autumn, sinks to the bottom of the pond where it lies dormant in 

 the soft mud during the winter, to sprout and grow with the ad- 

 vent of the vernal sunshine. Wild rice should be sown in ponds 

 having a bottom composed of soft mud, and where the depth of 

 water is from two to four feet. It seems to thrive best in ponds 

 having an outlet, such ponds having more or less of a current, and 

 will not persist in stagnant water. Wild rice is an annual, and should 

 be sown in large quantities to insure success, for wildfowl are very 

 fond of this plant, both seeds and tender shoots, and frequently 

 so thoroughly glean the seeds from the bottom of the pond, that 

 few are left to perpetuate a future harvest. When once thoroughly 

 established it will reproduce plants each season. Sixty pounds of 

 wild rice seed should be sown to the acre. Wild rice will also 

 flourish along the borders of streams, the waters of which are 

 slightly brackish and where there is an ebb and flow of the tide. 



Wild celery seed should be sown in the autumn, or plants ob- 

 tained and set out in the summer months. Wild celery grows best 

 in ponds having a soft, muddy bottom, and where the depth of 

 water is from two to eight feet. It thrives in both fresh and slightly 

 brackish water. The seed-pods are from three to five inches in 

 length and from one eighth, to a quarter of an inch in diameter. 

 These pods should be cut into small pieces, soaked in water until 

 they will sink, or imbedded in balls of mud or clay and dropped 

 from a boat. Sow at the rate of a bushel and a half to the acre. 

 Wild celery is a perennial and propagates itself not only by seed, 

 but also by shoots, or runners, the new plants bearing seed about 

 the third year. 



Wapato plants should be set out during the months of June, 

 July, and August, around the borders of ponds having a thick, 

 muddy bottom, setting the plants in water at least six inches in 

 depth at its lowest mean level, for while these plants will grow in 

 marshy soil, they will not be available as food for wildfowl unless 

 planted where water will cover them during the autumn, when 

 wildfowl visit the ponds in large numbers. Wild ducks in feeding, 

 either dive or tip up and dabble below the surface and pick off 

 the young tubers of these plants of which they are very fond. 



The leaves of the wapato are arrow shaped and the plant attains 



[46] 



