SACRAMENTO Jan. 8, 1918 
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I clftsire at this time to make a statement relative to the claim 
that enormous damc^pe was alleged to have "been done to the rice 
industry in California hy wild ducks. 
Since 1912, when rice was first commercially grown in 
California, numerous complaints have come to the Commission of 
depredations hy hlu.ck birds, Tn 1913 the mudhen and duck were 
added to the list of despoilers. In an effort to arrive at the 
truth, the Commission compiled all possible data, from news 
clippings, private correspondence ,vith growers and personal 
investigations by its agents. The investigation disclosed that 
many of the reports in the daily press were very undependable. 
Statements were made and sent broadcast by persons who were not 
rice growers and whose motice uas to kill ducks at any time for 
profit only. News clippings headed "Mr, So and So Reports the 
T.OSS of 100 Acres of Rice by '.Vild Pucks" would be found upon 
investigation to be a pure fabrication and not based on facts. 
Many letters came unsolicited denying any interviev/s in which 
such sto-tements were mude. Many of the rice growers who were 
qiioted as having made statements of losses suffered by them were 
courteous enough to correct the statements by letters, but the 
difficulty was to give the same amount of publicity to the denials. 
As an example, this statement aupeared in the v/illows Journal: 
"?ir. : las informed us (the Journal) that he made a request 
A. 
to ship the thousands of dead ducks on his rice fields to a State 
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