The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-12-08
coNNEcTYcUrS DEER Law.
A Defence Of II From the Point Of
View Of the Farmer.

To THE EDITOR OF THE sUN-str: 1
quote from DIR. Powers's letter to Senator
Mclean published in THE SUN OF De-
cember s in regard to the Connecticut
deer law h following paragraph. be-
cause l wish to say something about II
from the farmers point Of view:
Members of the nsh and game committee
declared that the deer were rapidly becom-
Ing a pest. yet any person other than .
land owner or q land holder who attempts
to kill one becomes subject to q nne OF
900 or TO imprisonment for sixty days.
or TO both such nns and Imprisonment.
From the standpoint then taken. could the
state with any show OF Justice make 90
absurd and elaring q discrimination
Also, some time ago I noticed n let
ter In n Of the daily papers registering
a protest against a law 10 undemocratic
that It discriminates between the poor
n the rich, that IL. between people who
own no property and the land owneru
or land holders. The writer Of the letter
wanted to know why the man Of prop
erty should be allowed the sport OF kill
ing the gentle deer. while the poor
laborer. who really needed the v~enison,
should be Disseminated against. This
argument. by the way. was made by q
socialist. and not by q lover Of deer
There Is a side Of the question that
these critics n not considered.
Having lived on a 800 acre farm In
Litchfield county I will describe condi-
lions In that section. which Is, I believe
typical OF a large part Of Connecticut
One must not Judge that State by regions
within an hour or so Of New York city
or by regions near the large Connection,
cities: Our population 10 composed
largely Of farmers owning farms Of
| FROM utytv ~ lhn onrao NOQf nj thA9f
farms are heavily wooded, and In these
woods deer abound. OF late years the
deer have become so numerous and ~
fearless that they are really a pest tt
the farmers. One farmer put out SOC
young apple trees and the first winter
the deer killed all but twenty-five. Herd,
OF four or five deer will como down from
the hills night after night and run
through the farmers oats. They come
fearlessly into the farm garden n ca
the young lettuce or anything hat the,
may take a fancy to. After the farmer
~buckwheat Is cut and stacked the deel
are very fond Of shaking the bundles
and eating the heads of, &c.
The State of Connecticut during th'
time Of complete deer protection wa,
supposed to pay the farmer for wha
damages the deer had done. But tn,
farmer found that 1t was PRACTICAL.
iHlIpSSiDic " ttt ldlT hdiIlhHfS Nlo u
the meantime the deer kept on destroy
ing his crops lie could do nothing q
keep them away. They jump fences yer!
easily. II you want a concrete example
7 will give SOU one OF our experiences
In the spring We planted a small 10
quite near the house with stock beet
and mangel wurtzels. Matured. the crol
would have been worth. at the loves
estimate. $50. As the crop grew tn
| lAA- lAr,. .t-l d. .,g-Aa 49,.
; ate or the tender tops. One morning
saw three of them there. We receive,
81 damages when the crop was abso
lutely ruined. That Is one example
: Also We found II impossible to plan
, young trees except within sight OF tn
house. Can you Honder hat the Ian
> owners n land holders. hat II. farm
> ers. wanted a law passed that would a!
low them to earn a living?
. II IL only when the deer lose thel
> fear OF man that they are a pest. Al
. lowing the farmer to shoot them dow
because Of the damage they do make
y them scary. and they stay in the hill
. and In the woods. where they belong. TIL
farmer Is a busy man. the busiest 1
the world. perhaps. lie will shoot tn
deer when he fnds them in his crops
but he isn't going to spend days hNntin
them In the woods. particularly when h
I san Z sell a CARCASS Tor meat.
IL every one had the privilege OF shoot
ing deer. every village bun would &c
Q him a shotgun and spend his days shoot
ing deer. particularly II he found h
could sell the meat. Every sportsma
| would surely 20 hunting. The deer woul
a be gone in no time. And II sope on
says that a sportsman at least woul
o spare the pregnant doe and the sucklin
fawn. ! ask him first TO go and get az
auainted with the sporting males in III
rural districts in Connecticut.
II would seem a cruel and terrLJl
thing to me II the deer were allowed I
be exterm!nated. and surely II every on
I were allowed to shoot. them and III
Q meat allowed 10 he sold. as veniso
: brings good prices, this is Just wha
I" would happen.
. repeat that II IL only when III
$ deer are too numerous and too confldeI
8 that they become a pest. And surely Ill
farmer has a right to protect his cror
and keep away "A very real menace to
4 livelihood which has already so man
$ ~hardships. AGNES BouLToN BURTON.
h CORNWALL BRIDGE. Conn. December
"VASANTASENA."