The Portland daily press., 1877-08-09
The Maine Bear Crop.

Last year the state of Maine paid S2725 for
bears. As S. was paid for each bear, almost
any one who has a moderate command of slate
can ascertain that $40 bears were paid for.
Whether the state required any more bears, or
whether the supply fell short, we are not in
formed, but it is probable that if enough addi
tional bears to make up the number to round
600 had been offered they would have been ac-
cepted.
There exists even among very intelligent
men, an extraordinary misconception of the
object of the so-called bounty law, under
which the state of Msine pays S5 for every
bear, or rather for the scalp of every bear,
which is brought to the chief of the bear
bureau. 1t is actually believed by these mis-
guided persons that the aim of the law is to ex.
tirpate bears. 1t Is only necessary, however, to
study the effect of the compensation 10 order to
fully comprehend its true object 1t is design
ed to protect and foster bear culture and its in.
fiuence in this direction is far more efficient
than that of any other game law couched in the
usual manner could possibly be. Why Maine
takes so warm an interest In her local bears Is
a matter of conjecture. Whatever may be the
reason, however, it Is very certain that so long
as the bounty law is enforced the production of
bears will be one Of the leading industries of
the state.
Had the Maine statesmen, in order to pre-.
serve bears from rapid destruction, passed q
law forbidding the slaughter of the animals
except at certain specified seasons, we all
know what the result would have been. The
law would have had no terrors for the Indians
and hunters of the wilderness, while the urban
sportsman who, instgated by the Rev. Mr..
Murray and other professors of sylvan myster-
les, visits the Maine woods in the summer,
would have shot at bears and disturb their ner-
vous systems all the more gladly if too poor
shooting were added to the zest Of safe viola
tion of law. Thus the bears would gradually
have been shot and annoyed out of existence,
and in few years would have become as
scarce as the moose and caribou that once roam
ed the Adirondack woods
Determined to protect their bears, the astute
Maine lawmakers devised plan of attaining
their object by means of a bounty law, which,
while ostensibly offering a reward for the ex-
termination of bears, would actually stimulate
their production. A law was therefore passed
which offered reward for the scalp of every
bear killed within the limits of the state. Mark
the result. The Maine farmer soon perceived
that to raise bears for the government would
be far more profitable than to raise any other
crop, whether of a vegetable or porcine nature.
The man who raises corn or pigs makes fair
profit when he sells them, but he cannot be
sure of purchaser, and when he does find one
he must necessarily part with his crops before
he receives his money. On the other hand, the
bear cultiyator is always certain that the state
will pay five dollars for every bear scalp, and
that, in addition, he will retain possession of
the skin and flesh Of the animal. Thus there
Is much larger percentage of profit in BEAR
raising than there is in other branch of agri-
culture or of stock breeding. Moreover, the
bear is safe and easy crop. A single pair OF
bears will average three cubs yearly, and are
ufaA hu hn 70 hu h.
prolonged drouth or mildewed by dampness. It
is not strange that as soon as the true purport
of the bounty law was grasped by the Maine
farmer he set about the cultivation of bears
Owing to that innate delicacy which renders
the New England farmer proverbially shy and
modest he built his bear pens in secluded places
and kept his own counsel as to the business until
he was ready to carry his bears to market.
While nearly every really enterprising farmer
is now generally understood to raise at least one
annual bear, it is alleged that in remote coun-
ties men having the command of capital have
established large bear nurseries, which turn out
q score or two OF bears every years
Thus, although in New York, Vermont and
New Hampshire the bear has become exceed
ingly rare, the bear industry of Maine is in a
most nourishlng condition. Last year, as has
already been said, the bear crop reached $40
scalps. This year it is quite confidently pre-
dlcted that fully 500 .abears will be brought to
market, and if the bounty law is continued in
Iorce 1or ten years longer, Maine VIII become
as celebrated for her bears as Pennsylvania is
for coal or Ohio for pork.
Sportsmen who are interested In the preser-
vation of game should take lesson from the
example of Maine, Lnd instead or clamoring
for laws to prevent the shooting of deer OF
ducks out of season, should ask for the passage
of bounty law which would stimulate the pro.
ducton of those animals Especially should
the friends of the noble red man, who desire to
preserve him from extinction, lay to heart the
lesson of the Maine bears. If the federal gov
ernment were to offer five dollars reward for
every Indian scalp, is it not in the highest de-
gree. probable that the people of the West
would abandon the cultivation of the delicate
and uncertain pig, and give their whole minds
to the preservation and cultivation of Indians?
The bounty law, whether applied to bears or
Indians, is form of protection, and its sue
cess in stimulating the production of American
bears in Maine, and in protecting them from
the competition of the pauper bears of Europe,
ought to convince every one who Is not bought
with British gold that it is wise, benefcieut
and altogether admirable measure.