190 



THE GAME BREEDER 



"V 



Fig. 5. 



contracts into a spiral, drawing the flower 

 under the water after fertilization. This 

 spiral stem, bearing the flower or pod 

 (f.g. 4), distinguishes wild celery from 

 the plants mentioned above. The seed 

 pod into which the pollenized flower de- 

 velops is straight or curved, a little slend- 

 erer than a common lead pencil, and from 

 3 to 6 inches long (fig. 5). It contains, 

 embedded in a clear jelly, small dark 

 seeds, in number about 50 to the inch. 

 No such pod is borne by any other fresh- 

 water plant. 



Distribution. 



Wild celery occurs naturally from cen- 

 tral Minnesota through the Great Lake 

 region to northern Nova Scotia, and from 

 eastern Kansas and eastern Texas east 

 to the Atlantic coast (fig. 8). Like wild 

 rice, it is of more or less local distri- 

 bution, and consequently may be absent 

 from considerable areas within its gen- 

 eral range. 



Transplanting Wild Cherry. 



While wild celery has not been trans- 

 planted so frequently as wild rice, yet it 

 has been propagated often and in widely 

 separated regions. ( See Fig. 8. ) It is no 

 harder to transplant than wild rice and 

 under proper conditions will undoubtedly 

 grow anywhere in the United States. 



Moreover, it can be propagated both 

 by seeds and by winter buds, and the 

 plant itself may be taken up and set out 

 at almost any time. Floating fragments 

 of the plant with a little of the rootstock 

 attached have been picked up in mid- 

 summer by the writer, and they have 

 rooted and grown successfully. The 

 prime requisites in propagating celery are 



Fig. 6. " 



the same as in the case of rice ; the buds, 

 plants or seeds must not be allowed to 

 dry or to ferment between gathering and 

 planting. The seed pods (fig. 5) ripen 

 from September to November and fall 

 to the bottom. They are best collected 

 (by net or rake) on days when the water 



Fig. 7. 



is least ruffled during the latter half of 

 October and early November. The win- 

 ter buds (fig. 6) may be collected at the 

 same season, before the leaves have dis- 

 appeared, by following the latter down 

 and digging up the rootstocks and buds. 

 Or the young plants just as they sprout 

 in the spring may be taken up. Keep 



