Says Ruling Against 
Recommendation of 
any Growers. 
6AN •[ FRA&cmCO, Oot. 
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^ t 2. — Wild 
ten ok a in the rice fields of Butt*. Co- 
hu«m. Gleim, Sutter, Y^lo and ' Yuba 
icon red e« may be shot .When nece*sar> 
to protect crop*, according (to an oi- 
tflcial telegram received from Wash- 
ijurtoo by Car! Wedrt^ffefld, ex- 
ecutive officer of the fish and game 
komroissioa of California. The rut- 
ting holds good until the 15th of this 
| month. Only rice farmers, members 
j»of their irn mediate families and em- 
ployes, nowever, may shoot the ducks 
Und they mutrt shoot in open tiold. 
Another^’ restriction In the* ruling 
‘'keep! farmers from selling: 9 these 
Njuoks. and provides thait they* must 
^either eat them or send them to ufliar- 
£tabie institutions or hospitals. 
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The communication was addressed 
Ko Carl Westerfeld, executive officer 
rof the fish and fame commission at 
\&aji Francisco, and comes from Hen- 
derson, assistant director of the bio- 
logical burvey, department of agricul- 
ture, at Washington. A copy of the 
lipermit reached the Sacramento office 
k>t the comlnission yesterday. 
L v \ v -MISTAKE, 4 * SAYS NEALE. 
V The order Vas.V^ot received with 
if Vn the si asm at the, /offices of the fish 
land game commisd|jjn. “The ruling 
; l jia against the' recommendation, of 
/ Lrneany reputable rVse growers,” said 
WeorgJe R. Neals* deputy. , “Ernest E. 
feehr, secretary of the Rice Growers' 
jRssociation, representing 75 per cent 
i of the acreage, has an article in the 
{Willows Journal, saying the reports 
[of large damage frorrt ducks are ex- 
aggerations; that no damage was re- 
Vported from Yolo county lasU year, 
{with »,0<>0 acres planted, and that on 
Hhe Spalding ranch, with- 2300 acres in 
jrice; the total lots was J not more 
pthan five acres. Blackbirds, he de- 
r<tiares, do rou<Ch. more damage, but 
•there is no demand for the privilege 
-of, shotting blackbirds for the reason 
that they are not good eating.” 
Bfehr also!' said ht his communi/ca- 
-tion. that drr personal invesrtdgaition 
, he- found tha(J several: rice: growers 
•whose names, appeared as signatures 
to the protest lodged wltl^ Merritt 
against ducks denied having signed 
the dispatch or - having authorized the 
use of their names In that connec- 
tion. , 
“Ho waver.* adds Neale, r T am glad 
the order has been issued, for it wifi 
*rtng the matter to a fo^us, yid will 
prove whetheg 4 honest desire for con- 
servu&oil, or a selfish mdtlve for the 
killing of ducke is back of the move- 
ment. It Is my opinion that more 
damage will be done to both rioe and 
.ducks by this p-o^-mission to hunt tbe 
/ birds, • even though the permission is 
limited. It will be almost impossible 
to tontrol the market huntee and to 
5>rotect the rice fields from trespass- 
ers. This will be the duty of the 
federal migatory bird wardens, soon 
do be appointed. The state deputies 
-Trill be able to assist by enforcing the 
rrturulaUons governing shipments.” 
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Original copied by 
Smithsonian Archives 
