fickle wheel may in any year send the black fox out
of royal favor, and remove the bottom from the business of producing it.
Let us hope, however, that the craze for that fur will continue; for we
like to see our friends and neighbors make good profits.

PHEASANT REARING.--This subject is so well understood by game-breeders,
and there is already so much good literature available regarding it, it
is not necessary that I should take it up here.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XLI

TEACHING WILD LIFE PROTECTION TO THE YOUNG

Thousands of busy and burdened men and women are to-day striving hard,
early and late, to promote measures that will preserve the valuable wild
life of the world. They desire to leave to the boys and girls of
tomorrow a good showing of the marvelous bird and animal forms that make
the world beautiful and interesting. They are acting on the principle
that the wild life of to-day is not ours, to destroy or to keep as we
choose, but has been given to us _in trust_, partly for our benefit and
partly for those who come after us and audit our accounts. They believe
that we have no right to squander and destroy a wild-life heritage of
priceless value which we have done nothing to create, and which is not
ours to destroy.

DUTY OF PARENTS.--This being the case, it is very necessary that the
young people of to-day should be taught, early and often, the virtue and
the necessity of wild-life protection. There is no reason that the boy
of to-day should not take up his share of the common burden, just as
soon as he is old enough to wander alone through the woods. Let him be
taught in precise terms that he must _not rob birds' nests_, and that he
_must not shoot song-birds, woodpeckers and kingfishers_ with a
22-calibre rifle, or any other gun. At this moment there lies upon my
side table a vicious little 22-calibre rifle that was taken from two
boys who were camping in the woods of Connecticut, and amusing
themselves by shooting valuable insectivorous birds. Now those boys were
not wholly to blame for what they were doing; but their fathers and
mothers were _very much to blame_! They should have been taught at the
parental knee that it is very wrong to kill any bird except a genuine
game bird, and then only in the lawful open season. Those two fathers
paid $10 each for having failed in their duty; and it served them right;
for they were the real culprits.

Small-calibre rifles ar