The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1848-02-04
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SUBJECT are gont5 W.
papsu:sa Gssspali Vssr.AscFs-iAs
Commissioper appointed 70 aeso:
tists 4 treaty VIII tis Chippawas.
saws that Il erows sbahdantly in Mi
nesbta.,s and Is better than tile South
ern rice. lie thinks that the ''ber-
RESI- are larger and its favor is bet;
ter,forwhen boiled and stewedo and
left.to cool,it forms consistent mass
like good wheat bread. and more mn
,ritinn,. Any quantity Of. it grows
on all tie lakes in iIatnorthsrn eonn1
try. The ontie.saul baysare filed
with it. I,nipensai" the a,"nth Of
August; andjis llie "a ain, reliance Of
the In,iians during tbs wNttr months
for their sustenances4 ). sa'arr'g
Ii t4is is ttuly'a .valu1blc, plant,
there are thousands Of acres in all
the Northern States where it can De
growa At very small expense. Rice
IS confessedly tl,epnost ,reinunera,ing
crop cultivated at Tie South. One
pianter on the Savannah has rcceiv-
ed $4,000 for lis crop this fall sea-
son. IT grows almost spontaneously;
as the wild rice in Minnesota does al
together, without seeding or cu!-
ture," "a ~ r,srsp. q di..
That this Wild rice is a valuable
production we do not doubt, and it
may vet be used to a great extent by
civilized man. But its flavor is en-
tirely different from that Of the grain
known in commerce as rice. 1t is
coarser in every respect. 1t is about
twice as long as common rice, and
is of very dark color. There is a
sort of coarse branlike husk on the
grain, which cannot be separated by
threshing, ifi can be separated al
all, which We doubt. Thus it does
not present, by being boiled, an ap-
parently homogeneous grain ola far
inaceous nature, like common rice,
a, it appears on the table. 1t has a
peculiar and rather fsley flavor, not
always liked by those who are not
accustomed 70 cat it, bat much rel
ished by many.
II grows very abundantly in many
places near us. 1t may be daily
found in the proper season, almost
any where in the shallow parts Of the
river along Grand Island, or in still
and shallow water along this side Of
Niagara. The wild ducks are well
aware of this fact. In Canada, about
IA miles from Lake Ontario, and 50
below Toronto, is body Of shallow
water, about 20 miles long, called
Rice Lake. There this grain grows
very notwithstanding over a
space of nearly mile long, and more
thanhalfthat width, and the plants
stand as closely together as oats in a
well cultivated field. The squaws
and Indians gather it in their canoes
by holding the heads over the canoe
and beating them with heavy round
sticks They kiln-dry it in their
own way, and then thrash the grain
ont in small hole in the ground, Of
ten lined with deer skin. This is
done BY treading it with the feet or
pounding ii with on Indian pestle---
Just as they choose They think
hatpoundins it is,the hardest work
ofthe two, and some Of them regard
it as an useless experiment introdu-
ced by the white menao But they
generally acknowledge very freely,
inthe abstract, that the feet, should
be covered with MOI asins during t!le
ceremony. " eas t'1'' 10 'a..' I. 81 .'.'
1t is. a; very good ingredient for
soup, and they BOIL i. iadifferently
with fish, yenison, ducks, squirrels,
or muskrats, &c. The last mention
ed animals, when fattencd upon the
rice and killed at'the proper season,
taste as well as squirrels, and woulL
be equally relislied, wercfit not fol
their unfortunate resemblance Il
others Of the same family. The rice
is also very agreeable il eaten viii
maple sugar-of Which the Indian:
sometimes keep small! quantity I'm.
til the rice season. y ''- ...'.l
On the banks Of the Lake may b,
found kind Of grass which We have
not seen elsewhere, and which ap
pears 10 be an imperfect kind of rice
The rice will grow in deep water
say l2or IA feet, but does not Their
bring the grain to maturity. Flock
ofdacks, in astonishing variety an,
number, frequent tue Lake in tn
autumn, and grow SO fat that the
can scarcely raise themselves iron
the water. But they are well awar
Of this misfortune, and manage I
keep out Of the way nearly as We
as at other times. aEfrsl.rH
We do not believe this rice can cy
er become an important article c
commerce.. 1t grows so luxuriantl,
and free from intermixture with 9th