7 
Off. Doc.] Pennsylvania State Board of Agriculture. 
At two cents each, it would cost $1,552,000 
Atthree “ “ . 2,328,000 
At four “ . 3,104,000 
At five “ “ 3,880,000 
The second year the rate would have to be doubled at least ; al 
though even then it would not be so expensive as the first. Supposing 
the rate were doubled each successive year, we should find the total 
bounties for five > ears to be as follows : 
Starting at one cent each, ‘ $2,235,180 
“ two cents each 4,470,360 
“ three cents each, 6,470,540 
*• four cents each, 8,940,721 
“ five cents each, 11,175,901 
Cost of Poisoned Grain. 
Arsenic costs about seven or eight cents per pound and four pounds 
will poison a bushel of wheat (hO lbs.), so that a bushel of arsenic- 
poisoned wheat would cost from a dollar to a dollar and a quarter, 
according to the price of wheat; and corn meal poisoned in like 
manner would cost about the same. This amount of poison, how- 
ever, is much larger than any one person would need to use, and 
probably would be sufficient to kill more than 25,000 sparrows. 
Strychnine is much more expensive than arsenic, but ordinarily an 
ounce of strychnine should not cost more than two dollars. 
An ounce of strychnine dissolved in four gallons of water suffices 
to poison a bushel of wheat, which will cost, therefore, from $2.75 to 
$3 00 according to the price of wheat. 
• An ounce of average winter wheat contains about 700 kernels. A 
quart (30 oz.) contains about 21.000 kernels. A bushel (60 lbs.) con- 
tains about 672,000 kernels. Six or seven kernels poisoned as above 
would be amply sufficient to kill a sparrow, and hence a bushel of 
strychnine-poisoned wheat is enough to kill 100 000 sparrows. 
I presume the facts and figures here given as the result of the 
National Government investigations, will seem to you simply as- 
tounding! Who would believe that a wretched little bird could so 
strongly intrench itself in such vast numbers in our Commonwealth 
that if anything like extermination could be accomplished, by offer- 
ing a premium of one cent each for the worthless little scalps, who 
would believe that the paying of such a bounty would bankrupt the 
State ? 
The following also from advance sheets of the National Bulletin on 
the “ English Sparrow,” will show the effects of bounties in Montana. 
Montana’s Bounty Law on Prairie Dog-s and Ground Squirrels. 
Early in 1^87 the territory of Montana offered a bountv of ten cents 
each on prairie dogs, and five cents each on ground squirrels. The 
act went into effect March 5. 1887. and the bounties paid during the 
next six months amounted to more than fifty thousand dollars. On 
September 12, 1887, the record of payments stood as follow s : 
153,709 prairie dogs at ten cents each, $15,370 90 
698,971 ground squirrels at five cents each, 34,9i8 55 
Total, $50,319 45 
