The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-06-12
HUNTING INGERMANY
KEPT UNDER SUPERVISION AND
, POAcHlNG is IMPOSSIBLE.

germany produces more game tnan any
other country In proportion 20 lts area
There is profitable trade in IL. and the
markets of France are largely supplied
from this source, This abundance is not
caused 10y any unusually favorable oondi
lions Of soil or of climate, but by wise leg
lslation which does not sacrifice the gen,
eral interests 10 the pleasure of few
The German law regards game as one OF
the useful products Of the soil as property
which cannot be appropriated without the
commission of theft, az least II the right
10 hunt has not been obtained through the
proper channels This right can be exer.
oised only as "a result of holding a certain
amount of land either by lease or through
ownership, about $50 hectares for each
tenant. Below that amount all the hold.
iDgs are Joined together and rented 10y the
community for its own profit the proceeds
being divided among the several propri-
etors i'm proportion 10 their holdings If
the land altogether is not enough 10 make
one parcel of $50 hectares adjoining com .
munities can make a pool
That is the foundation of the system. 1t
Is absolutely equitable Nobody can hunt
for his own pleasure or profit exclusively,
but nobody property rights are infringed
Each person gets profit from that which
belongs 10 him. The small farmer is not,
as in France, at the mercy of the great
landed proprietor or of the poacher, and
the farmer does not have TO see his fields
tramplcd by the hunters, as 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.
garded 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 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. l5 TO kill the does. Partridges may
not be shot between Dec. 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 its execu.
ton is not. Years ago law was intro
duced into the French senate founded on
the German legislation, but there has been
no discussion of IL lately.
The Germans have stopped the nocturnal
exploits of the poachers without the aid of
the law in this way: There grows in that
ind Of II, 1,
with which they have planted all their
hunting grounds This plant, precious on
many accounts, is unfortunately little
known in France, Its botanical name
is Lathyrus silyestris wagneri. 1t -four
ishes where the soil is very meager 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 IL the game birds enjoy the
additional advantage of finding its seeds,
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 epicurcs. No other plant com.
bines these valuable qualities in such a
measure for the protection of game 1t is
impossible for poachers 20 spread nets in a
plantation of lathyrus.
In his botanical field work in 1862 the
famous agricultural writer Wagner, OBJ
served the lathyrus growing in soil
where limestone and silicious formations
predominated. The vegetation of the |
neighborbood was dry, the trees and
shrubs bore only scant foliage, but the !
lathyrus was growing luxuriantly This |
phenomenon at once attracted the atten.
q ion # ~ tn
he devoted himself TO studying this won.
derful shrub, which was so completely in |
different 10 the severest conditions of |
drought. He planted its seed on his |
grounds improved and perfected IT, and |
since that time the lathyrus has become |
almost national plant in Germany. 1t |
fourishes without fertilizers in this arid |
soil. Its roots strike down several yards |
into the lower strata, where they seize the |
chlorine and potassium compounds and |
phosphate acid they find there The foil.
age Is shown by analysis to contain 80 per
cent OF proteid matter, while the best |
lucern grass shows only 16 per cent. The |
plant Is eaten with avidity by horses, pigs.
sheep and all domestic animals
The German law has taken great pre-.
cautions 70 exterminate poacbng by strik.
ing at its root-that is, at the poacher's |
profit in selling his booty Game is not
allowed 20 be shipped by railroad, by the
express department Of the postal service,
or by any public conveyance, or 70 be sold
either from door to door at private houses,
or in shops, unless it is accompanied by
certificate as TO where il came from, which
must be signed by the landowner or lessee
of the hunting district IL is easy 20 see
how difficult the business Of poaching is
in Germany. II is humiliatng, it is
dangerous, and, thanks to the numerous
plantations of lathyrus, IL Is improbable.
So 10 Is that this nursery of smugglers.
idlers, thieves, and assassins does not ex
list among our neighbors. Furthermore.
every body Is satisfied, especially the farm
ers, who do not have TO stand by. as they
do In France, and see the hunters, known
and unknown alike, tramping over their
fields, over their oats and buckwheat, and
their beets under foot - Paris
Figaro.
Historic PharsaIia.
It was on his way to the battlefield OF |