the fact that sportsmen who
wish to increase the production of mal-
lards in their locality, with favorable
feeding and resting conditions can take
two settings of eggs from the hen, leav-
ing one in the rest and she will lay at
least three clutches and bring out the
third herself. The eggs taken from
her should be hatched with hens."

MADSEN TO SUPERVISE REFUGE

DAVID H. MADSEN, State Fish and
Game Commissioner of Utah, for-
merly president of the Western
Association of State Game Commission-
ers, has resigned as state commissioner
to accept the superintendency of the
new migratory bird refuge authorized
to be established at Bear River Bay,
Utah, under the Bear River Migratory
Bird Refuge Law passed by the last
Congress. This bill carried authoriza-
tion for $350,000 appropriation, of which
$200,000 was actually appropriated by
the last Congress, which is authorized
for the construction of such dikes,
spillways, buildings and improvements
as may be necessary for the establish-
ment of a refuge for migratory wild-
fowl and to acquire such lands and
water rights as it is necessary to pur-
chase. Mr. Madsen assumed his new
position July 1.

The Bear River marshes of Utah con-
stiitute the greatest wildfowl resort of
Western United States. Millions (^ wild
ducks, geese, shorebirds and other fowl
congregate there in migration and
numbers of them nest in that region.

The chief object of this refuge and
appropriation is to safeguard the area
against the recurrence of the enormous
looses of birds, particularly ducks,
that have resulted tor many years from
concentration of alkali in the waters
of the bay. It has been found that
deepening the waters and supplying
an abundance of fresh water prevents
this mortality.

This bill permits the use of not to
exceed 40 per cent of the area included
as public shooting ground.

DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS LUCKY

Last summer an irate angler wrote a
red hot letter to one of the artificial-
lure manufacturers somewhat to this
effect :

"Your blankety blank lure isn't worth
a d — . I have just come back from a
two weeks' vacation and my right arm
is out of joint from casting that fool
contraption of yours and I never got
a strike."

The manufacturer, so it is said, re-
plied to the angler thus: "Stop your
crabbing! You don't know when you
are lucky. You have only one of my
lures — why man I have 30,000 of them."

MONTANA WILD LIFE

MONTANA STATE FISH AND GAME COMMISSION

COMMISSIONERS.
Thomas N. Marlowe, Missoula,
G. T. Boyd, Great Falls.
Joseph L. Kelly, Anaconda.
W. K. Moore, Billings.
E. A. Wilson, Livingston.

Chairman.

ROBERT H. HILL, Helena

State Fish and Game Warden.

Secretary.

MONTANA WILD LIFE

Official Publication of the Montana State

Fish and Game Department.

Published Monthly at Helena, Montana.

FLOYD L. SMITH, Editor.

Introductory Subscription Rates

15 Cents per Copy — 50 Cents per Year

Advertising Rates on Application

Copy for advertisements subject to approval of State
Commission and must be in the hands of the editor at the
State Capitol building, Helena, on the 15th of the month
preceding publication date.

VOLUSIE I.

AUGUST, 1928.

NUBIBER III.

A ROLL OF DISHONOR

IN MINNESOTA, and in other parts of the nation, news-
papers have begun to print the names of convicted
"game hogs." A group of self-styled "sportsmen" from
the Gopher State was caught during the ringneck pheasant
season in South Dakota not only with 270 more of these
beautiful birds than they were entitled to, but also with
the carcass of an out-of-season deer, which had been labeled
mutton. All of these gentlemen got their names in the
home-town paper, and not in small type.

"Compared to the bootlegging of game, the bootlegging
of liquor is a reputable occupation," declares Outdoor
America, which rejoices in the fact that none of the be-
smirched hunters were members of the Izaak Walton League
of America. The magazine reprints their names, and by
this time a good many thousands of persons have read
them. If this practice is efficacious in solving the game-
hog and the fish-hog problems, more power to such maga-
zines, devoted to the interests of conservation, and more
power to the editors of home-town papers spunky enough
to give publicity to such doings by otherwise reputable and
even prominent citizens!

VANISHING GAME

LAUDING the work of the Associated Sportsmen's Clubs
of California in checking inroads on wild lite, the San
Francisco Examiner says editorially:

"This state has been the sportsmen's and nature-lovers'
paradise. Such is our fame, and it is one of our chief at-
tractions in the eyes of the world. Ruin the vigor and
beauty of outdoor nature, exterminate the forest creatures,
silence the bird songs, destroy the flowers and trees — and
you ruin California.

"Fish and wildfowl must have breeding places; four-
tooted animals must have covert and food. The selfish
sportsman speeds the time when hunting and fishing will
be no more. Automobiles, highways and the growth of
population are making things hard enough for the wild
things as it is. Every visitor to forests and streams bears
a share in the responsibility to our state. That responsi-
bility should be realized to the full."

Other states that once justly could lay claim to being
a "sportsman's paradise," but which now can boast but a
vestige of their former glory, painfully are trying to restock
forests, fields, and streams, but western states still pos-
sessing wild life in abundance should heed the warning
and support agencies striving tor the maintenance of wild
life resources.

ASK THE WARDEN

DON'T DODGE the game warden. Look him up. And
if you've had a wrong impression as to what sort of
a fellow he is, the chances are you will be surprised.
It is the warden's business to help maintain and im-
prove your sport; not to curtail it. In your own interest.
He merits your fullest cooperation to that end.

Don't hesitate to ask questions. The warden is ready
and willing to assist and inform you. He would much
rather help you avoid mistakes than to learn of your vio-
lation.

He is your agent, your ally. Call on him.

THIS MONTH'S COVER

SPORTSMEN who enjoy the thrill that comes with meet-
ing wild life in the virgin woodlands of Montana are
provided with another rare piece of photography in
the cover of the August number of MONTANA WILD LIFE.
This extraoipdinary photograph was taken just before sun-
rise in the Big Horn mountains of Montana near the head-
waters of the Little Big Horn river by Richard L. Throssel,
wizard photographer of Billings. Mr. Throssel's photo-
graphs and oil paintings have attracted national attention.
They portray wild life as is. The cover picture this month
is but further demonstration of his ability. Dick Throssel,
who does his hunting with his camera, tells this little story
regarding how the picture of the bull elk was taken:

"While in the Big Horn mountains on a camping trip
I heard the big fellow's call just before sunrise. I went
gunning for him and having long ago exchanged my rifle
for the camera, the closed seasons on game no longer
worry me. We met each other face to face at about forty
paces and I got him fair before he figured out what it was
all about. This picture is just as attractive as his mounted
head would have been. His horns are in the velvet at this
time of year and the spreading antlers make a striking
photograph."

KEEP VERMIN IN CONTROL

A SURPRISING number of predatory animals and birds
exist in every agricultural section and wooded area.
Many more, in fact, than is generally realized. Ver-
min does not recognize any closed season, but kills song
and insectivorous birds and all kinds of small game in fur
and feathers every day in every year.

The fact of the existence of this vermin in such num-
bers has been emphasized at the game keepers' school re-
cently established by the Game Conservation Society of 20
Bast 42nd Street, New York, near Clinton, New Jersey.
Some twenty young men have been studying game raising
and game keeping at the school since April 1st. and as an
incidental part of their duties have been instructed to kill
whatever vermin they could find on the property. This
is not in a remote and uninhabited area, but is a group
of average northern New Jersey farms.

As a matter of interest a record of the vermin destroyed
has been kept and numbered a total of 302 predatory ani-
mals and birds.

The list Includes hawks, owls, crows, rats, snakes and
skunks.

We only see these animals and birds occasionally in the
hours we spend out of doors. This, however, is no indica-
tion of the numbers in which they exist in agricultural
sections.

RESTOCK THE STREAMS

The weakest alibi for decreasing game and fish is "ease
of transportation." Modern transportation provides equal
facility for maintaining the supplies.

MONTANA WILD LIFE

GAME CROPS AND SCIENCE

GAME CONSERVATION in years gone by has had to
deal with the question of whether it is worth while
to perpetuate wild life. Game conservation from this
time on must grapple with the problem of how to do it.
This work requires a changed mental attitude — perhaps
less courage but more patience, less oratory but more
thought, less legislation but more education, less opinion
and more research. Aldo Leopold of the United States
Forest Service, in the current edition of FINS, FEATHERS
AND PUR, official publication of the department of con-
servation of the state of Minnesota, hits the nail on the
head with this statement:

"There is no more hope of raising game crops without
science than of raising farm crops or forests without sci-
ence. Let me state with all the emphasis at my command
that game management research is a job of continental
proportions. It involves every acre of rural and forest
land in the country. This job is not going to be done, or
even scratched, in the spare time of a few enthusiasts, or
by a dribbling appropriation here and there. Agriculture
and forestry began to apply science to their crops decades
ago. Game management must do so now, or fail."

KOVING CATS KILL THE BIRDS

ONE OF the greatest enemies to game is the stray house
cat. The roving feline hunts both day and night, de-
stroying young rabbits and frightening birds from
their nests. Song or game birds frightened from their nests
in the night generally can not return until daylight. The
eggs of the young birds become chilled and are lost.

T. Gilbert Pearson, head of the National Association of
Audubon Societies, has stressed the necessity for curbing
the cats in an interesting article written especially for
MONTANA WILD LIFE appearing elsewhere in this edi-
tion. Mr. Pearson has for years been an outstanding ex-
ponent of the cause of feathered friends. His achievements
are known throughout the nation and his expressions along
lines of wild life conservation carry unusual weight.

The good qualities of the cat are offset by its bad habits.
When introduced from England it was claimed that cats
would destroy all rats and rodents. They have had a 300-
year trial and rats and rodents are as numerous as ever.

FISHING AND HUNTING NO LONGER "CHEAP"

IN A RECENT illuminating article on hunting and fish-
ing conditions in Massachusetts, Director William C.
Adams of the Division of Fisheries and Game clearly
shows the folly of expecting to restore or maintain an
abundance of fish and game with the small revenue now
available from the $2.25 sporting license charged in that
state.

The revenues accruing from license fees pay for pro-
ducing about 250,000 six-inch trout, the operation of one
pond culture station for bass, sunfish and perch and pick-
erel, the planting of perch and other pond fish from posted
ponds in public waters, the operation of four game farms
for rearing of pheasants and the maintenance of the game
warden force, of which 31 men are employed in the coun-
try and a few in the towns and cities. This organization,
while efficient and as productive as could be expected,
does not meet the requirements of the great army of people
who hunt and fish and want an ample supply to drawn on.

"Increase our law enforcement agencies," says Mr.
Adams, "so that we can protect the wild stock and all that
we add to it by artificial methods. Reduce vermin that
destroys every day in the year. Put a chain of sanctuaries
across the state and take over and save our finer fishing
streams. Provide more game farms, fish hatcheries and
pond cultural and salvage units. Increase scientific re-
search into all phases of fish, bird and mammal breeding
and feeding and disease. Let individuals and clubs realize
that the state can never produce all the fish and game to
meet the demands; that they must raise more stock to sup-
plement the annual output for their respective localities.

"All this means more cash, and more cash. This will
have to come from the hunters, trappers, anglers and nature
lovers. Today the work is paid for entirely by the first
three groups who buy licenses, and fines collected by the
warden force. Not one cent is contributed by the general
taxpayers or the million and a half people who are inter-
ested in wild lite but do not hunt or fish."

WHAT ABOUT THE SONG BIRDS?

WHEN SPORTSMEN begin to appeal to state legisla-
tures for direct appropriations for the protection of
song and game birds it will be well to get the co-
operation of sentimentalists and agriculturists in backing
the measures.

Oftentimes we hear critics saving that sportsmen are
endeavoring to perpetuate wild life that they may kill.
What are the other lovers of nature doing to protect non-
game species?

Another phase of direct legislative appropriations for
wild life restoration and protection is from the business
building and community building value.

Let us now lay plans for a concerted effort to supple-
ment our license revenue to help in some measure in per-
petuating our wild life heritage.

THE ANCIENT ORDER OF HUMAN HOGS
Qnalifirations for Membership in This Order

. FISH— Don't put back the little one, and don't observe
the law that says your catch of trout shall not exceed 20
pounds in weight.

GAME — Violate the laws, kill ducks in the spring on a
hunter's license. Shoot partridges during the closed season.
Don't buy a hunter's license. Shoot big game without see-
ing the head.

BIRDS — Destroy song birds, their nests and eggs. Be
a hooligan hunter.

FARMS — Trample down crops. Steal fruit and vege-
tables. Destroy all fences. Help yourself to fire wood.
Break off the branches of flowering trees, don't use a
knife.

WOODS — Be careless of your smokes and camp fires.
Pull up wild flowers by the roots. Misuse camps and boats..

RESPECT YOUR PRIVILEGE

THE season is at hand when Montana anglers are re-
sponding to the call of the open again and it is im-
portant to keep in mind the courteous consideration
due the owner of the land upon which you seek recreation.

In reaching picnic ground or trout brook, do not drive
or tramp rough-shod across the farmer's lands. Always
keep to the edge of the fields; they may be newly planted
with grain. Don't damage fences or other property. Leave
the gates as you find them. Don't frighten or annoy live-
stock or poultry. Be careful of fire in every form. Dis-
pose of all rubbish in such a way that the place will be
as attractive when you leave as it was when you came.
Respect "No Trespass" signs. If you think the,- were
meant for some one else, inquire before you take a chance.

The farmer's good will is necessary to the continued
enjoyment of your recreation on his land. Merit it.

COOPERATION IS NECESSARY

REAL conservation interest on the part of sportsmen
of the country, acting together and with intelligent
direction, is all that will save the wild life of the
United States from being totally destroyed. Postmaster
General Harry S. New said recently.

"The rapid development of the country and the conse-
quent destruction of the natural refuges will of itself bring
about the extinction of its wild life unless intelligent ef-
fort is made by those who, from actual observation and
experience, have some knowledge of the steps necessary
to its preservation, and respond to the invitation enter-
tained by every true sportsman to see that those steps
are taken," he said.

SAVE FORESTS AND STREAMS

CONSERVATION means guarding, preserving, and, if
possible, enhancing the natural resources of our coun-
try that we may enjoy them to best advantage and
hand them down unspoiled to our children. — Henry van
Dyke.

YOU CAN'T FOOL 'EM

IT IS easy to fool yourself. It is more difficult to fool
the people you work for. It is still more difficult to
fool the people you work with and it is almost impos-
sible to fool the people who work under your direction.

10

MONTANA WILD LIFE

MONTANA has come to recognize
the value of its four-tooted
wealth — the fur-farming industry
— at once the oldest and the newest in
a land that was once traversed by in-
trepid explorers. Pens and runways
have taken the place of the virgin
forest as the untrammeled haunts of
fur-bearing animals. They are being
raised and cultivated under direction
of trained men who are investing heav-
ily that the industry may flourish. Co-
operation and proper supervision is
being supplied by Montana's State Fish
and Game Commission.

In a recent bulletin issued by Bar-
clay Craighead, chief of the division of
publicity of Montana's department of
agriculture, it was estimated that the
total value of all Montana fish, game
and fur products in 1927 was $2,500,000.

Montana, first in area of forest re-
serves, should lead the nation in fur
production. Louisiana will this year
turn out fur products valued at about
t'lO, 000,000. Eastern states with denser
population, more intense cultivation of
the soil and lack of forest cover are
not as well fitted for fur production
as is Montana, but some of these states
have earlier awakened to the possibili-
ties in domestic breeding and raising
of fur-bearing animals.

Fur farming has been responsible for
bringing the number of beaver from
almost zero to many thousands in such
a thickly settled state as Pennsylvania.
This year after a century of absence
the beaver skin will constitute an item
of commerce in that state. Similar in-
creases have been the experience of
New York, Colorado and Louisiana.

FUR FARMIJiG RULES AND
REGULATIONS

THE State Fish and Game Com-
mission has formulated and
adopted the following rules and
regulations regarding the capture of
game birds, game and fur-bearing
animals for foundation stock to be
used in the creation of game and
fur-bearing animal farms after proper
permission: "That each person or
persons or corporation desiring to
create and establish a game or fur-
bearing animal farm as provided for
under Section 3777 of the Revised
Codes of Montana, 1921, as amended
by the Session Laws of 1925, be en-
titled to take or capture for such
purpose not more than four (4) pairs
of any one variety of game birds,
nor more than four (4) deer, two (2)
moose, four (4) elk, four (4) ante-
lope, two (2) caribou, two (2) moun-
tain sheep, two (2) mountain goats,
two (2) bear, nor more than two
(2) pairs of marten, two (2) pairs
of otter, two (2) pairs of foxes, five
(5) pairs of muskrats, two (2) pairs
of fisher, two (2) pairs of mink, one
(1) pair of raccoon, and two (2)
pairs of beaver, provided, however,
that any one fencing in an enclosure
for the purpose of retaining fur-bear-
ing animals therein upon ground
owned or leased by him or them in
which there are certain muskrat or
beaver, shall have the right to re-
tain the same as a part of said
foundation stock."

Wyoming, Colorado, Pennsylvania and
New York have each more beaver than
Alaska. Louisiana's muskrat catch alone
brings a far greater sum than the en-
tire returns of the Montana fur catch.
Louisiana, in her small area, produces
2,000 otters a year.

Another Sheep Killer Goes West

Predatory animal hunters in the employ of the State Fish and Game Commission,
the Biological Survey and the State Livestock Commission are winning merited com-
mendation for their work in downing such killers as this bloodthirsty bruin. Out of
every fee for hunting and fishing licenses, 25 cents goes into the fund to aid in main-
taining these hunters.

The owner of a farm in Wisconsin
was recently offered $8,000,000 for his
establishment, which offer was declined.
This farm, it is expected, will have on
hand this year about 15,000 foxes and
will turn off upward of 10,000 pelts per
year. The breeding stock is valued at
from $1,000 to $5,000 and $6,000 a pair.

Montana is the natural home of most
fo the fur-bearing animals, the nation's
greatest reservoir of wild life. Records
of fur-bearing animals shipped outside
the state in 1927, as compiled by the
State Fish and Game Department, show
a total of about 130,000 and include
111,762 muskrat, 4,487 mink, 735 fox,
585 raccoon, 63 otter and 9,222 beaver.

Demonstrating shifts in the fur in-
dustry, it is pointed out that the lowly
jack rabbit probably contributed more
to state income in Montana last year
than any other fur animal with the ex-
ception of the muskrat. During the
winter of 1926-27 one firm alone took
58,498 rabbit skins out of Montana.
Practically all of these skins were jack
rabbit skins. The skins of the white
rabbits, properly stretched and dried,
brought fiO cents a pound or about 17
cents each, the gray 40 cents per pound.
They are of some value as food and
game and their flesh is sometimes fed
to poultry. Chinchilla rabbits are now
raised in almost every county in the
state.

The number of fur farms in the state
has more than doubled in the last three
years. Three years ago only 41 such
licenses were issued by the state de-
partment, and in 1927 exactly 100 li-
censes were issued. The farms are
scattered in 37 of the 56 counties of
the state. Flathead leads with 15 fur
farms, Yellowstone has seven, Lake has
six. Carbon and Gallatin five each.
Other counties having more than two
farms are Missoula, Sanders, Stillwater,
Park, Lincoln, Deer Lodge, Ravalli and
Broadwater.

Some of the farms have been quite
successful. One near Kalispell is an
example. Started from a small begin-
ning a few years ago, the ranch now
not only breeds and raises silver foxes
but also takes fox pups from Alaska
breeders for finishing off as the Mon-
tana climate is known to produce the
finest quality fur. Another is said to
be the largest muskrat farm under
fence in the United States. Five acres
are fenced near Swan Lake in Lake
county and more than 100 experimental
pens have been constructed. It is ex-
pected within a short time that the
ranch will produce 20,000 to 30,000
pelts annually. A farm in Yellowstone
county raises skunks, otter, raccoon,
opossum, mink and muskrat. Furs
shipped from this section of the coun-
try command a larger price as a rule
than those from other states, climatic
conditions being especially good for the
production of high quality.

MONTANA WILD LIFE

11

A farm in Mineral county lias domes-
ticated lynx and one in Missoula county
now has about 600 foxes. A ranch in
Cascade county has purchased 1,000
pairs of muskrats while one north of
Corvallis in the Bitter Root raises
Karakul sheep, the hearers of luxurious
Persian lamb fur which commands the
highest prices for trimming wearing ap-
parel, besides black foxes, skunk, rac-
coon and muskrat.

Another yardstick by which the im-
portance of the fur industry in Mon-
tana may be measured comes from the
records of license fees paid to the state
fish and game department, the industry
contributing about $31,000 during the
last year. More than a thousand trap-
pers' licenses were issued, bringing
$10,270 in revenue to the department.
A total of 2.601 shipping permits were
issued, as were 541 permits to trap
beaver.

David Hilger, state historian, says
that in 1S67. "there was no section of
the known world of the territorial size
of Montana that contained as many buf-
falo, elk, deer, antelope, beaver, coyotes,
bear and wolves as did this territory."
This country was once litreally swarm-
ing with millions of fur bearers, but
one day, as Hal Evarts says in an
article on the Alaska fur business,
trappers and traders woke up to find
that they had trapped and shot them-
selves out of a job.

It is not more than 70 years since
the fur trade was almost the only busi-
ness transacted in the entire north-
western territory. The first fur trading
expedition to enter the territory that
is now Montana was that of Manuel
Lisa in the spring of 1807, although
free traders had trapped in the region
for many years prior to the Lewis and
Clark expedition (1805). Lisa estab-
lished a post at the junction of the
Yellowstone and the Big Horn rivers.
Between 1805 and 1834, a quarter of a
century, three companies, the Missouri,
the Rocky Mountain, and the American,
entered the territory of which Montana
is a large part, scattered their posts
over the land, fought each other and
the Indians, saw the retreat of two
great foreign companies, the Hudson
Bay and the Northwestern, into Cana-
dian territory, and took millions of
dollars' worth of furs out ot the wilder-
ness to enrich world markets and build
I the fortunes ot their owners and di-
rectors.

At that time the fur trade was a big
item in the commerce of North America,
notwithstanding the fact that there was
no great fur market on this continent.
Furs were not dressed nor dyed here
but were shipped to Europe. We now
have two markets that are worldwide in
scope, one at St. Louis and the other
at New York. Furs are sorted, classed,
dressed and dyed in these markets and
sold at auction in transactions that
sometimes represent the transfer of
more than $2,000,000 in a single day.

Today the fur trade of the United
States is estimated to be worth more
than $175,000,000 annually. Pur sales
now in the United States and Canada

DUCK CLUB RULES

COMMERCIAL duck clubs where
hunters may obtain accommoda-
tions and shooting operate under
state permit in California. There are
38 such clubs operating under strict
regulations laid down by the fish
and game division.

Some of the regulations governing
such clubs are:

No club may guarantee a limit.

Continual shooting at birds out of
range will be considered a nuisance
and result in the shooter being barred
from the club. This rule results In
fewer wounded birds which are not
retrieved.

No shooter Is permitted to hunt
at large when the blinds are full.

dispose of over 100,000,000 pelts a year
counting rabbit, mole and muskrat.

Montana is capable of producing 10
per cent of the nation's fur as well as
10 per cent of her wool and wheat and
with the development of the modern fur
farm maj'. in the next decade, reach
this return.

A HARE IN THE STEW

A Mexican had rabbit meat in his
pail, and he shared his supply gener-
ously with his comrade.

One night the American asked:

"Where you get rabbits, Jose? I
can't find any."

"My wife, she get um," Jose replied.
"She say every night they come round
the house and make noise. She shoot
'um."

"Noise? Rabbits don't make a noise
— you nut."

"Sure," Jose asserted, positively. "Go
'meow, meow'." — Haversticks.

THE LOON

(By Mary E. Barclay)

WHO mournfully wails in the
dead of night?
Whose cries make me shiver and

tremble with fright?
Now hollow and eerie it ends in a

groan —
Now piercing and shrill, dying down to

a moan.
What tragedy, bird, has your sturdy

heart known.
That always you grieve, and are always

alone?
Has the world been unkind to you,

treated you ill?
Does some haunting memory cling to

you still?
Cease, cease, your lamenting, O, lonely

wild thing
Of that ancient woe must you evermore

sing?
Your heart must be weary, and bursting

with grief
And your poor stricken spirit must long

for relief.
There's beauty about you, and magic to

spare
In woods, sky and water, to drive away

care.

CALIFORNIA VALUES WILD LIFE

Earl R. Kaunffman, editor of Pacific
Sportsman, has this to say:

"Approximate monetary value of fish
and game to California is $936,000,000.
Deer season value to business men of
state, $5,000,000. These figures are
based upon recreational value, and the
drawing power upon tourists, rather
than actual monetary units. But they
form food tor thought for the man
or woman who violates the game laws,
thus depleting this wild life supply in
California. Think it over!"

Muskrat Farm is Nation 's Largest

The photograph above shows the main buildings and a portion of the land under
fence at the Swan Lake fur farm. The lower fence fronts on the lake shore. The ex-
perimental pens are located back of the buildings and the fence is so arranged that the
fur-bearing animals may be controlled and conserved. Portion of Swan Lake utilized
by the muskrat farm established by James M. Hall in Lake County. The farm is the
largest of its kind in the nation.

12

MONTANA WILD LIFE

GATS AND BIRDS

Written for BIONTANA WILD LIFE by T. GILBERT PEARSON, President, National Association of Audubon Societies

MORE BIRDS are eaten by cats
than are killed by shotguns. The
best authorities available state
that in New York City there are 1,500,-
000 cats cared for in people's homes
and there are at least half a million
homeless alley cats. Figuring on the
same basis for the rest of the country,
we may say there are not less than
fifty million cats In the United States.
Certain individual cats have been fol-
lowed by naturalists and found to catch
from fifteen to twenty-tour birds In a
day, which gives an opportunity for
more figuring. There is no healthy cat
however well cared for but what will
hunt and catch birds if it has the
slightest chance, statements of kind-
hearted cat owners to the contrary not-
withstanding.

One of my children came into pos-
session of a little kitten. When it was
about ten weeks old it was lying asleep
on the couch one day, when I placed
on the Victrola a record reproducing
the song of a wild nightingale. The
young cat paid no attention to the two
records which had previously been
played, but when the first clear notes
of the nightingale's song rang out in
the air the kitten instantly became alert,
and with all the stealth of a leopard
creeping upon a fawn it pursued its
crouching way along the length of the
couch towards the Instrument from
which the sounds issued. That cat had
never been out of the house; it was in
the midst of winter, and it had never
heard or even seen a bird, but its in-
stinct to catch and eat birds surged
through every vein and thrilled in every
nerve of its being.

Cats are the most destructive toes
ever let loose by human beings against
the bird-life of the country.

Many times I have been told by peo-
ple that they were great bird lovers,
and that they fed the birds and gave
them water and provided nesting boxes
about their grounds, and yet these same
people fed cats at the back door.

Many people who have extra kittens
that they want to dispose of. Instead
of doing the honorable, kindly act of
exterminating such potential destroyers
of wild life, will take them out and
leave them in the woods where they
can starve or pick up a miserable liv-
ing on grasshoppers, mice and birds.

In the center of Rome stands Tra-
jan's Forum. It is a hole In the ground
with precipitous walls fifteen or twenty
feet high all around it. Here come
hundreds of Italian women every year
and drop in the cats which they are
tired of feeding. As the cats can not
escape and manna does not fall in
Italy, their condition is not a joyous
one to behold or contemplate. Needless
to say, Trajan's Forum is not a popu-
lar spot for the wild birds of the neigh-
borhood.

Some cities of the United States have
passed ordinances requiring people to
pay a tax on their cats. In New York

THE SPORTSMAN'S CREED

1. Never In sport endanger human
life.

2. Never kill wantonly or need-
lessly or brutally.

3. Obey the laws of state and na-
tion, work for better laws, and up-
hold the law-enforcing authorities.

4. Respect the rights of farmers
and property owners, and also their
feelings.

5. Always leave seed birds or game
in cover.

6. Never be a fish hog.

7. Discourage the killing of game
for commercial purposes, by refusing
to purchase trophies.

8. Study and record the 'natural
history of game species in the Inter-
est of science.

9. Love Nature and its denizens
and— BE A GENTLEMAN.

Zane Grey.

and New Jersey there is a state law
making it the duty of every state game
warden to kill every cat he finds bird
hunting.

If there was a tax on cats your
neighbor could collect from you if you
killed one of his feline pets, but today,
as he pays no tax on his cat, he is not
legally in position to complain of your
action as he would be it, for example,
you had killed his cow or his dog.

Personally, I will pet any nice cat I
can catch; officially, for the interests
of the bird life of America, I would
sink every one without a trace.

FISHERMAN'S LUCK

BACKWARD, turn backward, 0 time
in your flight; please make 'em
bite again just for tonight. I've
sat on this boulder for sixteen long
hours, and baited with crawfish and
doughballs and flowers, and minnows
and rye bread and liver and bees, and
grasshoppers, fishworms and limburger
cheese. And never a nibble — a Jerk
on the line — of sunfish or sucker I've
seen not a sign. My arms are fried
brown and my nose is burnt red — my
seat is worn thin and my legs are both
dead. My stomach is puckered, tied up
in a knot, and yearns for a waffle or
something else hot. I'm sore and I'm
dirly and thirsty and stiff; I've lost
my tobacco and ain't had a whiff. And
I've got the smallpox, the measles or
pip; I'm all broken up on my shins and
my hip. It's fourteen long hours by the
road to my shack — to cold cream — to
comfort — to rest and a snack. 0, back-
ward, I guess, is the way I shall turn;
they don't want to bite and I don't
give a durn. For I have been fishing —
I've had a good day; now all that I
want is some grub and the "hay."

Give fools their gold, and knaves their
power.
Let fortune's bubbles rise and fall;
Who sows a field, or trains a flower.
Or plants a tree, is more than all.
— John Greenleaf Whittler.

STATE DEPARTMENT

RECEIPTS FOR JULY

MONTANA'S great out-of-doors be-
comes more and more attractive,
according to receipts to the State
Fish and Game Department each month,
derived largely from hunting and fish-
ing licenses and from fines from those
who disobey the laws protecting wild
life. During the 31 days of July $31,-
911. S5 was collected by the State De-
partment, $28,078.60 of which goes into
the fish and game fund and $3,833.25
into the biological fund for destruction
of predatory animals preying on live-
stock and big game.

Licenses alone accounted for $30,-
720.80 of the total collected for the
month, while the remainder was derived
from permits, refunds, fines and other
items. The collections are:
Resident hunting and fishing

licenses $29,130.00

Non-resident hunting and fish-
ing licenses 2,516.50

General non-resident hunting

and fishing licenses 60.00

Non-resident limited hunting

and fishing licenses 20.00

General alien hunting and fish-
ing licenses 50.00

Alien fishing licenses 460.00

Agents' commissions 1,515.70

Total $30,720.80

Shipping permits $ 21.00

Guides' licenses 30.00

Seining licenses 10.00

Game farm licenses 40.00

Beaver permits 30.00

Beaver tags 67.50

Total $ 198.50

Refunds $ 171.65

Fines 729.55

Confiscations 2.35

Subscriptions MONTANA WILD

LIFE 89.00

Grand total $31,911.85

STATE SUPPLIES PHEASANT EGGS

Ringneck pheasant eggs for hatching
will be supplied free to New Jersay
farmers by the State Fish and Game
Commission this year as long as the |
surplus supply of these eggs is avail-
able from the game farms at Forked
River and Rockport. Application for
these eggs, the commission announces,
is made to county wardens.

The breeding flocks at the game
farms produce quantities of eggs be-
yond the hatching capacity of the estab-
lishments. A few years ago the State
Fish and Game Commission inaugurated
the practice of sending out settings of
these surplus pheasant eggs to farmers
interested in increasing the game sup-
ply in their respective communities.
This plan has been increasingly suc-
cessful and thousands of pheasants
reared on home farms now supplement
the supply released directly by the
state warden.

MONTANA WILD LIFE

13

By E. LEE LeCOMPTE, State Game Warden of Maryland

AS TIME goes on officials in charge
of game administration, not only
in the United States but in Can-
ada as well, find their position increas-
ingly important, as they must promul-
gate regulations and adopt methods for
the protection and propagation of game
birds and game animals and in addition
act as an arbitrator between the land-
owner and the hunter who hunts on
lands other than his own.

Unfortunately, every hunter is not a
sportsman. Otherwise, the problem of
trespassing would be solved. It is re-
grettable that a large percentage of
persons who hunt disregard all rules,
regulations and laws of the true sports-
man and especially does this apply to
those hunters who disregard trespass
notices and landowners' rights.

The result is that the true sportsman
is ofttimes compelled to suffer and
make sacrifices on account of the class
termed as hunters. The landowner
raises the game, but under the rulings
of not only state courts but the supreme
courts of the United States as well, all
game has been termed as belonging to
the state in which it is found and not
to the person on whose land it is lo-
cated. This, of course, must be true
as game birds and game animals prop-
agated on a certain area do not always
remain within that confined area but
spread out in the section where they
were raised. The landowners' rights
should be recognized by every person
who goes afield in quest of game. Un-
fortunately, we have a great many
hunters who not only disrespect the
landowners' rights by not making a re-
quest to hunt but sometimes destroy
poultry, pigeons, and tear down or cut
down fences. Any true sportsman re-
grets the action of this class of hunters.

At the annual game conference of the
American Game Protective Association,
held in New York, a committee which
was appointed to collect detailed infor-
mation from the states presented a valu-
able report to bring about a better
understanding between the landowner
and the sportsman.

The report of the committee on rela-
I tions of sportsmen and landow^ners fol-
lows :

The fact should be emphasized that
there is a difference between sportsmen
and mere shooters; that the sportsmen
and the farmers should be allies; that
their interests are identical, and that
the fellow who is merely a shooter
and not a sportsman is responsible for
the annoyance to the farmer which
casts odium on the sportsman.

The true sportsman will be and is
anxious to help the landowner restrain
the irresponsible, to assist in patrolling
his premises and furnishing him pro-
tection. He will join with the owner
in the expense of planting food for
game and hedge rows along the fences,
and in the control of vermin which is

destructive to game and domestic poul-
try. In otlier words the landowner and
the sportsman can legitimately and
profitably cooperate to the fullest ex-
tent, to the end that both will receive
many benefits. The owner will be re-
lieved from vandalism and be protected
from marauders. The game, which is
an asset to his property, will be con-
served and increased, insectivorous
birds, which are essential to crops, will
be preserved, and the sportsman in re-
turn will occasionally have the privi-
lege of enjoying a day in the field.

The title to all forms of protected
wild life is vested in the several states,
provinces and federal government for
the purpose of regulating the time,
manner and extent of taking the same
by the individual, equipped under stat-
ute and authorized to hunt, pursue or
kill such game birds or animals.

A license issued to the gunner by any
duly constituted authority is a privilege
granted under the statute to the hunter
to kill game in the political division or
subdivision set out in the face of the
license.

When a government or its agent
grants such a privilege to a hunter in
the form of a license, it conveys no
waiver of the rights of the property
owner or landlord in the protection of
his property, both personal and real,
against undue trespass on the part of
the licensed hunter.

Posted lands are not conducive to the
protection of game so long as we have
hunters who are not sportsmen. A
sportsman, seeing a poster "No Hunt-
ing Allowed," will not enter the prem-
ises, but the fellow who does not care
to respect the rules of sportsmanship
will, upon seeing the forbidden sign,
be tempted because little or no hunting
has been done on the premises, will
disregard the notice and shoot on the
posted property, to the disgust and an-
noyance of the owner.

The several states and provinces and
the federal government of the United
States and Canada, and the organized
sportsmen should join in organizing an
educational campaign and carry it to
both the hunter and landowner, teach-
ing the hunter the necessity tor the
protection of hunting areas from fire
and for the care and protection of
fences and livestock on the farms, and
informing the farmer that but for the
revenue which the hunters contribute
annually through the purchase of hunt-
ing licenses, there could be no protec-
tion given by his government to the
game on his premises, and no propa-
gating and planting of game to restore
depleted covers.

It must not be lost sight of that in
administering game laws, not only is
the game which is shot by the hunter
protected, but the insectivorous and
seed eating birds, without which agri-
culture would be impossible, are also

protected. The revenue derived from
the hunters' licenses pays for all this,
as well as the restocking and care of
game. The protection from forest and
other fires is also contributed to from
the same source.

It is of the greatest importance to
the sportsmen individually and collec-
tively to furnish grain and other crops
to property owners and to cooperate
with the state in planting and cultivat-
ing food for game birds and quadru-
peds. Food bearing plants and shrubs
should be generally planted in game
covers and brood stock of game species
should be furnished by individual
sportsmen and clubs as well as the
state to assist the landowner in restock-
ing his covers.

All who go afield must recognize the
fact that good sport can not be bad
for nothing, and like the automobile
or other desirable means of pleasure
and recreation, it has to be paid for.
It is a form of recreation which can
no longer be obtained free. Reckless-
ness in destroying wild life without any
care for the future should be univer-
sally and most severely condemned,
and all sportsmen should recognize the
fact that effective methods of maintain-
ing the supply, such as are employed
in agriculture and stock raising, must
be applied. The following is a quota-
tion from a letter from L. J. Taber.
President, National Grange:

"For years we have enjoyed the lav-
ish bounty of nature without making
any return; every individual sportsman,
must now realize his individual obliga-
tion to replace what he takes in sport.

"Therefore, the necessary steps to de-
velop good will between the landowner
and the sportsman are, first, a recog-
nition of the farmers' rights. Courtesy
and common sense are essential. Local
sportsmen's associations should prove
their belief in fair play by helping to
prosecute game-law violators and tres-
passers who injure farm property. Lo-
cal sportsmen's associations should
have standing committees to cooperate
with the Grange, the Farm Bureau Fed-
eration and other farmers' organiza-
tions for the promotion of better under-
standing. Farmers should be invited to
affiliate with all sportsmen's associa-
tions and to participate ' in all their
social events in order that leaders of
thought and sentiment of both may be-
come better acquainted and thereby be
better able to meet on a basis of mu-
tual friendship ' and understanding."

U. S. HEADQUaRTER5

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Fabrioue Nationale - Webley ■ Scott, etc.

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14

MONTANA WILD LIFE

DOUBLES CHAMPION

WITH SHOTGUN KILLS
TWO BEAR WITH RIFLE

THIS is a story about a doubles
champion. It's a true story of
marlismanship of a gentleman who
resides in Louisiana, yet loves Montana
so well that he has erected one of
the finest cabins in the state on the
shore of Hebgen Lake on the upper
Madison.

Last year Ed. Dickinson won the
doubles championship of Louisiana
with his scattergun . This year, only
a few weeks ago he won the doubles
championship of Montana with his
rifle, when he keeled over two husky
brown bear a short distance from the
palatial cabin that's his home on the
Madison.

Ed. Dickinson is a modest fellow.
He seldom speaks of his achievements.
His cabin, a modest peeled log structure
of about eight rooms chinked with
cotton from the south, epuipped with
running water from a mountain spring,
every convenience of civilization and
true southern hospitality, is a haven
to his friends willing to brave the
long drive to the great fishing and
hunting paradise of Montana.

Tom Danaher, deputy state game
warden stationed at the Hebgen dam
in the upper Madison county, likewise
a modest chap, reluctantly tells the
story of Dickinson's doubles champion-
ship victory:

"I was at Dickinson's cabin when
we spotted a bear that was big enough
for a silver tip, ambling along the
mountain side. He was half a mile
away. Dickinson is a nonresident, so
I told him that if he'd buy a non-
resident hunting license, we'd go after
the bear. I didn't think he could hit
a flock of bears after shooting a
shotgun as long as he has. He wanted

to shoot when the bear was 300 yards
away. Then came another bruin, a big
brown fellow. When the first bear was
about 100 yards away away, Dickinson
cut loose. His first shot broke her
backbone and she fell in her tracks.
When the yearling came along Dick
cut loose again. After he had plugged
him with the first shot, he ran about
10 yards and died in his tracks. Some
doubles shooting, eh?"

THE GAME PRESERVE

Bj Cassandra Osburii Phelps

(Hobson, Mont.)

GREEN branches bend above a placid
pool,
Pale blossoms lean to scan re-
flected skies,
And far beneath the depths of waters

cool,
The rainbow trout in tranquil safety

lies.
No alien footstep comes their peace to

mar.
No crash of firearms rends the quiet

air,
As, from the hills and mountains near

and far,
In faith serene the woodland creatures

fare.
Here grouse can rear their young in

secret nest.
Here antlered deer their timid mates

may meet.
Here migrant fowl may find a place

to rest,
And hunted life seek ever safe retreat.

UEER INCKEASE IN FLOKIDA

In a recent report from representa-
tives covering the Southern Gulf States
comes the information that over 1,000
deer were reported killed in Florida
during the last "open" season. The
exact figures from the Florida State
Department of Fish and Game show a
kill of 1,010 deer.

Kant Sink Em Metal Boats

For Rowing or Outboard Motoring

Write the

WATSON BOAT WORKS

W. 2019 Division St., Spokane, Wash.

"COLLY" Strain
Silver Black Foxes

Large, Healthy, Prolific Foxes Born and

Raised in Montana for Many Generations

Our Booklet, "Silver Fox Farming,"

Will Be Mailed to You on Request

Write for It
Beartooth Silver Fox & Fur Farms

Breeders of Belter Fur
Red Lodge, Mont.

Northern Fur
Company

'== Buyers of ^=

RAW FURS

Missoula, Montana.

CX)00C»OOO

Specimens of the different
species of bear suitable for
rugs, lion and other preda-
tory animals of the state, can
be bought from us at all
times. Taxidermist and Fur-
rier in connection with the
business.

FOXES

Pen-Raised Alaskan Blocs and Pedigreed Silvera. Order
Now — Early Delivery more satiafactory. We guarantee,
in Your handa or OuiB,100%increase under ranching con-
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MONTANA WILD LIFE

15

AKD SOME OATS

The jury had been out on the game
law violation case all morning and was
still deadlocked. The vote stood 11 to
1 for conviction, but an old codger
stubbornly held out for a verdict of ac-
quittal.

The sheriff came in at dinner time
and inquired what they would have to
eat.

"W-a-1," said the foreman disgustedly,
"you kin bring us eleven dinners and
a bale of hay."

"Now, don't be silly," was the
indignant reply. "I don't know you
either."

A FABLE FOR THE SEASON

A fox, a steer and a sheep met at the
edge of a wood and took to complaining
thus of man:

"To think," snarled the fox, "that 1
am hunted for my skin. I adorn foolish
women "

"I," grumbled the steer, "have my
hide tanned into leather to beat on
dirty roads and city pavements."

The sheep appeared to be the most
distressed of all. "Think of me," it
bleated piteously. "My skin is used for
diplomas."

FAIR ENOUGH

"Is this your name?" politely inpuired
the paying teller to the elderly woman
at the widow.

"Certainly," was the haughty answer.

"I am sorry, Madam, but you will

have to be identified. I don't know you."

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Fur and Wool House, Inc.

One of the Largest Direct
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Have You

MR. SPORTSMAN:

It is your desire to maintain
linnting and fishing for yourself
as well as for posterity. Yon are
interested in keeping in touch
with activities of the Montana
State Fish and Game Department.
You are a believer in sportsman-
ship.

The magazine, MONTANA WILD
LIFE, has been established by
the department to aid in this
great educational work of con-
servation. The subscription rate
has been placed within the reach
of every man and woman in the
state. Do yon wish to aid in
making MONTANA WILD LIFE
a bigger, better, more powerful
champion of your interests?
Think it over and then fill out
the accompanying blank.

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MONTANA WILD LIFE

Official Publication of the Montana State Fish and Game Department

,•-/

/

16

MONTANA WILD LIFE

13 S POSTAO«

Helena, Montana
Permit No^_27__

Wh^t the Other Fellers Thiek Aboet U§

Anaconda Standard, Anaconda, Mont.
—The first edition of MONTANA WILD
LIFE, an attractive and interesting
pamphlet-publication of the Montana
State Fish and Game Department, has
been received in Anaconda. Local ang-
lers who have felt a need for an offi-
cial publication with news', up-to-date
and reliable information on the wild
life of Montana are more than pleased
with the first issue and wish it un-
bounded success.

The pamphlet is edited by Floyd L.
Smith, an authority on the work of the
Department and on all fish and game
preservation movements in this state.
The Fish and Game Department has
established the publication to meet the
demand for accurate, authentic infor-
mation. Its purpose is to disseminate
authoritative information regarding the
activities of the Department and to pre-
sent articles of educational value which
will be appreciated by men who love
the out-of-doors.

Other aims of the attractive publi-
cation are: To preserve the resources
of the forest and stream for future
generations; to aid in perpetuating the
sports afield tor the sportsmen; to
make better hunting and fishing con-
ditions, and in helping the angler and
hunter to enjoy the fullness of Mon-
tana's great outdoor playgrounds.

The Missoulian, Missoula, Mont. — It is
learned, through the medium of sports-
men's magazines and newspapers, of
large catches of fish, of excellent bags
of wildfowl, of lordly antlered bucks
that have been taken by Montana sports-
men. We have gradually come to re-
alize that Montana is a sportsman's
heaven, but until recently there was
little information available about what
made this much-to-be-enjoyed condition
possible. From Helena comes a genu-
ine game conservation magazine. MON-
TANA WILD LIFE, the official organ
of the State Fish and Game Commis-
sion, has gained an instantaneous hold
upon the imaginations of Montana
sportsmen. Dedicated as it is to the
conservative use of our wild life re-
sources, the magazine has filled a long-
felt need. It shows to the sportsmen
the activities of the Game Commission,
their troubles and their achievements.
And it has cleared up a great deal of
misapprehension regarding work of the
men in charge of our natural resources
of game and fish.

S. P. Cornelius, Redstone, Mont. — I
have read the first two issues of MON-
TANA WILD LIFE with a great deal of
pleasure and wish to congratulate the
Department on the new publication,
which is full of facts worthy of atten-
tion. I shall look forward to each and
every issue. Enclosed find check for
10 new subscriptions.

recall when we met several years ago
in Utah when returning from looking
into the deer situation in the Kaibab?
I have been reading MONTANA WILD
LIFE with a great deal of interest.
This magazine should have a splendid
effect in arousing and consolidating
the interests of the people of Montana
in wild life conservation. I am cer-
tainly glad you are publishing it. I
hope to receive every copy as it ap-
pears and will carefully preserve and
bind them for our library.

Che Symaptomatology of a
Coco Uictim

W. F. Aldrich, Editor and Publisher,
The Independent - Observer, Conrad,
Mont.— MONTANA WILD LIFE is a
splendid publication and I hope that
it will be continued.

G. A. Tremper, Milltown, Mont. — In
the interest of good sportsmanship in
Montana, may I suggest that a copy of
MONTANA WILD LIFE be sent to every
man and woman who buys a hunting
and fishing license? I saw a copy of
the official magazine of the State Com-
mission at the East Side station at
Missoula and immediately subscribed
for it. The cost of subscription is so
small and the object of fish and game
conservation is so great that every
sportsman in the state should support
the magazine.

Haskell Noyes, Milwaukee, Wis., Pres-
ident, Executive Committee, Izaak Wal-
ton League of America. — MONTANA
WILD LIFE is a big step along lines
of fish and game conservation and the
State Commission is to be congratu-
lated. I am enclosing my check for
subscription for myself and several
friends. All of us realize that the edu-
cational work along conservation lines
is of utmost importance and we must
live up to the creed of the Izaak Walton
League, "A Better America for Ameri-
cans and Better Americans for Amer-
ica."

Thomas M. Galey, Independence,
Kans. — Kindly list me to receive all
future copies of MONTANA WILD LIFE.
Send the first copy published so that I
may have a complete file. Missouri has
made a great success of its fish and
game publication, and a similar future
is in store for Montana. It is the
greatest influence in law observance
and conservation in the state.

T. Gilbert Pearson, LL.D., President,
National Association of Audubon Socie-
ties. New York City. — Mr. Smith, do you

August Wolf, Publicity Director, Dav-
enport Hotel, Spokane, Wish. — Heartiest
congratulations on MONTANA WILD
LIFE. It is a corking good magazine
and will quickly be accorded the popu-
larity it richly deserves. It will grow
in influence not only through our be-
loved western country but throughout
the nation. The only kick I have to
make is that the reading of the in-
formative articles kept me up long
after hours, but, hell's bells, it was
time well spent. Every good wish goes
with the enclosed subscriptions.

(By Dr. Emil Starz, State Chemist,
Helena, Mont.)

I am a victim of the weed —

Was once a temperamental steed —

Now Locoed!

My walk is of a staggering gait.
To cross a bridge I am afraid —

It's Loco!

My head aches and my brain is dull.
My optic nerve is on a lull —

From Loco!

My appetite is on a strike,
I eat now only what I like —

The Loco!

My nerves are shattered very bad,
And working is no more my fad;

That's Loco!

The water which I like to sip
Has no attraction for my lip

Since Locoed!

I am dejected and morose,
And irritated is my nose —

From Loco!

My brain which once worked very well,
Is dull and going plumb to hell —

From Loco!

I'm getting lazier every day,

And instead of eating oats and hay

I eat Loco!

Ambition, which I had galore,
Is gone and now I am a bore.

From Loco!

My tail which once whipped flies away,
Is hanging down, a shame to say.

From Loco!

I dream while standing on my feet.
And shy at every paper sheet.

It is the Loco!

When moonshine lights the pasture

green,
I always can be plainly seen.

To hunt for Loco!

A hat rack is my former frame.
Believe, it makes me blush for shame.

Oh, Loco!

My spine is curved, my skin is dry,
My ribs are bent and I step high,

From Loco!

My hair falls out, my teeth are loose;
In daytime I begin to snooze.

From Loco!

My pep is gone, so is my pride;
My brethren shun me far and wide.

Because I'm Locoed!

My ears hang down, my lips are twisted.
And now I am officially listed

As Locoed!

My end is near, caused by starvation.
My symptoms need no explanation,

I die from Loco!