. Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture. Agriculture; Agriculture. 12 BULLETIN 205, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. Transportation should be as rapid as possible and the young trees should be set out or heeled in immediately upon receipt. Transplant- ing should be done when the trees are leafless. SWAMP PRIVET. VALUE AS DUCK FOOD. The swamp privet is included principally on account of the testi- mony of numerous hunters as to its usefulness. Wood ducks in particular are said to feed extensively upon its seeds. Weeks before other species of ducks arrive these birds are abundant in the
. Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture. Agriculture; Agriculture. 12 BULLETIN 205, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. Transportation should be as rapid as possible and the young trees should be set out or heeled in immediately upon receipt. Transplant- ing should be done when the trees are leafless. SWAMP PRIVET. VALUE AS DUCK FOOD. The swamp privet is included principally on account of the testi- mony of numerous hunters as to its usefulness. Wood ducks in particular are said to feed extensively upon its seeds. Weeks before other species of ducks arrive these birds are abundant in the country where swamp privet grows and are said to consume most of the crop of seeds, leaving little for other ducks. The seeds have been found in numerous mallard stomachs, but in quantity in only one. DESCREPTION OF PLANT. Swamp privet (For- estiera acuminata) or bois blanc, found in the same kinds of lo- calities as the water elm, is a smooth- barked shrub (some- times a small tree) usually with drooping stems, which fre- quently take root at the tip. The smooth, light-green leaves (fig. 10) are opposite, oval, taper-pointed at both ends, and with rounded serrations which are more prominent on the apical half. The fruit of swamp privet is a blue watery berry from one-half to three-fourths of an inch in length. Greatly subject to insect attack, it is usually distorted. The pit is nearly as long as the berry, pointed at both ends, and has numerous lengthwise, fibrous ridges. The seed within is white and smooth. The flowers, borne in clusters, bloom in March and April, and the fruit is ripe in May and June. As is the case with seeds of the water elm, those of the swamp privet may remain under water for a long period without apparent deterioration. Probably most of the seeds are exposed by the annual lowering of the water level and germinate the summer they are pro- duced. (See fig. 11.) Whether those which fall in deeper water ever. Fig. 10.—Leaves of swamp Please not
Size: 1539px × 1623px
Photo credit: © Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauth, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectagriculture
