Prairie Chickens 



179 



packs may consist of either the residual males, or the migrant females from 

 farther north. 



Agricultural Changes and Winter Food. The general unfavorable 

 trend of modern farming practice needs no repetition. A special inquiry was 

 made in Wisconsin, however, to single out the specific recent practices unfavor- 

 able to prairie chickens. They are, in probable order of importance: 



(1) The Siloing of Com. Siloing instead of leaving it standing or in 

 shocks in the field. This trend is apparent throughout Wisconsin, but is especially 

 strong in the north, where corn does not mature readily for use as dry grain (see 

 frost line on Map 8) . 



(2) Shredding Corn. The new practice of shredding the whole corn plant 

 works in the same direction as siloing. Both mean that there is no corn for the 

 birds, except the waste lying on the ground, and this of course is either consumed 

 before winter, or covered by snow if not consumed. 



(3) The Discontinuance of Rye. Newly broken land in the north woods 

 type was formerly planted to rye. Now that the breaking of new land has been 

 checked by the current agricultural depression, and by the deflation of the local 

 cutover land boom, there is much less rye than formerly. Potatoes have also 

 tended to replace rye as a raw-land crop. 



(4) Stacking Straw at the Barn. Some observers report that straw was for- 

 merly stacked in the fields, whereas now threshing is done near the farm build- 

 ings, in order that stock may have the food and shelter afforded by the straw stack. 

 Quail do not hesitate to use farmyard stacks if there is cover near, but chickens 

 usually decline to come so close to buildings. 



All these changes have combined to reduce winter food and shelter for game, 

 especially chickens. For chickens to thrive, these trends must be of set by food 

 patches arranged for the purpose of wintering the birds. 



Wisconsin Feeding Stations. At the initiative of W. B. Grange and 

 Dr. Merritt Jones, of the Conservation Department, and of various chapters of the 

 Izaak Walton League, a series of food patches and winter feeding stations has 

 been established in various Wisconsin counties. The locations are shown as black 

 dots on Map 14. 



The extraordinary success of these stations, and their remarkably low cost, 

 is summarized in the following table: 



The Wisconsin stations offer living proof that winter feeding of game is not 

 merely a matter of throwing out some grain when the snow comes. At the Roths- 



