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threshing had ^[[been]] provided. The spring of 1817 was somewhat late and farmers were hindered [[strikethrough]] somewhat [[/strikethrough]] ^[[further]] by unfavorable weather at the time of cutting. These delays with the lack of sufficient threshing facilities threw the time of threshing late in many cases. This was especially true near Stuttgart and De Witt where there was considerable shocked rice in the fields as late as November 10. Gillett though only a short distance further south is reported to have a somewhat earlier season and the greater part of the rice there had been threshed by the end of October.

Rice is also grown in Lonoke and Prairie Counties north of Arkansas County but no reports of serious damage by birds have come from these areas as yet.

[[underline]] DAMAGE BY DUCKS. [[/underline]]

It was reported that a cold wave with unfavorable weather coming shortly before Thanksgiving made it necessary to postpone the completion of the rice harvest while at the same time many ducks came into this region and began at once to feed in the fields. Accounts varied some as to the actual date pm which damage from this source began but it appears from the meteorological report for Arkansas for the month of November that there was a marked fall in temperature and general cold throughout the State from November 23 to 25 and it seems possible that the ducks began to come at this time. 

The first reports of damage to the shocked rice by ducks came from a field about ten miles below Stuttgart, belonging to E.J. Basye. On the following nights ducks fed in other fields nearby and at the same