USEFUL WILD PLANTS 



Eice (or Wild Oats, as the seed was as often but 

 improperly called) in fighting hunger through the 

 long, remorseless, northern winters. 



The food value of Wild Rice is high. It is rich in 

 carbohydrates (starch and sugar) and is also well 

 stocked with flesh-producing proteids. Indeed, as a 

 nutrient, it seems quite in the class of its cousin, the 

 cultivated rice; and, like the latter, it swells w^ith 

 boiling, so that a little goes a long way. The Indians 

 use it generally in mixture with stews. If cooked 

 alone, two parts of water to one of rice is the usual 

 proportion, and from a half to an entire hour is re- 

 quired for boiling it. White people who test Wild 

 Eice usually pronounce it palatable, particularly in 

 the form of a mush served with cream and sugar, 

 and Mr. Jenks reports a wilderness soup made of 

 "Wild Eice and blueberries that sounds as if it ought 

 to be good even in New York. 



Two other water plants should be noted for their 

 valuable edible seeds. One is the Water Chinqua- 

 pin, mentioned in the previous chapter because of 

 its useful roots, but which owes its popular name 

 to the more obvious virtue of its palatable, nutlike 

 seeds. These, boiled or baked, are considered by 

 many the equal of chestnuts. The other is the Great 

 Yellow Pond Lily of the northwestern Pacific Coast 



48 



