The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-03-20
DUCKS OR RICE-WHTCH?
LOUISIANA PLANTERS WANT
THE BIRDS PROTECTED.

Tue MallaPd Ansl e:reen WlnGrA rean
Foand % Ne - 1naportnnt 70 Agrteus.
ture ~ On the Danner Table Novel,
Game Law Questions brought IN.
NEw ORLEANs. March 10. When ths
Louisiana Legislature meets the most
exciting question before IL will DO tho
game laws. The matter has saadd@nSs
become a bitter political issue. and the
two factions of the Democracy are making
the deer. ducks. fish and oysters Of the
State a dividing line.
The fact IL that il Was discovered q
short time ago that the game and hahing
possibilities IL the STATE were much
greater than was generally thought. Ths
issue now 10 between letting the control
Of the game rest with the State or turning
IL over To tho local authorities % ths
parishes. By those who oppose State
control it u charged that the Game Com
mission employs an unnecessarily large
army Of wardens in the parishes. and that
IL has been organized on factionPl politi-
cal lines.
In che meanwhile two questions have
come zap in regard TO the open seaaoRs
and the protection IL game which show
how complicated are the problems and
how many matters have To be taken into
consideration. Two radical changes are
about 90 he adopted by the Game Com
mission. the one for religious and eco
nomic reasons. tho other m an agricul-
turAl matter.
The Game Commissioner has just @ls-
pended tho law in regard to the closed
season for catfish and buffalo fish. the naOsa
abundant in Louisiana. This u their
breeding season, and the CommissioDsr
realizes that they should he protected.
but Il In also Lent, the great fish eating
season OF the year In Catholic commu-
nifty like New Orleans. Moreover tho
high price OF meat has driven many people
To use fish instead. and the demand N
greater than ever before. To profess the
FISH would he TO annoy Catholics and
naturally to increasekthe cost % living.
The other change IL the proposed pro-
lection of ducks. especially the mailard
or French duck and the green winged teal.
In the interest OF the rice planters. A.
first thought thus seems almost ~ curious
as the protection Of the alligator On thu
ground that u protects the levees by eat
ing the boring minks and muskTats.
There are shot In Louisiana each winter
from five tn ten million ducks and they
constitute not only the principal sport
Of the state hut also part OF ths food
supply. Among them the Insllard and
the Rreen winged teal are the hest for the
table and command the highest prices
The birds are not an abundant as for
rnerIy, Iartly h~cause thew are shot more
proftlsely and partly because their feeding
grounds are growing smaller. Al ths
ducks have been crowded out Of some of
their former territory they have moved
further west into the rice country.
The rice growers have complained
of this. declaring that the ducks weTs
changing their diet from the wild celery
and other plants % the Swamps 20 rio.
An investigation has cleared the ducks
OF this charR- and has shown that they
are the friends and allies Of the rice m
dustry rather than its enemies.
1hey eat not the rice Of commerce.
hut the red or false rice. which " the great
est bane IT the rice planters. Asa 7ptrr
Of fact the rice OF comm rCe ~ either not
growing OF very little developed ~ ths
time the ducks are visiting l.oUsisiana.
hut the red or wild riCe IN. and IN the WINTER
ard the "Rrly spring the ducks destroy
large quantities Of red rice m the heIds.
80 that when the commercial rice -
growing 10 ~ free from this false cousin.
The ducks are doing what 10 n expensive
or almost impossible for the planter IT,
DO roofing out the rcd rice. II - there
fore proposed To- have the ducks pro-
,ctsd by Law. II II a choice between
ducks and rice.
Evidenca haS also l,een found that the
robin n a friend Of the rica grower and
needs prot sctiOn, that the Wild goose ~
a dangerous enemy To all agricultural
interests on the Gulf coast and that tho
sap sucker IN destroying thousands Of
dollars worth oG timber annually.