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or less rice from Mallards, viz, J. W. Burnett, John Mattox, J. Perdy, Schaeffer and a Frenchman named Mouton. These seemed to be the main cases in which damage was inflicted by ducks.

In Gillett, H. E. Crill of the Stilwell Mercantile Company said that they had experienced slight damage from ducks. The damage was comparatively light however as the birds did not come in until threshing had begun and the harvest was completed at once. Some damage was also attributed to these birds in fields belonging to W. C. Butcher, W. Langham, and C. A. Franzen. As has been stated above the season about Gillett was earlier than farther north and practically all of the rice crop had been threshed by November 15. There was little reliance to be placed upon reports of damage by ducks here as I learned that there has been much violation of the law prohibiting night shooting in this region and men put forth the excuse that they were doing it to protect their crops. As a matter of fact the only reports of damage heard in Gillett that seemed bona fide related to the fields destroyed near De Witt and Stuttgart that have been described above.
 
At Stuttgart I heard somewhat indefinite reports of damage by ducks to rice on the farms of W. H. Norsworthy and W. G. Walton near St. Charles, but these were so vague that little could be learned regarding the situation there.as the area was remote and rather difficult of access it was not visited as it was considered that these rumors were too indefinite to arrant the expense incident to further investigations.
 
From the account given above it appears that Mallards inflicted more or less serious damage in four fields near Stuttgart, and in about twelve near De Witt. It was estimated that in these fields wild ducks