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Cf,     Shrubs for Game and Other Birds* 
Se'le'eted with Particular Reference to Value as Winter Food 
Anc     By PAUL B. DALKE 
Connecticut State Board of Fisheries and Game 
 
The fundamental principles of game 
management may be grouped roughly un- 
der three main headings: (1) provision 
for adequate cover for protection from 
the elements and predators; (2) success- 
ful natural propagation and rearing of 
the young; (3) increase in quantity and 
variety of a permanent food supply to 
meet the requirements at all seasons of 
the year. 
Natural feeding areas of both annual 
crops such as grains and certain grasses 
supplemented by perennial weed patches 
a n d  permanent winter   fruit-bearing 
shrubs furnish the necessary food require- 
ments for the entire year. Once estab- 
lished, these feeding  areas are quite 
permanent and reduce the need for sup- 
plying grain and grit for game birds in 
winter. 
Shrub plantings not only form a perma- 
nent source of fall and winter food but 
furnish protective cover and shelter from 
storms and in many cases provide suit- 
able nesting areas. 
The propagation and planting of fruit- 
bearing shrubs in suitable locations is 
one of the most important game restora- 
tion activities which is particularly adapt- 
ed to promotion by individuals, groups of 
sportsmen, Boy Scouts and similar or- 
ganizations. 
Many trees and shrubs are easily propa- 
gated  by  "hardwood" cuttings   (fully 
ripened wood) taken in the fall or early 
winter and "softwood" cuttings (half 
ripened wood) taken during the late sum- 
mer. These methods furnish inexpensive 
stock and produce quick results 
Hardwood cuttings should be made of 
the last season's growth, approximately 
six inches in length, including two or 
more buds. They should be tied in bun- 
dles of fifty or one hundred with all the 
butts at one end, and placed in boxes of 
moist sand in a cellar or buried with the 
butts up in well-drained sandy soil below 
frost line. In the spring these cuttings 
should be planted out of doors in well- 
drained sandy soil which should be kept 
moist until roots are formed at which 
time they may be transferred to a better 
growing soil. The following season they 
should be ready for planting in their 
permanent locations at the edge of woods. 
Softwood cuttings may be planted di- 
rectly in sand boxes or in well-drained 
sandy soil and kept moist until the roots 
are formed. These cuttings should be 
protected by a covering of leaves during 
the first winter. 
*Taken from Game Management Circular No. 1, 
Conn. State Board of Fisheries and Game. 
 
Shrubs may be purchased from nurs- 
eries, but as a rule they are too expen- 
sive unless the nursery can supply what 
is known as "lining out" stock. Perfect 
specimens for exhibition plantings are 
too expensive for this purpose. The more 
common varieties of valuable food-bearing 
shrubs may be purchased in quantity for 
from three to five cents per shrub if 
"lining out" stock is available. 
Shrubs received from nurseries should 
be placed immediately in the ground and 
their roots covered with moist soil. In 
planting these and all other shrubs, the 
roots must be kept moist in a pail partly 
filled with water during the operation. 
Quick planting is made easy by the use 
of a mattock or grub hoe to chop out the 
 
Vol. 2 4, No. 5 
AMmIRcAN WIInajMr 
Sept. -Oct.,1 O55 
sod or to pry open a space for the roots. 
Shrubs should be planted at the edge 
of woods, along fence rows, in the corners 
of unused fields and upland bordering 
swamps or marshes. 
The shrubs listed herewith are rec- 
ommended. The botanical name is given 
because it is important to use this nomen- 
clature if shrubs are ordered from a nur- 
sery. To these should be added summer 
and fall or winter hardy apply trees for 
planting in grouse covers. Black locust 
furnishes a valuable food supply for game 
birds in winter. Mulberry trees are ex- 
cellent for attracting song and insectivor- 
ous birds in summer. Green brier or Bull 
brier (Smilax rotundifolia) provides valu- 
able tangles for predator protection and 
also berries for food but cannot be recom- 
mended for use on valuable or cultivated 
lands.  Smooth Sumac (Rhus glabra) 
and Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina) are 
valuable as starvation foods, generally 
used only in periods of extreme scarcity 
of other foods, but often a life saver dur- 
ing short emergency periods. 
 
5EABOINAL    AVAILABILITY      OF FRUIT 
ro _K 
P*tEASANT3, G31ousE, QUAL p OTHE BIROS 
FroM, - 
QAM K1tAMrT CIsKCULA. 
CONECTICVT STATE BOARD OF FISt4ERI94   _ 
AO CAME - HIARTFORD, COrN. 
PASTURE ROSE - Roea huw'u;s 
JAPANESE ROSE- Roa. muttiflota 
3WAMIP ROSC- Rosa caoli.Q 
JAPANE-SE BARDERR"Y- Btrbe hs 
COFIMON BARBERRY- BerbcrY1 vuigaris 
FROST CRAPE- Vitis vulpina 
HIAH BUSH CRANBERRY-Vibur.m ame canm 
HAWTORNE- C-o+ckesS c-us- l            , 
MIERICAN BITTERSWEET-Celqtrus.5csn4ms    I I 
ORIEMTAL BITTERSWEET- Celasir uS orbicuetos 
RED-BERRIED NIl TZHADE-5ohanum ddCoamar,      - 
ISOTA PRIVET - Liustrum ibotc 
PANIGLED 0061000- Corivs pam ci ilc. 
RED OSIER DOQWOOD- Cornu-s _soloiferc       L 
VIRGINIA CREEPER- PsP'ero. quirncuefol' i 
SNOW BERRY - 5,-phor crus rvaemasus 
CORAL ERRY-. 4, horicrps vulgaris 
.WEET BERRIED t1ONEYSUCKi-E-Lonicero. c.erulto. 
TARrARIAN tiONEySUCKLE-Loweiter - trto~rco. , 
BLACK ELDER BERRY-Saynbucu 5 co.ndeisj 
1e!AR BERRY-Arcta 4.-tphja5 uv.-vris 
MATRIMONY VINE-LAum Ilir;Iolium 
WITNE-ROD - Viburnum  cOasinoide.S 
NANNY ERFL- ViburnUm 1ent'o9o- 
5A'tBERR1 - Mrice, COroI;netimia 
JET BEAD - Rhodotpus kerrioides 
COToN cASTeR (ifR-TtRpi N-C*tonest¢r diOsareo1"0tA 
MOUNTAIW ASH- 6o.tus omet-;cOai