Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1902-02-06
QUAIL FARM PLANNED.
Novel Industry Started by an
Indiana Farmer.
NOT AFFECTED BY THE GAME LAW.

Domesticated Fowl. He IL Told,
Would Not Come Under Statute !
Which Protects wild Birds-Thinks
There IL More Money In BObwhites
Than In Grain.
Harley Smith, wealthy farmer liv. !
ing near Portland, Jay county, Ind,
has found new avenue for his enter.
prise, and his farm Of 400 acres is to
be given over in the near future en-
tirely to raising quail, says dispatch
from indianapolis to the Chicago Rec
ord Herald He has been experiment.
| ing for the last three years and has
come to the conclusion that quail can
be domesticated and can be made de-
cidedly more profitable than any other
kind Of fowls, both on account of the
rapidity with which they multiply and
the little trouble and expense it will
require to prepare them for market.
| As means of starting his new In.
dustry he has not permitted a gun to
be fired on his land for four years and
has seen the good results Of this policy
In the gradual tanning of the quail till
now they will come around his barn.
| yard and eat with the chickens. He
| says there is a marked difference in
the coveys out in the fields and near
the house, for when they are approach
ed in the fields they appear to be very
wild, but in the barnyard they come
about him and pick up the grain and
appear to have lost all their wild ma.
ture.
This applies to the birds that live out
In the fields and that he terms wild,
but his experiments with one brood
which he raised by setting the eggs un.
der hen and bringing up with the
barnyard fowls have convinced him
they may be as completely domesticat-
ed as chickens and ducks, and he has
decided to enter the business on scale
that will test its practicability and
prove whether there Is really any mon
ey in it.
In order to do this he will secure the
eggs of the quail on his place this sum-
mer and hatch them in an incubator
and thus begin the domestication at
once and before the birds have become
wild. He will keep the females for fu-
ture broods and sell only part Of the
males, and he hopes to have not fewer
than 1900 egg producing birds when
the season of 1908 opens. These broods
will be raised for market, but the stock
will gradually be increased If the re-
suits are satisfactory, and in time he
will give his entire attention to the in
dustry.
Mr. Smith has recently consulted
lawyer at Portland and has received
construction q the game laws of the
state which he Believes will permit him
to take advantage Of a market which
affords the highest price for quail. I'm
der the Indiana law the quaH hunting
season is practically limited to six
weeks, and heavy penalties are liked
for even having bird in ones posses
sion at any other time, the courts hay-
ing gone so far as to punish persons
who sold quail out of season. though 1t
was proved that they were killed in the
hunting season and kept in cold stor
age
Mr.. Smiths attorney has advised him
that the law applies only to wild birds
and that if Quais are domesticated or
are SO reared that they never become
wild they are not game" within the
meaning Of the law, and the raiser
would have the right to kill them and
place them on the market at any time
during the year.
As he is now inhibited from killing
and exposing for sale except from Nov
10 to Jan. of each year Mr.. Smith
thinks prices would be much better
both before and after this time, and It
is this demand that he is arranging to
meet.
II have investigated the subject thor
oughly," said he the other day. "and
nm convinced that there is more mon
ey in a good quail farm than there Is in
cultivating the ordinary crops. The
broods average anywhere from twenty
to thirty, the birds are easily raised
and there is always a greater demand
than supply. | am in direct communt
cation with the markets OF Chicago.
Indianapolis Cincinnati and many 9th
or cities. and if the domesticated birds
can be sold when the wild birds are
out of season | can get much better
price than is paid now. l find that the
domesticated bird is larger also than
the wild bird, and this will be in my
favor | believe / can have 1000 to
$500 ready for market in January,
1903, and can more than double that
number By another year"