18 WILD rice: its uses and propagation. 



panicle almost invariably accompanies dark purple staminate flowers 

 and a larere amount of that color in the leaf sheath and blade. Color 

 variation is found in the Potomac wild rice, though to a much less 



degree. 



DISEASES. 



So far as has been observed, but one fungous disease seriously 

 affects wild rice. This is a form of ergot (Claviceps, species undeter- 

 mined. PI. IV. tig. 2). This disease has been found widely distributed 

 through the wild-rice helds of northern Minnesota, and though it is 

 seldom abundant, no field was found in which close observation did 

 not reveal its presence. If it occurs in large quantities in any place 

 it is, of course, a decided disadvantage, as the seed is not usually so 

 treated as to make the separation of the sclerotia at all easy, and serious 

 damage might result from the use for food of badly infected seed on 

 account of the poisonous properties of the fungus. 



HARVESTING THE SEED. 



Almost all the wild-rice seed now harvested is gathered by Indians 

 into birch-bark canoes. This is done usually by two persons working- 

 together, one standing in the bow of the canoe and propelling it with 

 a forked stick and the other seated in the stern with two short sticks. 

 by means of which the plants on either side of the canoe are gently 

 pulled over it and the ripe seed beaten off. No attempt is made to 

 get all the seed off the plants at one time. It is customary rather to 

 take only the seed which falls readily and to visit the same plants 

 later as more seeds ripen. The period of ripening extends over nearly 

 two weeks for any field and over several days for any single plant, 

 so that were one to attempt to harvest all the rice on a given area it 

 would be necessary to go over that area at least four or live times at 

 intervals of from two to three days. Recently some attempts have 

 been made to construct machinery for harvesting wild rice seed from 

 boats driven by screw or drawn by cable. So far, however, such 

 endeavors have not been entirely successful. 



It is customary in some sections for the Indians to prepare wild rice 

 for harvesting by going through the field before any of the seed is 

 quite ripe to draw the heads of adjacent plants into bunches, which are 

 firmly tied together, so that the seed, as it ripens, will not fall. This 

 custom, however, is not universal, and is only resorted to when the 

 supply of wild rice is not abundant and it is desirable to gather as 

 much as possible from certain fields. When a portion of a field is so 

 tied up it can be left until after all the untied seed has been harvested 

 or has fallen, and in this way the harvesting period is extended. This 

 preliminary tying is, of course, a tedious operation, and would be 

 expensive were the time of the operator a salable quantity. The 



