Show EEDS UPON bobolink a common summer Resi resident derit in northern states FEEDS MAINLY ON INSECTS alto also devour devours many weed seed seeds in accurate grading cause of much loe loss to weiten western weite n wool grow er ers remedy la Is suggested irre prepared pared by the united state states depart ment of the bobolink rico rice bird or reed bird Is 18 a common summer resident of th the e united states north of 0 about latitude e 40 degrees and from new england westward to the great plains winter inter ing beyond our sout southern Lern border in new england there are few fe birds about which so much romance clue ai as this rollicking songster ally associated vve sunny june meadows inea dows but in trie south there are none on whose bead nad so many maledia tibne have been leaped leaved on account of its fondness for rice during its sojourn in the northern states it feed mainly avin in ecta and seeds of useless but while atle rear ing if its young insects constitute ita its chief food and d almost the exclusive diet of tta its brood after the young are a able ble to fly the whole family gather gathers 1 into to a small flock and begins to live I 1 I 1 X bobolink rice bird or reed read bird length about seven inches almost entirely upon vegetable food this consists for the most part of weed seeds since in the north these birds do not appear to attack grain to any great extent they eat a faw few oats cats but their stomachs do not reveal a great qua quantity entity of this or any other grain n As the season advances they gather luto into large flocks and move mote southward until by the end of august nearly all have left their breeding grounds on their Y ray yay ay they fre frequent quert the reedy marshes inars hes about the mouths of rivers and on the inland waters of the coast region and subsist largely upon wild rice in the middle states during their southward migration they are commonly known as reed birds and becoming very fat are treated as game formerly when hen the low marshy shores abores of the carolinas Caroll nas and some of the more southern states were ere de voted to rice culture the bobolinks made maide great havoc both upon the sprouting rice in spring and upon the ripening grain on their return migra tion in the fall with a change in the rice railing rafting districts however this damage la Is no longer done doue operative cooperative co marketing of wool serious losses are often suffered by the flock master because of improper method methods of handling the clip west ern wool growers are paid lower prices than foreign producers because of inaccurate briding in recent years they have made come some ad van cement in clipping and assort ing fleeces as shown by cleaner clips being offered for sale in some localities in the west somo some of the tte large sheep breeders ass assoria ocla tlona have officially recommended certain changes in the handling of w ool by the grov it ie Is estimated that improper methods of preparing the wool for shipment cost the flock master from one to three cente tents I 1 pound for the manufacturer ie is frequently put io 0 o an extra expense against which at 0 course be he protects protect himself by lowering the price to the grower gronn er to TeL attly this condition some form of co operation cooperation among wool grocers grow era in any given region glon is to urged 1 in a new publication of the depart ment of agriculture bulletin 20 the wool grower and the wool trade the individual alone can do little to t improve matters for his all clip p Is likely to be too small to induce the buy era erg lo 10 make any alteration tn in their accustomed methods of at estimating wool values with t eo operation however it should be possible to prepare prep are the entire clip of any so that the ibe reputation of ita its wool would cold be enhanced and the growers obtain the full market value of their product A sufficient number of wool growers should be included in each co opera gilve association to enable at it least 4 or pound pounds at e each of the various rations araie amoes to be ir at feted at one time cooperation CO will of course do littie little good bo however werver unless the d aist grosc follow imp improved td m rhods of handling the dip AB an kastance Ja stance 0 of the present low trice price of 0 american wool 9 A compared with sith foreign 16 I 1 given la in the bulletin already mentioned two tote Ws of woo of the same guide one of thee from idaho and the other from Aust australia mils we vere pur chased by a 11 e erth er th american at lit 19 cent cents a yowl aul to tb ua feign 1 a out at S cents A ft a pound before scouring in tat american fleece the kind of at woo ool that this manu manufacturer fac really vi anted amounted to 86 79 per coat cent ot of tre total in the th e foreign fleece to 98 98 94 per cent A more accurate syntell ot of grading had given thin this manufacturer 12 per cent more of ft hat he wanted than the american method methods in con sequence quence ec the foreign sheep growe grovet got the larger price tor for his hi fleece the manufacturer paid for the ln im ported wool mool 28 cents a lound and foi fat the domestic wool ool Is 18 ante I 1 pound a difference of 91 94 j cents D B the time shrinkage off art sorts etc had been deducted however hoever the cost per clean pound to the manlutac of the wool ho he wante antel 1 was as cents for the american fleece ani aril 44 69 cents for the Import eda a differ ence 0 of only 3 37 cents it may ba hail cost the foreign grower a little morl to prepare his fleece but he more than recovered this in the higher price he sold it for the bulletin suggests eug getts 16 15 rules tor for the ool grower groer which it Is said no one can afford to neglect if it ho he li Is at all solicitous of the reputation of his clip these rules are 1 adhere to a nettled policy paltry ot of breeding the cypa of sheep suitable to the locality 2 sack back lambs ewes eves ael bersand all buck or very oily fleeces sepa bately r a tely if it the bucks or part of the ewes ees or nethers have wool of at widely different kind from the remaina 11 ol 01 the flocie hear shear such separately and put the wool ool in separate sacks so marked 3 shear all black sheep at one time preferably last and put the wool ool in separate sacks 4 remove and sack separately all tags and then allow no tio tag discount upon the clip as a hole whole have slatted floors in the hold ing pens 6 je ilse a smooth light and bird glazed preferably paper twine tine 7 securely knot the string on each fleece 8 turn sacks wrong side out ind shake well ell before filling 9 keep wood dry at all times 13 make blake the brands on the sheep as a a I 1 small as possible and use a brand ing 1 g material that hii scour oat out 11 know the aad and 1 ot of byoir wool and price it accordingly 12 do not sweat excessively before shearing 13 keep the corral sweepings ovi out ot of the wool 14 do nut sell the wool beform it Is grown 15 16 when all these rules tules are fol loed lowed place your personal pe brand at 0 your nair 3 apol the bags or bales |