WRONG KIND OF RICE

Southland Times, Issue 23839, 9 June 1939, Page 5

WRONG KIND OF RICE

NOT SUITABLE FOR WILD DUCK WELLINGTON SOCIETY’S EXPERIMENT “Wild rice” was the subject of a good deal of laughter at last night’s meeting of the council of the Southland Acclimatization Society, when a

letter from the Wellington Society was received on the subject. The letter, which was in reply to a request from the Southland Society for information on any experience the Wellington body might have had with the planting of “wild rice” was signed by Mr E. I. C. Wiffin, secretary of the Wellington Society, who stated that his society’s one and only effort was made some years ago when it procured “wild rice” seed from overseas, and planted it in a lagoon on Mr W. H. Field’s property at Paraparaumu. “A few years later,” he added, “we paid a visit of inspection to the iagoon and found that the rice had grown well, but was of an extraordinary height, somewhere about nine to 10 feet high.” At this stage of the reading of the letter there was much laughter, during which the secretary, Mr D. Cuthbertson, observed that the ducks could “take it on the wing.” “It gave no evidence of seeding,” the letter continued, “which prompted us to make inquiries about this particular plant, and we learned that we had been supplied with the wrong kind of seed, which was totally unsuited for duck feed. For your information, however, Mr W. A. R. Jones, our present chairman of the Qame Committee, has arranged with an officer on one of the San Francisco liners to bring him out a few pounds of the right kind of seed which, is used for duck feed in America. It is our intention to experiment with this, and should the experiment be successful we would be pleased to let you know the result if you so desire.” The letter was received.