6 STORAGE AND GERMINATION OF WILD RICE SEED. 



Good reasons exist for assiiniing that this area can be extended to 

 include all fresh-Avater lakes, as well as swamps and river bogs, where 

 the water does not become stagnant, throughout the whole of North 

 America south of latitude 55° north. Wild rice also grows luxuri- 

 antly along the lower parts of man}- of the rivers of the Atlantic Coast 

 States, the waters of which are affected by the action of the tide to a 

 considerable degree, and consequently contain an appreciable quantitj^ 

 of salt. It has been shown '^ that the maximum degree of concentra- 

 tion of salt water in which wild rice plants can grow successfully is 

 equivalent to a 0.03 normal solution of sodium chlorid. This concen- 

 tration corresponds to 0.1755 per cent by weight of sodium chlorid, 

 which is sufficient to give a slight salty taste to the water. 



HABITAT. 



While it is w^ell recognized that the habitat of the wild rice plant is 

 in shallow fresh water, it is now known that it will grow luxuriantly 

 in water containing little less than two-tenths of 1 per cent of sodium 

 chlorid. Occasional plants have been found growing in water which 

 contained, for short periods at least, nearly double that amount of 

 salt. These facts indicate the possibility of a much wnder range of 

 conditions to which this plant ma}' be subjected without hindering its 

 development. It is not beyond the range of possibility — indeed, it is 

 quite probable — tUat by careful selection plants may be obtained which 

 will thrive on soil that is comparatively dry, at least in places in which 

 the water can be drawn off graduall}" during the latter part of the 

 growing season. 



In September, 1904, Mr. G. C. Worthen, of the Bureau of Plant 

 Industry, collected a cluster of wild rice plants which were growing 

 on the Potomac Flats, near Washington, D. C, in soil which was suf- 

 ficiently dry to permit the use of a 2-horse mowing machine for cutting 

 down the rank growth of vegetation. This was newly made land, and 

 in all pro])ability the seed giving rise to this cluster of plants was 

 pumped in with the dirt from the Potomac River the year previous. 



This amphibious t\'pe once established, it will undoul)tedl3^ carry 

 with it a strain of seed which can withstand considerable drying with- 

 out any marked injury to its vitalit}'. Such being true, the methods 

 and difficulties of propagation from seed would be greatly simplified. 



Simultaneous with establishing an amphibious tj^pe should come the 

 selection of seed plants which are capable of retaining their seed until 

 the larger part of it has reached maturity. These two steps once 

 made, the future of wild rice as a cereal will be assured. 



(> The Salt Water Limits of Wild Rice. Bulletin No. 72, Part II, Bureau of Plant 

 Industiy, United States Department of Agriculture, 1905. 



