NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



883 



products. Of these the husks have not only no feeding value, but are 

 actually injurious to stock. 



Rice bran has been used with considerable success as one ingredient 

 in the ration of horses and mules in Louisiana, though it does not seem 

 a suitable food for cows ; and both the bran and what is called the 

 "polish," with skim milk, have been found good for fattening pigs. 

 Neither are, however, very palatable to animals on account of the large 

 percentage of oil they contain, which easily becomes rancid. 



It is suggested that this objection might be removed either by sub- 

 jecting the bran as soon as made to a heat of 200 Fahr. and pressing the 

 material into a cake, which would remove all danger of rancidity, or by 

 removing part of the oil, which is in excess of what is required for feeding 

 purposes, and would have considerable commercial value when removed. 



M. L. II. 



Rice, Wild : Its Uses and Propagation. By Edgar Brown and 

 Carl S. Scofiold (U.S.A. Dep. Agr. Bur. PL Bid., Ihdl. No. 50, 1003; 

 plates). — The Department has been so often applied to for information 

 which should ensure successful planting of Wild Rice, Zizania aquatica, 

 that careful inquiries have been instituted, and this bulletin is published 

 as the result. 



The Wild Rice plant grows naturally in several districts of North 

 America, more especially along the Lower Potomac River and in the 

 State of Minnesota, and thrives best in the muddy bottoms of fresh-water 

 lakes, in river marshes where the water is just not stagnant, and at the 

 mouths of streams where the fresh water meets the salt. The grain has 

 been parched and eaten by the Indians at least as long as anything has 

 been known of their customs, and it is valuable as a food for wild fowl. 

 It is now suggested that it might take its place as one of the many 

 American breakfast cereals. So far, white men have not been very suc- 

 cessful even in harvesting it, though the Indians do not seem to find this 

 a difficult process ; and attempts to sow it in places where it does not 

 naturally exist have hitherto proved almost entire failures. The results 

 of these official investigations, however, prove that it is the treatment of 

 the seed which has been in fault. It has always been carefully dried 

 after being gathered and sown in spring, whereas it should either be kept 

 all the winter in water which is constantly renewed to prevent fermenta- 

 tion, or, if this is considered too troublesome, it should be sown as soon 

 as gathered in the autumn, without ever being allowed to dry. Careful 

 botanical descriptions are given of the plant and of the various functions 

 of its parts, and chemical analyses are given of soils from Wild Rice beds, 

 to show their general nature and how large an admixture of salt tide-water 

 the plants will bear with impunity. — M. L. H. 



Richardia ' Mrs. Roosevelt.' Anon. (Gard. Mag. 2619, p. 44; 

 9/1/04). — This is said to be a new hybrid Bichardia or Calla, the result 

 of intercrossing B. albo-maculata and B. Elliottiana. The photograph 

 of the plant under field culture shows how floriferous it is. The spathes 

 are lemon-yellow, and the foliage is spotted with white. Though descriU.'i 

 as hardy, the raisers state that it is not more hardy than the Potato, and 

 therefore is a greenhouse plant. — W. G. 



m m 2 



