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with some aid from blackbirds had destroyed about 20,000 bushels of rice which at the prevailing price of $2.00 per bushel was worth $40,000. Of this damage it would seem that at least $35,000 was to be ascribed to ducks, mainly to Mallards.
 
Attempts made to keep the ducks out by night shooting were successful in some cases and in others were without effect. [[strikethrough]] Others [[/strikethrough]] [[^Some]] drove the birds out by frightening them with lanterns and by setting dogs on them. When resort was had to night shooting on the Basye place a local game warden in Stuttgart was much incensed and secured the names of most of the men participating in order to prosecute them for violation of the game laws. Before proceeding however it was said that he examined the field in company with Mr. Basye and that when he saw the damage that had been done he carried the matter no further. It was reported that he was requested to make a report to the State Game Commission and that he did so, but no further action was taken. The matter of the damage in this particular field was given considerable publicity in the local press and it was even stated that the State Game Commission had sanctioned night shooting in order that the farmers might protect their crops, a statement that this body is said by Mr. Visart to have neither affirmed or denied. This led to considerable infraction of the game law, in particular near Gillett, a section much devoted to hunting where it was reported that many hundreds of ducks were thus killed illegally through the farmers of that area where suffering no losses. No prosecutions however had been made.

As a preventative measure against loss to rice by ducks it may be recommended that rice growers make every effort to complete the harvest of their crop before the middle of November. A small number of ducks