As blackbirds at times become seriously injurious to agricultural crops, 
however, the Secretary of Agriculture, by virtue of authority conferred upon 
him by the afore-mentioned legislation, issued, under date of June 26, 1937, 
an order permitting the shooting of certain species when found committing or 
about to commit such depredations. Among the species of blackbirds mentioned 
in the order is the redwing, which is the chief offender in the rice fields 
along the Gulf coast.- Under the provisions of the order, the owner or 
custodian of any agricultural crop may kill these birds by shooting only, 
"but not by means of any gun to which a silencer or any other like device 
has been attached or otherwise affixed, nor from any blind, sink, pit, or any 
other device or means of concealment, whether natural or artificial." The 
birds killed pursuant to this order may not be "shipped or transported or 
sold or offered for sale except that they may be transported to such place 
within the vicinity as may be necessary to. bury or otherwise destroy their 
carcasses." Any person killing birds under the provisions of this order 
must submit, on or before January 1 of each year, to the Chief, Bureau of 
Biological Survey, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D- Ce, a re- 
port of his operations. 
Control by Shooting 
Unless special authorization for other means of control is granted by 
the Secretary of Agriculture, shooting is the only aggressive method available 
to the rice growers in the zone of severe damage. By the more philosophical, 
the expense of this means of control is considered an annual item necessary 
for successful production of the crop and it is provided for with as much 
certainty as any other element of crop production. The large rice-—growing 
Companies advance ammunition to their tenant farmers just as they do seed and 
fertilizer. Cheap black—powder shells and 1le-gage, double-barreled or re- 
peating shotguns are used almost exclusively in this patrol work. 
An idea of the efficiency of shooting as a means of crop protection 
may be gained from the experience of a farmer living 4 miles southeast of 
Gueydan, La. In one year he shot 4,500 shells costing $135. This expense, 
with the labor involved in patrolling, was necessary to protect 230 acres that 
yielded 2,600 sacks of rice. Judging from previous experience, this farmer 
estimated that his crop would not have exceeded 1,000 sacks had the fields not 
been patrolled. This indicates an expected loss of 1,600 sacks. Assuming 
that his estimate was approximately correct, it would follow that his ex 
penditure of $135 for ammunition, $35 for a gun that was burned out, and an 
unstated amount for labor--possibly a total of $250--resulted in the saving, 
at prices current at the time, of rice worth more than $7,800. Stated 
differently, the cost of protection, which was fairly adequate, represented an 
outlay equal to about 2 percent of the value of the entire crop. 
In large fields distant from human habitations and livestock a rifle 
may be used in place of the shotgun with increased economy and efficiency. 
This procedure, by no means new to rice growers in California, has been 
neglected in the rice fields of the Gulf coast. 
For safety and convenience in reaching all parts of the field, a shoot-— 
ing tower 15 to 20 feet high, built of scantlings, should be erected near the 
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