12 wild rice: its uses and propagation. 



this point. Here the wild rice was not vigorous and the plants were 

 branched very little, though they grew very thickly and stood 3i to 1 

 feet above the water. 



Sample No. 3 was also taken near Bemidji, Minn., from a locality 

 where the wild rice was very thick and the plants were strong and 

 vigorous and reached 6 feet out of water. The water was 21 inches 

 deep and the bottom very soft for an additional 18 inches, and it was 

 not firm for some distance farther down. 



- Sample No. 1 was taken from a wild-rice bed on the Potomac Flats, 

 Washington, D. C. The water level here changes with the tide and 

 varies from 6 inches below the level of the mud flat to 2i feet above. 

 The mud layer is 6 inches deep, underlaid with sand and gravel. The 

 sample was taken from the 6-inch mud la} T er. The plants averaged 

 about 7 feet in height and were vigorous and healthy. 



Sample No. 5 was taken from another wild-rice bed on the Potomac 

 Flats, Washington, D. C. The water level changes were as in No. 4, 

 but the mud bank was higher, so that the water was only 11 inches 

 deep at high tide. The mud layer had been made from dredging 

 deposits and was 2 feet or more in depth. The plants were about 

 7 feet high, but somewhat less vigorous than those from the locality 

 where sample No. 4 was obtained. 



Samples Nos. 6. 7. and 8 were obtained from a wild-rice bed near 

 Chesapeake Beach, on Chesapeake Bay. These samples were taken to 

 determine the tidewater limits of wild rice or the amount of sea salt 

 the plant can endure. 



Sample No. 6 was taken where wild rice was growing thickly. The 

 plants were vigorous, though rather small, not over 6 feet high and 

 entirely out of water, but the soil was very wet and kept so by fresh- 

 water seepage from a stream above.' . 



Sample No. 7 was taken from near the same place as No. 6, but just 

 outside the limits of the thick growth of wild rice, at a point where a 

 single plant was growing feebly. This probably marks the extreme 

 limit of adaptation of the plant to salty soils. 



Sample No. 8 was obtained a few feet nearer the ba} T than Nos. 6 

 and 7 and where no wild rice was growing, but where the soil was 

 supporting other vegetation. 



Thus while it appeals that wild rice will grow on a wide variety of 

 soils, it needs for its best development approximately the following 

 conditions: 



Soft alluvial soil, covered with from 12 inches to 1 feet of water. 

 The water level should not have an annual variation greater than 18 

 or 20 inches. The water should be constantly freshened by slight 

 movement and consequent aeration. 



