Report or THE BorvTANIST. 37 
those fit for food. Having made trial of it, I do not hesitate to say 
that in tenderness of substance and agreeableness of flavor it stands 
in the first rank. The only thing that detracts from its value is its 
small size, it being usually scarcely more than one inch in breadth, 
though under favorable circumstances it sometimes attains a diame- 
ter of three inches. Its bright red color and brittle substance make 
it a fungus easily recognized. It is abundant in the North woods, 
the favorite habitat of many of our valuable species. 
Among the culinary vegetables held in high esteem among the 
Chinese, says Dr. Hance, is one called by them ‘aw sun, or “cane 
shoots,” which consists of the white solid base of the stem of a grass, 
Hydropyrum latifolium, closely related to our Indian rice, Zizania 
aquatica. It is said by the writer to be one of the most agreeable 
and nicest of vegetables, and to possess a peculiar richness and deli- , 
cacy of flavor. He also suggests an examination of our similar 
American plant to see if it may not yield a similar valuable product. 
My investigations, instituted in accordance with this suggestion, 
were not rewarded by the desired discovery. The nearest approach 
to it that was found is a tender white basal part in the young 
offshoots or suckers of the main stem. This tender portion is pala- 
table, and, like its Chinese relative, bears some resemblance in its 
flavor to boiled green corn, but the quantity produced is too insig- 
nificant to be of any value. The main stems are fibrous and hollow 
to the base. 
Having had occasion to visit the celebrated Montezuma marshes 
in quest of botanical specimens, I could not view with indifference 
the enormous growth of luxuriant herbaceous vegetation that covered 
this extensive area of marsh land. Rushes and sedges, reed-grasses 
and flags, from six to ten feet high, and that too in dense, wide- 
spreading patches, could not fail to impress the mind with the belief 
that the capacity of the soil of these marshes for the production of 
plants is truly wonderful. Enriched as it has been by the deposition 
of ages and by the decay of crop after crop of marsh vegetation, its 
present productions are an indication that there lieystored;up here 
elements of wealth more precious than mines of gold. The simple 
question is, how can they be made available? IPfthe ordinary method 
of drainage is not practicable, might not‘a'system of dyking and 
siphon drainage be adopted with advantage? If no system of drain- 
age can be made profitable, and we must wait for the siow processes 
of nature to bring about the desired result, may not more that is 
