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ZU REPORT OF THE FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 
character of the deer killed. This section has prevented the kilhng of 
many does and has enabled the deputies, who enforce the law, to bring 
into the court many violators, who thought their act could not be traced. 
Ducks. Duck hunting during the 1916-1917 season was excellent in 
all parts of the state frequented by ducks. The benefits of the Federal 
Migratory Bird Law were realized in the bag limits that were secured. 
Last season, shooting was not up to expectations and on account of the 
very open, storm-free winter, the bulk of the birds stayed in the Sacra- 
mento Valley, there being no water to attract them further south and 
no storms to force them to more southern locations. In spite of the 
contrary season there were a great many birds killed. 
Just after the duck and goose season closed many complaints were 
received by the Fish and Game Commission from the vicinity of Tulare 
Lake, to the effect that geese were destroying the newly sprouted grain. 
There were many requests from the hunters and a very few from the 
farmers that the season be extended, so that the fields could be pro- 
tected. As a matter of fact, geese do very little, if any, damage to 
vrowing grain. Where the country is not water soaked, the cropping 
they do is a decided advantage as it inereases the number of stalks in 
the stool, thereby inereasing the yield ef grain. Where there is 
standing water on sprouting grain, damage will be done, but it is a 
question of whether the most damage is done by the birds or by the 
water. In all probability, water standing on alkali land will kill the 
grain quicker than will the puddling of the geese. That no serious 
damage was done in this section is proved by the following clippings 
from a Fresno paper: 
CorRcORAN, July 13.—The Forrest Riley harvesting crews on Monday finished the 
harvest of 2,100 acres of wheat and 700 acres of barley on the Harvester Ranch, 
owned by Garfield Jones of Los Angeles. 
Approximately 42,000 sacks of wheat and 11,000 sacks of barley, 53,000 sacks ‘in 
all, have been threshed. At the present market price, the crop grossly is worth 
$175,000. The yield as a whole is one of the best ever recorded over a large tract 
in the Tulare Lake country. It is estimated that Jones’ net profit on the grain crop 
will not be less than $125,000. 
The entire crop of the Harvester Ranch has been purchased by Norcross and Walsh, 
one of the biggest grain transactions in the history of the Corcoran district.—Fresno 
republican, July 17, 1918. 
Corcoran, July 13.—What is believed to be the heaviest field of wheat in the lake 
district this year is being harvested this week by W. F.. Turner and C. von Glahn on 
the Carroll W. Gates’ section of El Rico. Harvesting began Tuesday and 245 sacks 
of mixed wheat and barley were cut from the first eight acres, averaging more than 
thirty and one-half sacks or about sixty-two bushels. 
“T believe the average will hold good throughout the 960 acres,” said Turner. ‘The 
result is due to initial preparation of the land and irrigation at the right time. I look 
for not less than 30,000 sacks from the section and a half, worth at present prices, 
about $132,000."—Fresno Republican, July 14, 1918. 
The ranches mentioned above were two which reported most damage 
by geese. 
The question of ‘‘ducks vs. rice’’ is, perhaps, more serious, but the 
damage that may be done by them is greatly overestimated. It is 
customary to blame everything on ducks—a wind may shake out the 
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