Show REPORT ON POSSIBLE PROFIT IN RAISING ANIMAL when state game laws are amended production of ven son may be widely adopted on va cant lands washington it Is quite probable that some day not tar distant deer meat will become as common and as cheap in our market as mutton such Is the belief of D E lantz of the united states biological survey who in an exhaustive report issued by the department of agriculture dis cusses the economic possibilities of raising deer and elk from a purely business proposition of profit mr lantz even suggests that legis lation he enacted which will make this pos sille and in his report upon the matter he tells how it Is possible to domesticate deer tor the market to the average american the report of mr lantz will come is a surprise cor in nearly every section of the coun try deer are protected as zealously as the robin aside from stating that the public would profit by being able to buy the nutritious meat mr lantz adds that acres of land in tats country which at present is worthless could be utilized as deer reservations according to the report the chief obstacle to profitable propagation of deer in this country Is the restrictive character of state laws governing the killing sale ai d transportation ot game many state legislatures have already modified the game laws and in this way as a result the deer and elk industry has been started in a few states with considerable success i arkansas minnesota missouri and north carolina have so modified their game laws that deer can be raised for the market under certain restrictions many other states only permit deer to be sold to owners of reservations mr lantz states that safeguards against the destruction of wild deer in place of domesticated deer are not difficult diff cult to enforce and suggests a ays eys tern of licensing private parks and ot ng deer or carcasses sold or shipped so that they might be easily identified the report states that the best cies of deer to raise for the markets is the virginia deer for it can be raised under any condition of food and climate the department of agriculture gives as its reason for advocating the do cation of deer tor the markets the growing scarcity of game mam mals in this country and the threat ened extinction of some of them over various sections makes the preserve pre serva ion and development of the deer in necessary that the industry is well under way in several states is best illustrated by reports received by the department of agriculture from owners of reserva eions one of great interest is the fellow ng written by I 1 os eberry of stella mo in bis letter mr rose berry states M experience in breeding the common or virginia deer covers a period ot 17 years beginning in march 1891 when as a boy of 16 I 1 built a small lanclo ire of one and one halt acres to confine a single doe that was captured as a tawn in the neigh boring forest A buck and other does were se cured from year to year until in 1900 i by purchase and natural increase my herd numbered 25 head of all ages from 1891 to I 1 lost every year from disease an average of 20 per cent for the last seven years my herd has averaged 70 per cent increase all of which I 1 have sold at satis rac tory prices I 1 began selling at 20 per pair of fawns at four months ot age and 30 per pair of adults I 1 sell exclusively tor pets and tor propagate pro ing purposes although a few surplus bucks have been sold for venison av erasing me 15 cents per pound gross weight we except the goat I 1 know 0 no domestic animal common to the farm that requires so little feed and attention as the deer |