551 
 
 
      "Due to the extreme drought which prevailed in 1929, when 
the open season arrived for the hunting of upland game, November 
10th, our covers were parched from the drought but in the majority 
of sections, upland game was found to be plentiful. An open winter 
of 1929 followed by a dry summer furnished very suitable and desir- 
able conditions for the propagation of upland game. The open winter 
permitted more natural food to be found by game than usual and the 
brood stock in our covers March 1st far outnumbered any previous 
year. General reports received during the hunting season were to 
the effect That bob-white, cotton-tail rabbits and wild turkeys 
were especially numerous in their respective sections. 
      The establishment of tame refuges not only by purchase but 
by lease, and the co-operation received from the agriculturists 
of this State in seeding areas which produced cover and feed which 
was left standing during the fall and winter after the seeding, 
has greatly assisted in replenishing our covers with upland game. 
 
      Bob-white have shown an increase in all sections of the State 
and with the thousands of hunters going afield during the hunting 
season and vermin prowling 365 days and nights a year, it is a 
wonder that any species of game could increase in a state having no 
more land area than Maryland. 
 
      The ruffed grouse, known as the King of Game Birds, in which a 
disease appeared 1926 to 1929, in practically all states north of the 
Maryland-Virginia line and which became so serious that Harvard and 
Cornell Universities made very thorough scientific investigations, are 
reported to be in excellent condition and the disease which appears 
once in about every seven to ten years, seems to have disappeared. 
 
      The Virginia White-tail Deer have shown a decided increase. 
The law provides an open season on male deer only, with 6" antler, 
in Garrett County, December 1st and 3rd, in Allegany County, 1st to 
15th, and on the Woodmont Rod and Gun Club in Washington County, 
December 1st to 15th. During the past spring and summer, we have 
received numerous complaints from farmers of Garrett and Allegany 
counties, claiming that deer had become so plentiful that they were 
destroying their crops. The law does not provide for any reimburse- 
ment for damages done by deer. 
       On the Meadow Mountain Game Refuge in Garrett-County, where. 
we started with a buck and a doe a few years ago on an enclosure of 
fifty acres, our herd has increased to such an extent that we have 
been compelled to increase the area from time to time until at pres- 
ent we have a deer corral of 300 acres enclosed by a 9-foot wire 
fence. The last report from S. L. Bowman, Game Keeper, was to the 
effect that he could account for 54 deer within the enclosure and 
numbers of wild deer were seen almost daily on the outside. 
 
       For the past few years, we have been importing wild turkeys 
 from North Dakota which were planted in the counties of Garrett, 
 Allegany and western Washington for propagation purposes. This 
 method has proved very successful. Reports are to the effect that