420 
riments to ascertain tlie value of this rice for general cultivation and use, 
and also whether it is susceptible of improvement by artificial treatment. 
Though it has been known since the days of Linnaeus, and though it is 
found in most of the streams from the Atlantic coast (where it flourishes 
in brackish water,) to the Rocky Mountains, it seems not, until very 
recently, to have attracted any considerable degree of attention.* 
This very elegant grass is found throughout our State, as well as in 
Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, and Minnesota. It affords sus¬ 
tenance for the numerous flocks of birds that annually pass Wisconsin 
on their way to the warmer regions of the south. Cattle are very fond 
of their soft juicy culms and leaves, and often wade far into the water 
to obtain them. The difficulty of cutting hay in water two feet deep, 
will be readily understood ; I am not aware of its having been attempted 
but once, when a woman was engaged in the water (her skirts floating 
on the surface) gathering the hay. 
It is undoubtedly an annual plant, and must be raised from the seed 
each year, though botanists have usually expressed some doubts on this 
subject. If we may judge from the processes of nature, we would sug¬ 
gest that the seed be planted immediately after it ripens, and in water 
not stagnant nor flowing with much current. The large awn probably 
.assists the seed in burying itself in the soft mud. 
Figure 4, plate II., represents one of the anthers of the wild rice dis¬ 
charging the minute grains with which they are filled, called pollen. In 
this species, where the pistillate, or grain-bearing flowers, are above the 
staminate, these little grains are specifically lighter than the atmospheric 
air, which causes them to rise when discharged from the anther like so 
many little balloons, and come into contact with the stigmas. In Zea 
mais, or Indian corn, the pollen grains are heavier than the air, and fall 
upon the styles (called the silk), which are consequently placed below 
the staminate flowers, or the tassel. Such are the beautiful adaptations 
every where found in the works of the Great Creator. 
The pollen grains of the Zizania aquatica are nearly globular, and are 
go small that six hundred of them, placed side by side, would only extend 
one inch ; and a cubic inch would contain two hundred and sixteen mil- 
• See ante, p. 264. 
