The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1905-11-03
FARMERS FRIEND.
The Partridge Destroyes Many Noxi.
GUS Weeds and Insects.

The Partridge Destroyes Many Noxi.
GUS Weeds and Insects.
They should BE Protected by the
Farmers, as They Destroy Many
Things Injurious to Crops.
The department. Of Agriculture has
Issued an interesting bulletin on the
quails Of the United States that tepds
to correct some popular errors regard.
Ing Bob White" and Is a strong plea
for his preservation as an alley Of the
farmer. There are half q dozen vari-
cites Of quail In the United States,
the handsomest being those of the
Southwest and the Pacific slope, where
they are slate blue in color and hand.
somely crested. But the principal in
terest In this best known Of all game
birds Is that 1t Is q valuable asset OF
the farmer and helpful rather than
destructive to the growing crops.
a thorough study Of the bird has
been made by the department. without
finding any evidence that 1T Is harm
full to crops. 1t eats principally nox.
tous weed seeds and bugs Injurious to
the crops. 1t does not trouble either
the sproutlng grain, as do the crows
and blackbirds, and does not feed on
the standing crops or forage among
the stacks. When 1t does eat grain 1t
is only what 10 CLEANS from the har-
vested fields. 1t prefers weeds and
does not eat wheat and corn IL IL can
get sumaoh, ragweed and bay berries.
A close calculation was made by
the department Of the number of Bob
Whites In Virginia and North Care.
lima, the total experimenting 1854, 800.
1t Is known from a long series Of ex-
periments that the oraw Of the bird
holds about halt an ounce, Of which
fully so per cent Is weed seed. At this
rate from September i to April 80 ir
Virginia and North Carolina alone,
the birds eat 3,341 tons Of weed seeds.
Among the insects on which the
birds habitually feed are the Rock
Mountain locust, in Colorado potato
bug, the boil weevil, the cut worm,
the army worm and two sorts of cot,
ton worms. The chicks are even more
highly inseotlvorOus than the old
birds.
The department urges all land own.
erS to realize the value Of the Bob
White. 1t says that with proper man.
agement some farms Of 500 to 1000
acres would yield more revenue from
Bob Whites than from poultry. 1t is
estimated that between 800, 900 and
400, 600 sportsmen go out from the cit.
| loo nUaru foil RI ht,nf Slo DnL UTltAo
and this, of course, means a big reve.
nue., mtSt OF which goes to the farm.
ers.
Paradoxical as 1t may seem, sports.
men exercise a powerful influence In
protecting the birds. Many big pre-.
serves are maintained where the quail
are used only for field trials for dogs
and are either not shot at all or shot
under very close restrictions. Some
clubs maintain preserves of 20, 900 &c
$4,000 acres, and many sportsmen have
their WI preserves exclusively for dog
trials. The demand for live quail fol
this purpose Is steadily increasing, and
there would be- a good revenue If the
Bob White could be bred in captivity
on any extensive scale. This has been
tried ard has proved difficult, but the
birds can be protected from their ma.
tural enemies, snakes, skunks, owls,
hawks and cats, and they can be fed.
Every Jews years, on tx lrrence
OF unusually severe winter lheayy
SHOWS which cover the II supply,
great numbers of Bob VIII Narlsh,
and sometimes in, the nua part OF
It's range the bird becomes almost OK.
tinct. This unnecessary loss Of life
could be largely prevented ifland own
ers and others interested would scat
ter a little grain In suitable places
This is done In some localities, as al
Sandy Spring, Md, where III. Fl. Mill
er drives over the snow covered coun
try scattering grain for the starving
quail. The practice Is worthy OF gen
eral adoption. 1t Is necessary only
while the ground Is snow bound ant
especially after sleet storm.
The game laws In the several State.
very greatly, and in some States vary
from county to county; but the de
partment advises all States to limi
their open season to one month.
The Department Of Agriculture OBJ
talned three pairs OF Bob Whites from
Kansas, which after five months Gap
tivitY are almost as wild as when frs
Gagged, and show no signs Of mating,
Experiments in the domestlcation O
Bob Whites are we'll worth trying
however, because Of the demand from
clubs and individuals Tor live birds tt
restock their grounds. So great ha,
become the demand in recent years
that 1T Is estimated that 400, 900 bires
would be required annually to fill it
During the spring of 1903 the demand
far exceeded the supply, ever at SIS a
dozen, and sometimes at twice thal
figure.
The bulletin gives an interesting
table OF the birds food made from the
average Of many analyses. 1t shows
that the chief part Of the Bob Whites
diet Is animal and vegetable matter
Of which the farmer Is glad to be rid,
while the damage that a be traced
to him is absolutely negligible.
TrGlloy Aooident.
A dispatch from New York says 8
runaway street car on the now vii.
hamburg suspension bridge across the
East river Thursday caused injury tC