Agawam High School - Sachem Yearbook (Agawam, MA)

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formed a background for our game laws today and renewed the spirit of conservation, created by the economical Indians. It is a long leap from the time the Indians roamed in this vicinity to the present time, and the facts are correspondingly arresting. We use enough wood each year to construct seven boardwalks, twenty-five feet wide, from the earth to the moon, and we are turning out railroad ties at the rate of three a second. As a result the income from our forests amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Only two-fifths of the original supply of timber remains, and it has been estimated that only about two- fifths of the original amount of game. Though we no longer rely on game for food and on skins for clothing, we sell millions of dollars’ worth of furs each year. In six of the surrounding states the annual kill of deer is about thirty-five thousand. Consider its worth at twenty cents a pound and you will have over a million dollars. Hut are we just a money-loving people who count only on commercial values? What would childhood be without the stories of the bears and the woods? Where can you find a better place to spend your vacation than among the trees, getting closer to Nature and enjoying her health insurance? If we are to continue to enjoy Nature in this way, it is up to us to support the policy of conservation. There are extremists in this issue as there are in every other. Some people arc in favor of abolishing all game laws, resulting in the extermination of game, and ending the argument, so they think. Hut they are thinking only of themselves. What of the future generations? These people would be no better than weasles, killing for the mere pleasure of it, and the result of this policy would be the same as in the case of our buffalo. In order to see one of these shaggy animals now, we have to go to Forest Park, whereas not long ago millions roamed over one- third of this continent. The other extremists desire absolutely no hunting, fishing, or trapping. Can they be considered red-blooded men and women? They forget the boy, and all men are bovs, say the women — the boy who likes to match his wits with the fur-bearers, who thrills at the tug upon the fish pole, who glories in the excitement of the chase. The supply of wild life is a heritage of nature and a gift from God, and it is ours to use as long as we use discretion. Let us endeavor to conserve and enlarge this supply. Theodore Roose- velt said that the conservation of our natural resources was the most impor- tant problem before our country and this problem is even greater today. To be a real benefit this policy of conservation and game propagation must be carried out in a sane and just manner. Much is said about the wonderful conservation system of Hritain. It is wonderful for the rich who have acquired all the hunting and fishing grounds. Hut what of the poor fellow who has the same love of sport? He resorts to poaching and gets a long prison term. Today even in our country, wealthy sportsmen are buying large tracts of land for private preserves. This is not the kind of conserva- tion which we, as Americans, wish to see practiced. Already our national government has done something in the line of a constructive forestry pro- gram by purchasing large tracts of wood land and by reforesting water sheds. This good work cannot be carried on rapidly enough, however, to make up for past years of wasteful lumbering and to prevent catastrophies like the present flood of the Mississippi. Ry this very policy of forest pres- [15]

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(conservation he first white men came to this country expecting to find great wealth in minerals, but instead they found a greater wealth of fish, game, and forests, and, consequently, food and shelter. We have all read how the pilgrims managed to survive the hard winter by partaking freely of Nature’s stores, and it is interesting to know to what extent they used these stores. Some families lived almost wholly on venison, and for their hides hun- dreds of deer were ruthlessly destroyed by their system of fire hunting. They used to light a circle for miles around and as it burned into the center the result was a wholesale slaughter of game and destruction of wood. At this time deer were sold for a sixpence. Turkeys weighing thirty pounds, which came in flocks of hundreds, brought only a fourpence, and pigeons which came in flights that darkened the sky and broke the limbs of the trees on which they lighted, sold for a penny a dozen in Boston. There was an abundance of game birds including pheasant, partridge, woodcock and ducks. Captain John Smith and two companions at one firing of their inferior flint- locks, killed one hundred and forty-eight ducks. This may sound like a big story, but it seems highly probable when you consider that these magnificent flocks were sometimes a mile wide and seven miles long. Rabbits and squirrels were so numerous that they became pests, and many towns offered bounties on them. Pennsylvania paid a bounty of three- pence a head on squirrels, and in one year took in six hundred thousand heads. All the surrounding bodies of water teemed with fish which furnished food not only for the colonists but for the whole world. The settlers used to scoop the fish out of the brooks in pans or kill them with a stick. Horses fording streams would crush numbers of them. In one cast of the net the governor of Virginia caught five thousand sturgeon, some twelve feet long. Lobsters six feet long and weighing over twenty-five pounds were caught at Salem and in New York Bay. Fine cod weighing a dozen pounds once sold for a twopence. Shad, which now bring a dollar, taken from the Agawam, and Connecticut rivers, were sold two for a penny over in Springfield and they were frowned upon, at first, as inferior food. Men hired by the farm- ers of this valley stipulated that they should not have shad for dinner more than once a week. But when it gained a better reputation, it was estimated that there were fifteen hundred horses a day at South Hadley Falls to be loaded with salmon and shad. And now because of the pollution of the rivers they no longer come up to Agawam. 1 he forests not only gave wood for fuel and building, but also contrib- uted huge stores of wild honey and gallons of pure maple syrup. Moreover these forests were, are, and will be the homes of our fish and game. As the colonies made inroads upon the forests, their depletion resulted in the deple- tion of game. And as the population doubled, the demands also doubled. As early as 1698 farsighted men began to legislate game laws in their assemblies and though it was impossible to completely enforce them, they [I4l

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ervation, the surest method of game propagation has been utilized; for good forests mean good fishing and hunting. A movement is now under way for establishing town forests. If Aga- wam wants a good investment, paying, not only in dollars, but in the health and happiness of its residents, let it buy a tract of land unsuited for agricul- tural purposes and use it exclusively as a breeding ground for wild life. Let it think of the future as well as of the present, and follow the suggestion of ’27’s class motto: Non Nobis Sed Omnibus — Not for Ourselves, but for Others. Paul B. Cesan (i)hip zAhoy ! hip Ahoy! — the captain’s shouting, As he leans against the bow — For four long years you’ve waited — But we’re leaving harbor now. For years you’ve been a-planning For just this one long run, But, even vet, you’ve much to learn Ere this great trip is done. I know you’ve conned the principles, But you’ll find the rule of three Can’t always be applied to things — Least of all, this sea. Book learning’s wonderful, And mighty handy, too, But there’s a host of things That books can’t ever teach to you. But this sea is a great old teacher — What she teaches you’ll recall Till your bones are laid to slumber ’Neath a cold and stony wall. But she don’t write your ratings On any card or mart — She just weighs you in the balance And writes upon your heart. Today, your hearts are glowing, The sky’s of softest hue, There’s a Land of Promise waiting Out there beyond the blue. Your very souls are throbbing With the lure of salty brine, With the hope of gems and jewels And casks of sweetest wine. [16]