THE CANVAS-BACK DUCK. 409 



That night we divided a pod into one-inch sections, 

 and counted the number of seeds carried in a one-inch 

 length of the pod. We found that the seeds ran about 

 sixty to the inch, and we figured that from this there 

 must be about 500,000 seeds in a quart jar of the pods. 

 It is very probable that there are normally more than 

 sixty seeds to the inch, as the specimens we counted had 

 already partly opened, and perhaps some of the seeds 

 had escaped. The seeds are very minute, slender, and 

 pointed. They resemble ant-eggs, but are very much 

 smaller and a little darker in color. 



From what we saw of the seeds, and their great num- 

 bers, it would appear that the wild celery is a plant 

 which could easily and abundantly be sown and grown 

 in any shallow waters. I have heard of, and I believe in 

 the mention of the Hennepin Club last winter I described, 

 an attempt to plant the wild celery roots. This attempt 

 was, I believe, unsuccessful. I don't believe it is the 

 natural or rational way to plant wild celery, and I think 

 anyone who would tear up the roots of this plant from a 

 water where it was native, would be doing a very unwise, 

 wasteful, and foolish thing. 



The delicacy of flavor found in the canvas-back is 

 lacking in others of the duck species, and epicures pride 

 themselves that, so infallible is their taste, in no pos- 

 sible manner can they be deceived, even going so far 

 as claiming that the locality where a bird has been shot 

 can be told by the flavor of the bird. This peculiar flavor 

 is produced by the wild celery they have eaten. Now, 

 this assertion is not made in an unauthorized manner, for 

 it came within my knowledge, about a year ago, that 

 certain connoisseurs claimed the canvas-backs of the 

 Potomac to be superior to any of the Western birds, and 

 two game dinners were served in New York City, to six 

 persons at each cover, and they were unable to decide, 

 three claiming the Eastern birds much the finer flavored, 

 while the other three could see no difference. The gentle- 

 men who forwarded the Western birds submitted the cor- 



