1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



569 



MADELEINE AND OSBAND PEARS. 



The first of these outlines, the Madeleine, is a 

 jiear hardly of the medium size, but one of the most 

 refreshing and excellent of the early pears, and 

 Downing sajs the best at the time of its ripening, 

 which is before the Bloodgood. It takes its name 

 from its being m perfection, in France at the feast 

 of St. Madeleine. The tree is fruitful and -vigorous, 

 ■\rith long erect olive-colored branches. 



Elliott, in his fruit book, says, our Eastern po- 

 mologists class this pear as "best," but that the 

 specimens he had tasted have not merited more 

 than to be "very good." American. Native of 

 Montgomery Co., Perm. 



Madeleine, Citron des Carmes. Rather small ; 

 long turbinate ; greenish lemon yellow, seldom a 

 brownish cheek ; stem long, stout ; calyx small, 

 nearly even with the surface ; flesh whitish, melt- 

 ing, juicy, of sweet delicate flavor. 25 July to Au- 

 gust 10. Tree very vigorous and productive. The 

 best very early ])ear, yet it is liable to lilight in tree 

 and very little in fruit. Does well both on the 

 pear and quince. Ripen in the house. Foreign. 



Osband's SliMiMKR, Summpr Virgalim. Small 

 medial; obovate; clear yellow, green dots, red 

 cheek ; stem an inch long, stout in a slight cavity ; 

 calyx large, basin shallow, flesh white, juicy, of a 

 rich sugary, slightly musky flavor. 10 or' 15 to 

 30 Aug. Popular in "Western N. Y. Barry says. 



"Invariably first-rate." Productive. Does equally 

 well on ])ear or quince. We find it a good grower. 

 Origin near Palmjra, N. Y. 



For the Neic England Farmer. 



WILD RICE. 



OR THE ZIZANA AQUATICA, OF PUKSH. 

 BY S. P. FOWLER. 



The natural productions of our country, unknown 

 as they were to our early travellers and historians, 

 seem to have especially attracted their notice, and 

 they became very early acquainted with two of our 

 staple productions — viz ; Indian corn and tobacco. 

 At a somewhat later period, there was another in- 

 digenous plant, whose discovery by our northern 

 travellers Avas thought to be important, and the 

 most sanguine expectiitions were entertained that it 

 would soon take its place among the cultivated ce- 

 real grains, and become, as Pinlvcrton, when s])eak- 

 ing of this interesting plant, says, the bi-ead corn of 

 the North. I here allude to the Wild liice, some- 

 times called the Canada Rice, Water Oats, Indian 

 Rice, and Minnesota Rice. I will here quote the 

 relation of but one of many northern travellers, to 

 show the high expectations raised by the discovery 

 of this plant. In speaking of the Wild Rice as 

 seen by him one hundred years since, he says, — 

 "This grain, Avhich grows in the greatest plenty 

 throughout the interior pai'ts of North America, is 

 the most valuable of all the spontaneous productions 

 of that country. In future periods it will be of 

 great service to the infant colonics, as it will afford 

 them a present support, until, in the course of cul- 

 tivation, other supplies . may be ])roduced. We 

 need not inform the reader of this article, that the 

 high expectations, thus early raised in regard to 

 the cultivation of the A\'ild Rice have not as yet 

 been realized ; although of late it has attracted 

 some notice, audit is said, some successful attempts 

 at cultivation have been made. It is found grow- 

 ing in the shallow lakes and streams of Michigan, 

 Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and in the valley of 

 the upper Mississipjji and Missouri. It is gathered 

 in large quantities l)y the Indians, principalh' by 

 the females, when ripe, which is in Scpteml)er, in 

 the following manner. They first ])repare their ca- 

 noe by cleaning it, and making it })erfectly water- 

 tight, and then shove it into the field of rice, bend- 

 ing the stalks in handfuls over the side of the ca- 

 noe, and beat out the rice with paddles." The \\'ild 

 Rice is found in Massachusetts growing at the edg- 

 es of our ponds and shallow streams. W'c have 

 seen it in a brook running into Pleasant I'ond in 

 Wenham, in the county of Essex, and in other ])la- 

 ces. The seeds are blackish, and about three-quar- 

 ters of an inch long; within, they arc white and 

 farinaceous. It would seem by what has been said 

 and written of the valuable ])roj)erties of the Ziza- 

 na, that it merits some attention from our farmers, 

 with a view of cultivating it, and although the \\'ild 

 Rice is strictly an aquatic i)lant, we see no reason 

 why it may not be cultivated in an upland soil suc- 

 cessfully, as it is well-liuown that many water i)lants 

 will soon accommodate themselves to a compara- 

 tively dry soil, and thrive. Several years since, I 

 received from one of the western States a quantity 

 of the Wild Rice seed, which was ])rocured from 

 an Indian, which was planted in a suitable soil, but 

 thev tailed to vegetate. The reason of their fail- 



