SS POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



can be with the water removed. Hence an extended and careful study 

 of the crops available for culture in such tracts becomes a pressing 

 necessity. Such a study will of necessity involve years of investigation, 

 both of the practises in countries where some such systems exist and of 

 possibilities under our own conditions of available crops, markets, 

 machiner}', etc. 



A short resume, however, of some of the crops which already have 

 some claim to notice and those which give promise of availability will 

 help to show the possibility and practicability of such a system. 



Among the plant crops which may be mentioned are water cress, 

 which is already an article of considerable commercial value, but prob- 

 ably much less used in this country than elsewhere and doubtless much 

 less than if the supply were increased. Methods of its culture are, 

 of course, well known and would be simply a matter of adaptation to 

 particular areas. The cranberry is also a well-known crop, adapted to 

 bog or swamp conditions and for which there is unlimited demand. 



Some of the marsh grasses, cat tails, rushes and other plants make 

 a most abundant growth, and in association with other crops could no 

 doubt be cultivated to good advantage. The basket willows are of great 

 value and are used extensively in the manufacture of baskets, an indus- 

 try which is capable of much expansion. The pond lily surely offers 

 an opportunity for a most valuable aquatic crop, if systematically culti- 

 vated and harvested, especially in the vicinity of large cities and popular 

 excursion resorts. 



We may mention, also, the development of the industry, based on 

 the slough-grasses of the northwest, including the manufacture of bind- 

 ing twine, mattings or carpetings and furniture. This utilizes an 

 extensive area of wet land, not available for other crops, and which, if 

 retained for this crop, doubtless could be utilized also in the culture 

 of some other more distinctly aquatic crop. Other fiber plants are a 

 possibility. 



Of animal crops which are already known, fish culture is the most 

 extended, but in general this is not reduced to a systematic farming 

 basis. I can recall the furore created some twenty-five or thirty years 

 ago, in connection with the introduction and proposed production of 

 carp, but so far the carp industry in this country is mainly confined 

 to that grown without attention, and gathered indiscriminately by 

 fishermen without reference to any private rights. The market for this 

 fish has, however, greatly increased and in centers where there is a 

 large European population, as in New York City or Chicago, im- 

 mense quantities are sold, and it is claimed that these people prefer 

 carp to other fish which are greater favorites with American tastes. 

 Under other names carp are sold to a considerable extent in our markets 

 and, under such disguises as " smoked sturgeon," may pass as a distinct 



