The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1896-12-05
PICKING RICE BIRDS
A New and Profitable Industry !, W
South Carolina Negroes Hon.


New and Profitable Industry in WI,
South Carolina Negroes Have Eng.a a,eh
The riee-hird crop has been
profitable this year than the rice ba'
vest. After, eultivating the rica as
negroes have found bonanza ,bis tl 'r
In supplying northern and western msr
kets with the birds.
These birds are known in tho 49,,
as reed birds. On their annual Aioh..
a warmer climate they have stonnaS
over here sufficiently long to harass rt ~.
planter by eating of his late rice wb;aL
is now of creamy consistency. TMa
diet gives the little birds the most d.
licious flavor, makes their bodies lnnn.
of delicate fat and renders their bonrs
so soft that they are consumed NV tha
epicure with relish.
Every rice plantation has its reon,o.
"rice minders." These are neoroa.
armed with muskets. In the evenina
they are expected to turn in to the oyor'
seer a certain number of birds for everr
load OF shot. Outside hunters are MI
permitted in the fields, because the da.
struction Of rice by careless walkino
would be too great. 1t is remarkabe
how many birds are killed sometimeso NJ
single discharge OF an old musket
that has been in service against larper
but wilder game. With six or seyan
drachms of powder behind handfuof
No. 10 shot, a negro, knee-deep in mud
and water, will make his way through
the rice to the edge of vast flock Of
the little birds which have descended
like a cloud upon the grain, bendineit
down. The gunner is prohibited from
shooting the birds on the rice, for the
shot cuts the stalks. So. when he has
reached an advantageous place, he rises :
above the waving grain and gives
veil. The next instant the air is full Of
| birds; there does not seem to be room
| enough in the flock for another pair OF
tiny wings. 1t Is then that the bird
hinder points his gun toward the
blacklist part of the cloud and pulls the
| trigger Sometimes the old brass bands
| that hold the barrel in place are made to
| bulge, and as often as not the weapon
| Jumps out of the hands of the shooter.
| Sometimes the negro measures his
length in the mud, knocked down by
| the tremendous recoil. He is quickly
up, however, ard begins throwing birds
| into a sack.
Right here is where the negro proves
/ |, ll1 ~ ha 81
bird hunter. The white man may kill
as many, but in the thick, overhanginp
| rice he cannot find half of them. on
course great many dead ones are lost,
and nearly all those with broken wings
| escape, but 1T is not very unusual for
darky to gather up ten dozen birds as
| the result of one shot.
| This fall the demand for rice birds
has been greater than ever before, and
the prices offered in Philadelphia. New
that negroes on the great plantations
on the Santee river have resorted to ma
tive ingenuity and primitive methods
to capture the birds which they were
not permitted to shoot in the rice fields.
The birds roost on the reeds and rushes
| of great marshes near the rice fields,
and there the promise of dollar doz-
en- has tempted the dusky hunter Run
ming his boat up some winding creek,
he lands in the heart of the wilderness,
A big-mouthed corn sack is slung over
his left shoulder; in his left hand is a
long, blazing, lightwood torch. Thus
he proceeds through the roosting
grounds of the birds, sometimes knee
deep, sometimes hip-deep, in water and
mud. Blinded by the light, the birds
make no effort to escape, and the right
hand of the hunter is employed almost
constantly in picking the birds from the
roosts, passing them to his mouth
where his teeth meet through their
necks, and thence into the big-mouthed
bag.
| Between 400 and 500 birds are regard.
ed as a fair nights catch for one man.
The season is short and this night work
is hard in the fever-laden air, but the re-
suit of one such night at present prices
is equal to two months hard work with
| spade hoe or DlOw-N Y Sun.