The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-19
RICE BIRDS co hungry.
TriciSed by the New scheme of Plan
terS in the South.
From the New York sun.

there is probably no other task that
chimes in 50 wei with the workers inclin-
alton and is so nearly akin to fun as that
Of the rice plantation bird minders, COM
missioned 70 fire blank charges of gun.
powder over the fields and scare away the
ricebirds so destructive TO the crop. These
bird minders are always boys whose eager
| delight in explosives can he depended on,
and on big plantations where the rice crop
| covers an area Of from SEQ TO 1909 acres,
aud the number of marksmcn is CORE
! spohdingly large, a regular Fourth of July
fusiade can he heard on al sides. In the
generations since the coast planters began
to grow rice they have learned many things
and instituted many improvements tending
! to tighten the labor Of cultivation ana
swell the profits but at the present time,
| just as il as years ago, there are always
these besctments that loom in the way Of
success; the equinoctial gales, the mag
gots and the rice birds, and the worst Of
| these are the rice birds
Although when he gales once set in the
damage is widespread and not to be avert
/ ed, they do not come every year. nor as
! L
magsOts can oe warded off by giving close
attention to the water that floods the crop,
! changing il often, keeping il pure, and so
on, but the ncursious Of the birds are to
| be counted upon as regularly each season
as the grain is planted and no better de
| Tense against them has been devised than
| arming the sun-proof piCkaninny with
| harmless explosives and posting him broad
/ !. al. 1 .,
his eyes open and Dang away continually
at every glimpse of wings.
The rice birds like the rice best when it
| is juicy, before the grain has tOughened.
| They prefer il as a beverage, not as dry
! food to be pecked a with the bill, and
! bird will perch on fat, promising stalk
| and hang to 1t and tipple away until too
| full TO fly, except by easy stages. Then
| he can readily be knocked over with a
| stick, 1t is at this very time of the crops
| growth, when the grain as the planters
! say, is in milk and most delectabie and
| fattening 10 the rice bird. that the little
| freebooter is especially priced by epicures
| and becomes a noted and high-prjced del
icacy in the market. OF late the astute
rice planter, with senses primed for his
! advantage. has hit upon a scheme for par
TALLY outwitting the birds. He plants his
crop at other than the usual time so that
it gets in milk either before or after the
L
accordingly Mt the time when they flock
thickest to the region things are not so
much to their taste, and they partalxe less
! literally For instance, May was always
the popular month for rice planting and
the birds, basing their calculations on ex-
| perience could reckon 10 a nicely the
time when the grain would be in the con-
dtion most palatable to them, and govern
| their migrations accordingly. The long
| headed rice planter, in view of this. went
| out OF the usual rut. He planted a part
of his crop as early as the last of March
| and all through April, but skipped over
| May and planted the rest in June. The
| BIRDS came as usual that year, in the nick
OF time to catch the May rice in milk. and
doubtless were surprised to find much of
| The grain already hardened more than
| they liked it, and the rest not vet In con-
dltion. Just how long it will be before
| they get on 10 ne game and learn to plan
their vistations earlier or later. so as IN
he in the field at the very time whene they
| can do the crop most damage is a matter
of speculation; but they have not made
the correct calculation yet, and it has
come 10 be quite the thing now TO leave off
| rice planting in May, no matter how
tempting the weather or how convenient
the condition; and the boys do not have
| so much trouble as they used to in keen
ing the milk drinkers away.
It Is not an easy thing to learn to be \
successful rice grower, as many gigantic
| failures attest. The crop is beaufiful n
look at ana interesting at all stages and
IL seems simple enough just to turn The
| water on and off the big, fiat fields and
await the harvest; especially now since
| the crop Is cultivated so largely by The
| tidewater and not by herculean incessant
| digging and chopping in the sogev soil as
il used 20 he. This very management Of
! the water, however is one Of the ,nos3
| delicate Of operations, and just the merast
| suspicion of too much or too lille daptb
! of TOO long staying ON or of too long dry
| ing out, Is traught with momentous conse-
| Quences. Experience is the only thtno
! that counts in rice growing, no matter
! how much crude science or al-rounl
| knoW Wedge may be brought to bear Then
! there are the climate and The labor condi-
tons to be taken into consideration. both
1 things to deter the raw beginner fror,
| starting in, no matter how temptinr The
| outlook. Some do start in. however be-
cause within the past two or three years
! rice property has advanced in value and
| when properly cultivated and brought to
| market without loss from the storms. paws
| the planter handsome profit. That prop
| er cultivation. though, is not easy of at
| tainmont AID is the poser that has made
| many a man who embarked in the bust
! ness wish that he had stayed out of it,
| and makes those who are successful take
credit TO themselves.
| Il m done with rice said a New Yorker
| lately. an all-round man of affairs. who
| impressed with the beauty and independ-
| ence Of a planters life, invested in a fiat
lands plantation few seasons ago ana
! only reliuquished il after costly expert
meat. "ljs a business that you must be
born 60 10 be successful, or at least you
| must have lost dozen fortunes al IT,
| Then You might know something. But
! there are more ifs and ance and provisos
! and contingencies TO be borne in mind ana
! counted on in rice growing than in any
undertaking ! ever tackled, or that any
body elce ever tackeled. You would not