168 
bottom or in water where the seed will be con- 
stantly disturbed by strong currents. 
Previous to this time, save in a few reported 
cases, the seed which was allowed to dry during 
the winter and was sown the following spring gave 
only negative results. It is now definitely known 
that wild rice, if properly handled, can be stored 
during the winter without impairing the quality of 
germination to any appreciable degree, and that 
it can be sown the following spring or summer with 
good success. 
The vitality of wild rice seed is preserved 
almost perfectly if kept wet in cold storage— 
nature’s method of preservation. This method of 
storage implies that the seed has been properly 
harvested and cared for up to the time of storage. 
The seed should be gathered as soon as mature, 
put loosely into sacks (preferably burlap) and sent 
at once to the cold-storage rooms. If the wild rice 
fields are some distance from the cold-storage 
plant the sacks of seed should be sent by express, 
and unless prompt delivery can be guaranteed, it 
is not advisable to send by freight even for com- 
paratively short distances. It is very important 
that the period between the time of harvesting and 
' the time when the seed is put into cold storage be 
as short as possible. If this time is prolonged to 
such an extent as toadmit of much fermentation 
or to allow the seed near the outside of the bags to 
become dry during transit, its vitality will be greatly 
lowered. 
It is not practicable to give any definite length 
of time which may elapse between harvesting and 
storing, inasmuch as the temperature, humidity 
and general weather conditions, as well as the 
methods of handling the seed, must be taken into 
consideration. Let it suffice to say, however, that 
the vitality of the seed will be the stronger the 
sooner it is put into cold storage after harvesting. 
As soon as the seed is received at the cold-storage 
plant, while it is still fresh and before fermentation 
has taken place, it should be put into buckets, open 
barrels or vats, covered with fresh water and placed 
at once in cold storage. If there is present a con- 
siderable quantity of light immature seed or straw, 
broken sticks, etc., it will be profitable to separate 
this from the good seed by floating in water pre- 
paratory to storing. The storage room should be 
maintained at a temperature just above freezing— 
what the storage men ‘usually designate as the 
“chill room.” 
When taken from cold storage in the spring the 
seed must not be allowed to dry out before planting, 
as a few days’ drying will destroy every embryo. 
Seed which was stored under the foregoing con- 
ditions (temperature 32—34° F.) from October Io, 
1903, to November 15, 1904, 393 days, germinated 
from 80 to 88 per cent. Another lot of seed, which 
was stored on October 6, 1904, and tested for 
vitality on April 17, 1905, germinated 79.8 per 
cent. 
From the foregoing it will be seen that none 
but the best of freshly harvested seed should be 
bought for planting purposes, and that it should 
be hurried immediately to a cold-storage house. 
Do not, therefore, buy seed from any one adver- 
¢ 
RECREATION 
tising to have it ‘in stock” but rather arrange 
with some one in the wild rice country to have as 
many bags as are desired gathered and ex- 
pressed straight from the marsh to the storage 
house. It can be shipped or stored for a short 
time in small burlap bags, packed in slatted 
boxes with dampened excelsior or sphagnum 
moss. But care must be taken that the box is 
not packed too tight. There must be some 
slight circulation of air or fermentation will 
immediately set in. So packed, the seed may 
be four or five days in transportation and come 
through safely. 
We do not know any one who could be relied 
upon to gather and ship the rice properly, but 
in all probability Mr. E. P. Jaques, Aitkin, 
Minn., could arrange with the Indians for a 
supply, if parties interested would write him. 
If he could be prevailed upon to do the job him- 
self it would be well, but it is quite certain that 
both he and his son Lee will be in search of 
better sport about the time the rice is ripe. 
Drift of Bullets 
A correspondent has asked for an explanation 
of the causes of drift. This somewhat obscure 
phenomenon is the lateral motion of the bullet, 
caused by the spin imparted to it by the rifling 
and the resistance of the air. A bullet fired 
from a smooth bore does not drift, neither 
would a bullet if it were fired in vacuo. 
With bullets having rounded heads, such as 
the usual service bullets of the great military 
nations, the drift is to the left with left-hand 
rifling, and to the night with right-hand rifling; 
other things remaining unchanged, the greater 
the twist the greater the drift. At short ranges, 
where the trajectory is nearly flat, the drift is 
nearly imperceptible; but at extreme ranges, 
owing to the greater curvature of the trajectory 
and to the fact that the bullet has lost but little 
of its spin, though its forward velocity is greatly 
diminished, the drift always increases rapidly. 
The most reasonable explanation of the way 
in which the spin of the bullet and the resistance 
of the air produce drift is here given; but no 
definite proof exists as to its correctness. It is 
stated here, not as an established law, but to 
let the reader know what the probable cause is 
thought to be. It is. known as the “rolling 
theory.”” When the rifle is fired at a distant 
object on the same level, the axis of the barrel 
is directed above the object at the instant the 
bullet leaves the muzzle, consequently, the 
axis of the bullet starts in this line, but when 
the bullet arrives at the object, it is found to be 
pointing slightly downward, practically parallel 
to the trajectory. This change of direction of 
