WILD LIFE — CHAMBLISS 371 



bulbs of plants tliat might be useful in the gardens, fields, and forests 

 of Europe. Probably the most noted among them was Peter Kalm. 

 Shortly after his return to Sweden he published in 1751 a small 

 octavo pamphlet of 48 pages,* containing "a comprehensive summary 

 of his observations on the habitat, use, and care of American plants 

 which he considered of sufficient economic importance to warrant ex- 

 perimental introduction into Sweden." In the text Kalm says: "I 

 have chosen this means to give an index and short account of some 

 of the useful plants [a total of 126 species] the seeds of which I 

 brought home wth me from North America where I made a journey 

 at the command of the Royal Academy of Science." 



In reference to wild rice, which is included in this collection, he 

 records : "In North America where the plant grows wild, it is used as 

 food by all the savage nations, who yearly collect quantities. Wild 

 ducks are particularly delicious when the rice is ripe, for at that time 

 they live on it almost entirely. If we could succeed in getting this 

 rice to grow and ripen here we would have gained a great deal, for 

 the wettest places would become as productive as fields if the plant 

 would stand our winters. Cattle are more than greedy for the leaves 

 and stalks. The greatest difficulty will be to find a method of sowing 

 seeds so they will germinate. We still know very little about nature's 

 method of sowing the seeds of plants growing in water." 



This attempt to introduce this wild plant into Europe was likely a 

 failure, for Lambert, in a paper presented before the Linnaean Soci- 

 ety of London in 1804, states that "the seed of [this species] Zizania 

 aquatica in a vegetating state from America was long a desideratum 

 among the botanists of this country ; for although seeds were received 

 here at different times, yet none of them grew. At last. Dr. Nooth 

 by the desire of Sir Joseph Banks sent them from the lakes of Canada 

 put up in jars of water. As soon as they arrived they were sown in a 

 proper situation, where they came up in a few days and the plants 

 ripened their seeds extremely well in the autumn." This miportation 

 of seed was made in 1791. 



Resident collectors, among whom may be mentioned Bartram and 

 Clayton, also aided in this work and in addition supplied the bota- 

 nists of the continent with material that greatly enriched the herbaria 

 of many botanical centers of the Old World. In this way a specimen 

 of manomin, called wild rice by the white man, got to Europe, where 

 in 1753 it was described and named Zizania aquatica by the Swedish 

 botanist Linnaeus. Until then the "good berry" plant was unknown 

 to botanists, although for centuries it had fed many tribes of wild 



* Larsen, Esther Louise, Peter Kalm's short account of the natural position, use, and 

 care of some plants, of which the seeds were recently brought home from North America 

 for the service of those who take pleasure in experimenting with the cultivation of the 

 same in our climate. Agr. Hist., vol. 13, pp. 34, 43—14, ll»S9. 



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