Pueblo chieftain., 1921-04-03
A NEW MEAT SUPPLY

range there. In other words. If all
of our timber lands were stocked to
capacity with deer and moose, there
would be just that much added to the
nations meat supply without cutting
down any other supply of anything,
and without any expense except that
of affording the animals the necessary
protection. This would not be nearly
as great as the expense of raising cat
tie and sheep.
This plan is no pipe dream. In many
parts of Europe deer have long been
kept at the highest possible state of
abundance for the sake of the meat
supply. But in Europe the wooded
areas are so small in proportion to the
population that this meat supply Ji;oes
not amount to much. In the middle
ages, when the population of Europe
was much smaller, 'venison was both
cheaper and more common than beef
and mutton, as the late David Il. Lantz
of the Biological Survey pointed out
in his bulletin on deer farming. In the
United States, the wooded areas arc
enormous, and the American people
are wasting an enormous potential
meat supply by not keeping them
stocked with the animals for which
they furnish natural range. This was
all figured out long ago by the well
known naturalist, William T. Horn
aday.
Hornndny's Opinion
There arc counties within 50 miles
of New York city" he wrote, that
could, under adequate management, be
made to yield annually more pounds
of venison than of beef or mutton and
this could be accomplished by the
state without the expenditure of moro
than per cent of the value of the
venison." He goes on to say that the
Il ncf l.. I.. - - r...t
could easily produce two million deer
year. This would mean several
pounds of meat for each inhabitant Of
the country
And he deals presumably with the
deer alone The much larger moose
has moro restricted range, but thrives
all over the northern half of the
wooded country. The potential value
of moose as source of food is cnor-
NOUS" says Samuel Merrill in his
work on the subject
These scientists do not suggest that
our wild woodlands be converted into
great barnyard where these animal Is
would be half-domosticated. They do
not propose permanently to stop hunt
ing. Far from it. The necessary steps
arc first to protect tho animals for a
term OF years until they have become
approximately as abundant as the range
warrants in any given locality. They
would then be protected in such a way
as to keep them at this point of abund
ancc. 1t is probable that setting aside
small areas as game sanctuarics.
whcro no hunting would be allowed at
! any time. would bo ono of the best
protective measures. as 1t has already
proved to bc in the Rockies. There
| would be 10 times rs much hunting as
now because there would be 10 times
as much game. The scientists are able
to estimate accurately what is the
natural increase of the game in a re-
gion, and they would know by the IL
consos how many hunters went out
Thus tho annual killing could easily be
limited to the natural increase and the
game kept abundant. The citizen
who wants to go out and kill his own
wintcr meat supply probably would be
first taken care OF, and II there was
"A surplus. this would be taken BY mar
ket hunters. Tho time may yet come
when resident OF New York City will
be nblo to go hunting and lay in a win
ter supply OF jcrkcd vcnison Just as his
pioneering forcfnthcrs did