The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1912-07-27
WILD GAME FARM.
Results Attained BY State of Massa-
chusetts at Wilburham.

A wild game farm where quail,
pheasants, prairie chickens, par
tridges and wild turkeys are being
raised for the woods, meadows and
! fields of Western Massachusetts, with
a success that makes the eyes of Wis
! iting sportsmen sparkle as they see
/ in the near future a return OF the
/ DAYS when the Bay state furnished
fair sport for the nimrods, has been
established this summer among the
/ foothills of the Wilbraham noun
tains A more ideal spot for the
purpose could not be imagined ana,
perhaps, the success that has mus
! far attended the enterprise, when
has been carried on under the dlrec-
ton of the state fish and game com
missioners, is due in no small part
to the natural advantages of the farm.
tract of $50 acres, on high land
with dry soil, is covered with scrub
pine and other trees, brushes and
vines which have been utilized IN
providing accommodations for the
growing birds.
To begin with, wire mesh fence,
small enough in mesh TO keep in the
birds and likewise keep out foxes,
skunks and other animals that might
prey upon them, has been bulit 10 IN
close the entire $50 acres. This
fences about seven feet high ana Is
substantially built, the wire going
about 10 inches under ground, sod
being pressed against 1t on either
side. 1t is impossible for a wild
creature to get through that barrier
and the young birds within the IN
closure are safe from attack.
The commissioners have not been
satisfied with simply providing lou
enclosed acres in which to breed the
birds. Ii is their plan to free these
quail, pheasants. partridge and wlid
turkeys at the farm and in other
places where they will make their
| way all over Western Massachusetts
There are twolegged creatures who
call themselves sportsmen, who. If
given a chance, would undoubtedly
gather about the fence in even great
er numbers than the foxes ana
skunks, lying in wait for the game
that came out ready to kill the BIRDS
before they had half chance 10 get
away into the hills and valleys where
they have a fighting chance. To pre-
vent slaughter about the edges OF the
fence. the state has leased the land
of farmers for a radius of over two
miles from the Enclosure in which
the game is reared. The farmers
havethe right to use their land for
all ordinary purposes, but no shooting
is allowed on the leased property
Hundreds of signs have been tackled
upon trees, fences and posts. forbid
ding trespassing on this territory
which the state is restricting. This
wise precaution, it is believed, will
give liberated birds a chance to get
away so that a large number of them
can make their way to distant mis-
and valleys.
Game Will Be Freed All Over State.
In future seasons. as the birds are
raised in larger and larger numbers,
they will be shipped to be liberated in
various parts of the state. Those
freed this year will be. for the most
part. pheasants. Besides this farm
at Wilbraham, Massachusetts has
three other game farms. located at
Sutton. Sharon and Foxboro. These
also will be used to restock the de-
pleted forests and woodlands OF the
state. The three farms just men
toned are not as large as the one
that has been put into operation this
wear at Wilbraham. The latter farm
is succeeding where game farms In
other states have failed. Sportsmen
of experience have laughed at the
scheme and stated that wild game
could not be successfully raised in
captivity. The success thus far OBJ
tanned at Wilbraham, however, points
the fact that wild game can be SO
raised. The state game commission
ers are most enthusiastic over what
has been accomplished and they are
looking expectantly forward to ex-
tend their operations.
Perhaps the most convincing evil
dence of the success of the. game
farm at Wilbraham is contained in
the scores of little coops, widely scat
tered among the bushes and scrub
trees, around which broods of II to
Is quail chicks are scurrying while
their bantam foster-mothers cluck
and scratch within. Quail have been
the despair OF game farm managers
in other states, so much so that
many are ready to contend that these
birds cannot be successfully raised
i'm captivity. When sportsmen see
the fine broods at Wilbraham, in va
rious degrees of growth. they are
delighted and are ready to concede
all things possible on a game farm.
The farm began operations with Il
pairs of fully grown quail. These
have been kept in special cases,
pair to a cage, the wire Enclosure be-
ing built around bushes and trees as
they happened to stand. Pine bushes
have furnished excellent retreats for
nests. The eggs have been taken
away from these nests as fast as they
have been laid, the nests being emp
tied every day. None of these birds
has been allowed to cover or hatch
the eggs. That part of the work is
reserved for bantam hens. As re
suit of this method 60 to 20 eggs have
been secured from each hen this
season. In the wild state, quail hens
do not lay more than 20 to 30 eggs
a season. One quail on this farm has
laid lO2 eggs this season. which is
a remarkable achievement