The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1897-09-07
HUNTING INGERMANY
KEPT UNDER SUPERVISION AND
PoAcHlNG IS IMPOSSIBLE.

The Right TO Take Game Goes Only with
Land Holding, but the Small Proprietors
Are Not mt the Mercy of the Great Land
Iords-The Plant Discovered by Wagner.
Germany produces more game than any
other country in proportion To its area.
There Is a profitable trade i'm 1t, and the
markets of France are largely supplied
from this source This abundance is not
caused Ivy any unusually favorable condi
tions OF soil or of climate, but by wise leg
lslation, which does not sacrifice the gen
eral interests to the pleasure of few.
The German law regards game as ono Of
the useful products of the soil, as property
which cannot he appropriated without the
commission Of theft, at least If the right
to hunt has not been obtained through the
proper channels. This right can be excr-
cised only as "A result of holding a certain
amount of land either by lease or through
ownership, about l60 hectares for each
tenant. Below that amount all the hold
ings are joined together ard rented by the
community for its own profit, the proceeds
being divided among the several propri.
etors in proportion to their holdings If
one parcel of 100 hectares, adjoining com.
munitics can make n POOL
That is the foundation of the system. 1t
is absolutely equitable. Nobody can hunt
for his own pleasure or profit exclusively,
but nobody's property rights are infringed.
Each person gets profit from that which
belongs to him. The small farmer is not,
MS in France, ut the mercy of the great
landed proprietor or of the poacher, and
the farmer does not have to see his fields
trampled by the hunters, rs in France,
where the land holdings are too small for
the establishment of preserves.
The legal consequences of this state of
things are that the taking of game with
out the right to do so duly obtained is re.
gardcd as theft. The owner of the land
cannot take back with one hand what he
has disposed of with the other. He cannot
hunt on his own land, having sold the
right to do so.
Game Is placed under legal protection.
There is u period in which hunting is
forbidden entirely, another in which
only certain kinds of game may be taken
or only the males. These periods are gen
orally fixed by law, with notifications in
various provinces. From March to the
end of June it is illegal to kill stays and
the young male fawns; from Feb. l to
Oct 10, to kill the does. Partridges may
not be shot between Dec. 1 and the end of
August. This protection is extended to
all kinds of game-to hares, pheasants,
and even to birds of passage, which it is
against the law to kill in the breeding
season. All huntsmen at all times are for
hidden to use nets, traps or snares This
prohibition also exists in France But If
the terms of the law are severe it's eXccu-
ton is not. Years ago law was intro
duccd into the French senate founded on
the German legislation, but there has been
no discussion of it lately.
The Germans have stopped the nocturnal
exploits of the poachers without the aid of
the law in this way: There grows in that
country certain kind of forage shrub
with which they have planted all their
hunting grounds. This plant, precious on
many accounts, is unfortunately little
known in France. Its botanical name
1 Is Lathyrus silvestris wagneri. 1t -four
ishes where the soil is very mcager and
where in summer drought spreads desola
ton and death among other plants. This
shrub, of very high and thick growth,
forms mass impenetrable by birds OF
prey. Beneath 1t the game birds enjoy the
which they are very fond of and which
keep them fat Their flesh also acquires
succulence and flavor therefrom alto
gether unique and adjudged absolutely
perfect by epcures. No other plant com
bines these valuable qualities in such q
measure for the protection of game. 1t is
impossible for poachers to spread nets in q
plantation of lathyrus.
In his botanical field work in 1862 the
famous agricultural writer, Wagner, OBJ
served the lathyrus growing in II sol
where limestone and silicious formations
predominated. The vegetation Of the
neighborhood was dry, the trees ant
shrubs bore only scant foliage, but thu
lathyrus was growing luxuriantly. Thii
phenomenon at once attracted the atten
ton Of a keen observer like Wagner, an(
he devoted himself to studying this won
derful shrub, which was so completely in
different to the severest conditions o
drought. He planted its seed on hi
grounds, improved and perfected 1t, ant
since that time the lathyfus has become
almost national plant in Germany. l
hourishes without fertilizers in this arit
soil. Its roots strike down several yard
into the lower strata, where they seize tn
chlorine and potassium compounds ant
phosphate acid they find there. The foil
age is shown by analysis to contain 80 pc
cent of proteid matter, while the bes
lucern grass shows only 10 per cent Tn
plant is eaten with avidity by horses, pigs
sheep and all domestic animals.
The German law has taken great pre-
cautions to exterminate poaching by strik
ing at it's root-that is, ut the poacher
profit in selling his booty. Game is no
allowed 80 be shipped by railroad, by tn
express department of the postal service
or by any public conveyance, or to be sol
either from door to door at private houses
, or in shops, unless it is accompanied by
certificate us to where it came from, whic
must be signed by the landowner or Jesse
of the hunting district. 1t is easy to st
how difficult the business of poaching
in Germany. 1t Is humiliating, 1t
dangerous, and, thanks to the numerou
plantations of lathyrus, 1t is improbable
So IL Is that this nursery of smuQgler