1074 WILD RICE GATHERERS OF UPPER LAKES [ ETH. ANN. 19 
the ease of wild rice, their want was due not to overproduction and 
underdistribution, but to underproduction, 
In 1820 Edward Tanner wrote: ‘‘One family ordinarily makes about 
five sacks of rice [5 bushels]; but those who are industrious some- 
times make twenty-five—though this is very rare.”* At Pelican 
Lake, Wisconsin, they gather about 12 or 15 bushels per family. 
They could gather more ‘‘if they did not spend so much time feasting 
and dancing every day and night during the time they are here for 
the purpose of gathering.”* In the following table (A) an attempt is 
made to show the state of wild rice production between the years 1852 
and 1898. 

1 Edward Tanner, Detroit Gazette, December 8, 1820. 
2 Motzfeldt, letter, December 3, 1898, 
