The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1895-12-05
RAISING PHEASANTS.
Where the Birds Are Produced for
ing Clubs.

Ks
n. j., an Englishman, Werner dd<Ired
has for the last five years beeniet>f{ of
In pheasant farming, and has ii lion
it decided success. The introd Evnto
of birds or animals of one count l-kthe
another has not been blessinaTitE is
new country. The English spa \ less
not looked upon as an unalloyed Ment.
ing by the people of this confident
Australia and New Zealand have the
millions in trying to eXterminatkr in
imported rabbit. A sugar plantH ago
the Island of Jamaica a few yearfrats
imported the mongoose to kill thleane
| that played havoc in the ST way
! fields. The rat had mischievousN,l:ng
of going from cane to cane, nibfped
/ them, and as soon as the cane drof The
/ it would run away frightened. inter.
cane was then useless to the plaAluch
! The mongoose found that it was M the
easier for him to make living ont, all
fowls, turkeys, geese and, in fact was
| ground game of the island than ool1 up
| to hunt the rats. He therefore tAconse-
the easier role of life. The 4ereas
| quence of this has been that wMheap
commodity in Jamaica, it has so rishgh
value that it now commands so hi heir
price that only the rich can have at I'd of
the poor. -''''"~'- #
The introduction of the pheasant,
it is hoped, however, will prove an eX-
ception to the rule. And from all APP
pearances this will certinly be the case.
Mr.. de Guise has some so acres inclosed
with wire netting, and has already
raised thousands of birds. He finds the
climate agrees with them eXcellently.
The bird that Mr. de Guse is raising is
the common English pheasant. The
cock pheasant is long tailed, with
. plumage that is made up of every color.
To the uninitiated shooter it would
seem the easiest thing in the world to
grass" one of these birds. But flying
rocketer as he makes his way upward
between the boughs of a tree in a wood
or copse is by no means an easy bird to
hit. The female is a dingy bird in
plumage as compared with her mate,
and few ever think of shooting at her.
She is wanted to lay the eggs for the
next season, and a man in England who
brings down one of these birds is not
likely to get an invitation to shoot the
coverts the following year.
The introduction of these birds, at
least among the large preserves that
Grc now being formed in New York
state, and in fact in other states, is
matter of considerable interest. The
rutfled grouse is becoming almost eX-
tinct, and will soon be classed with the
passenger pigeon. Men who have large
tracts of land where they want to go
shooting in the autumn find that their
investments are almost worthless.
They are putting in English pheasants.
From Maine to the Delaware there
seems no finer country for the acclima-
tization of this bird. The scrub oak
gives the bird magnificent scratching
ground during the day, and wherever
there is underbrush they are sure, TO do
well. For IA roosting place the eopses
and woods cannot be surpassed. In
breeding this bird, the best way is to
collect the eggs and place them under
good old hens kept in open grass fields,
the hens confined in coops while the
Young are allowed to wander about.
They will always run to shelter under
their foster mother when a hawk aD-
pears. The food for the young ones
should be common boiled grain. biscuit,
and if possible the eggs of the common
ant. Nothing thrives them better than
that. When able to look after them
selves they should be turned out in the
coverts. They must be fed morning and
evening, but they will soon be able to
pick up enough provender for them
selves. That is about the month of
June, the young having been Matched
in the later weeks of March.
The apparently tame fowl soon be-
comes as game bird as man wants to
shoot. Should the owner of the estate
walk through his woodlands, he will
zee the so-called tame bird running as
rapidly as any rabbit or hare, or whir-
ring away on the wing at his approch.
The bird is home-stayer, as rule, but,
speaking from the English point of
view, there is no finer bird that rises
out of an old hazel hedge than cock
pheasant who has gone out to forage in
lands where he has no right to be. AS
!
great big hedges ten yards wide, made
of hazel bush and old hawthorn, that
have stood there for centuries. looking
only for the rabbit or the hare, and
sends one of these great birds just
n ass of beautiful color, whirring
across the autumn stubble field of an
English landscape, one feels almost
sorry that he has dropped in the fall
lows. The bird roosts always on the
lower boughs of trees, and this is taken
advantage of by poachers, who will kill
either cock or hen, shooting them as
they sit. These are the men who do the
greatest harm. AT present Mr.. de
Guise says he has little trouble with
them. He has had large number of
orders already from owners of estates
and sporting clubs, and has orders to
supply eggs and birds not only in this
state, but even as far north as Canada
and as far south as Georgia.
Before long the bird will be much
more common than he is nowadays, but
he will always be a luxury, as in his ma
five country N v Tribune