New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-10-17
PHEASANT BREEDlN0'
SUCCESS OF THE STATES ExPiiA"N'-
WINCHESTER, MASS.

A great deal of success has attcnueu wv - The
of the Hon. f. A. BracKe 1tt.,eries and Game
in the breeding of Monaghan pheasa .aame
State avary at Winchester. anu 49, become
every prospect that tEey VIII ia ''i lids Al.
ere Of our most valuable game W email
though The ayary was started only III ei ,".
way in 1895, the birds have lncIea s. rs now
derfu rapidly, and Mr. Bracket. ha' large
about two hundred OF them; "r nave been
sent to persons anxious to try their Hamu 1o
a. raising them. There has peen . annii-
and constantly increasing r n'i since the avi-
airy was started. and 1t has. III 49, . nd
impossible to keep pace WIN tile nraher Of
at the same time keep the oesM t .anacitv of
breeding birds at the aviary. Inc capooI.y
the latter has however. been largely ihcIH%"e.,
and it is probable that it Will soon oe az ~ ~
supply all the bircs wanted MT. bracAe.s 70
been making experiments with the Hcu
ard brooder and he has found that by the . use
OF thcsp two appliances the percentage VI en,oNo
raised is about 10 to 10 per cent hisnII 10 -
that raised by setting Under h Hs. WIZ" He has
the method that was followed at hrst. he mas
also made some new discoveries with resaIo
to feeding and now has his arrangements
pretty well perfected. -,
With the work of breeding pheasants wei
under way there is almost no limit to the num-
Der Of them that cap be produced, as they a.e
very prolific. A hen pheasant lays from Sixty
to eighty eggs in the course OF the season, anu
under favorable conditions will raise large
percentage of the chicks Matched out from them.
The phenomenal rapidly of their increase "
shown by the experience OF Judse Denns St
birds from China. In 1884 1t was estimated
that 1900 were killed In single county In
three months while 200 dozen were sent IN q
single winter to one dealer In san francisco.
The only question is as to whether the condi-
tons here are suitable to raising the young
birds and from the success that has attended
Mr. Brackets efforts there seems to be no
doubt about this. Not only have the birds kept
in confinement done vel. but ii Is known that
in the last year number or those tnat nave
escaped have raised good sized broods as mems
with partly grown chickens have been seen in
a number Of localities in Winchester and Med
ford. and other places in the Middlesex FEELS.
The amount of breeding that these birds have
dCne, however, is no test Of the practcability OF
stocking sections OF country in systematic
manner as there has been no attempt to do
this When the birds merely make their es-
cape from the ayiary they s,atter in every d.
rection ard are distributed over a large tract
of country. In stocking place a home for
Tie pheasants would be made in some spot
whore they would be little interrupted, and
they would be fed here, with the result that
practically the whole number put out would
be kept in a comparatively small area, and
would breed better than If kept In confinement.
4 good many people are of the opinion that the
NJ ngolian pheasant. on account Of its brilliant
pumage. comes from n hot country and cam
not stand the rig0r OF cur winter, but as a
matter OF fact the heat OF the summer is much
harder for the birds than the cold of winter. as
they come from Siberl and northern Mongolia
where the climate is much colder than in this
state They are. in fact, one of the hardest OF
game birds. and will stand almost any amount
of cold and bad weather.
The state aviary Is constructed on Mr.. Brack-
etts land in Winchester, and consists simply Of
a large yard, incOsed with high fence of
wire netting. At one end OF this yard are the
pens In which are kept the bre' ding birds. four
hens and cock being kept IN each pen. They
require almost no protection. as they remain
out in the toughest weather without injury but
on one side Of the pen is constructed a small
shelter, three feet wild, two f.,t high and six
feet long to give them an opportunity TO get
under cover II they with to. and even more to
supply them with dry dust. In which they like to
waow as do hens For the greater part of
the season they fed on wheat, cracked corn.
scalded Indian meal with beef scraps. barley.
buckwheat and chopped cabbage. and in the
breeding season only with cabbage. lettuce and
grain. The hens, when in confinement do
not lay In nest. but drop their eggs promis-
cuously about the yard
These are gathered UP and placed in the in
cubatOr Whicn Mr. Bracket is now substitute
ing for the broodinC hen. Just at present how
ever. most OF the chicks are being taken care
OF by hens. and there are dozens OF coops scat
tered about in the larger part Of the Enclosure
with hens in them AID broods Of pheasant
chicks in different stages of development run
ming about The chief difficulty in breeding
peasants is in raising the chicks as when
they are young they a.e delicate as regards
food. and il Is difficult in confinement to pro-
cure food that will agree with them. maggots
being about the only irtice on which they
seem 10 thrive IL is also very dangerous for
the young birds TO 2 { chilled and Il great rnany
viii be lost in this way unless great care is
taken. The greatest check to the successful
rearing Of young pheasants. however. is the
deprcdations Of cats. Mr Bracket saws that
after them she is good for one day and in the
last two seasons he has planted" fortv-ono
cats and seven s<lIks that he has found prowl-
ing about the aviary