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Show I oo PRAIRIE CHICKENS FpD BY FARMERS FARGO, N. D., March IS. Thou-sawJp Thou-sawJp of North Dakota farmers have been feeding prairie chickens during the past winter, as a means of ton-ser.'ng ton-ser.'ng what is considered the iiiost important wild bird in the siate. Spaces about 100 feet square have been l ept clear of snow, comparitive-lly comparitive-lly close to houses and barns, and ta-ble ta-ble crumbs, screenings and grain .scat-ttored .scat-ttored (hereon daily and the wild birds ' were fed as regularly as barnyard fowls. Steward Lockwood, of the facui y of thr North Dakota Agricultural co'kge, made us investigation and determined ;that the prairie chicken annually cats I many times its weight in insects. The crops of birds killed were found filled with hundreds of insects, j This led to the passage of a game !law limiting the open season on prai-Irio prai-Irio chickens to one month, from Sep-lerjbr Sep-lerjbr 16 to October 1G. rigidly en-I en-I foivd, while the farmers of their own j volition united in an effort to prevent: ! their slaughter by anyone. No one' I may bag more than five a day. Then Mr Lockwood recommended th?l the birds bo fed during tho win-j ler months lo save the lives of the wenkci birds, and because past experience- has shown that prairie chickens chick-ens thus winter-fed remain on that particular par-ticular farm during the ensuing growing grow-ing season. .nn l |