Troy weekly news. (Troy, Idaho) 1897-1933, 1905-12-29
Ally of the Farmers.

The department OF agriculture has
issued an interesting bulletin on the
ouails of the United States that tends
to correct some popular errors regard
ing Bob White" and is a
strong plea for his preservation as an
ally OF the farmer.
A thorough study Of the bird has
been made by the department without
finding any evidence that it is harmful
to crops. 1t eats principally noxious
weed seeds and bugs injurious to the
crops. 1t does not trouble either the
sprouting grain, as do the crows and
blackbirds, and does not feed on the
standing crops or forage among the
stacks. When it does eat grain it is
only what it CLEANS from the harvested
fields. 1t prefers weeds and does
not eat wheat and corn if it can
get sumach, ragweed and bay berries.
A close calculation was made by the
department of the number OF Bob
Whites in Virginia and North Carolina,
the total approximating 354,82O. 1t
is known from a long series of expert
ments that the craw of the bird holds
about half an ounce, Of which fully so
per cent is weed seeds. At this rate
from September l to April 80 in Vir-
ginia and North Carolina alone the
birds eat 8 3,341 tons of weed seeds.
Among the insects on which the
birds habitually feed are the Rocky
Mountain locust, the Colorado potato
bug, the boil weevil, the cut worm,
the army worms and two sorts Of cot
ton worms. The chicks are even
more highly insectiyorous than the old
birds.
The department urges all land
owners to realize the value of the BOB
White. 1t says that with the proper
management some farms of 500 tc
1000 acres would yield more revenue
from Bob Whites than from poultry
tits estimated that between 100000
and 400,00 sportsmen go out from
the cities every fall to hunt the Bot
White, and this, of course, means ;
big revenue, most of which goes to tht
farmers.
Paradoxical as it may seem, sports
men exercise q powerful influence il
protecting the birds. Many big pne
serves are maintained where the quai
are used only for field trials for dog
and are either not shot at all or she
under very close restrictions. Som
o1,,he (
10000 to $4,000 acres, and man
sportsmen have their own preserves eS
clusively for dog trials. The deman
for live quail for this purpose is stead
lily increasing, and there would be
good revenue if the Bob White coul
be bred in captivity on any extensiv
scale. This has been tried and ha
proved difficult, but the birds can b
protected from their natural enemies
snakes. skunks, owls, hawks and cat'
and they can be fed.
The game laws in the several state
vary greatly, and in some states val
from county to county; but there is
tendency towards uniformity, and tn
NSpdltlllCul dUNlSCS oil otdlSo ~ AiA'
their open season to one month.
The department of agriculture oil
| tanned three pair of Bob Whites fro
Il Kansas, which after five months ca
|! tivity are almost as wild as when fir
Il Gagged, and show no signs of matin
Il Experiments in the domestication
II Bob Whites are well worth tryin
II however; because of the demand fro
Il clubs and individuals for live birds
restock their grounds. So great h
become the demand in recent yea
that it is estimated that 100000 bir
would be required annually to fill
During the spring of 1908 the demai
far exceeded the supply, even at
dozen, and sometimes at twice tn
figure. The bulletin gives an int
esting table of the birds food ma
from the average of many analyst
1t shows that the chief part of the B
Whites diet is animal and vegetaE
matter of which the farmer is glad
be rid, while the damage that can
traced to him is absolutely negli
ble.-Washington Star.