The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1855-01-13

GUM MEsoUrTE.-A valuable discovery, says a
Southern paper, has recently been made in
Texas of the medicinal and adhesive qualities
of the Gum Mesquite. surgeon of the army
has written letter descriptive of the article,
which has been very generally published in the
papers. 1t is said to possess most of the pro-
perties of Gum Arabic. Major Heintzelman
who has lately returned from the Colorado re-
gion of California, furnishes the following in
teresting information in relation to the tree
and its product 1.-THE Mesquite Tree grows
on the Colorado river in California, in New
Mexico and in Sonora, as we'll as in many 9TH
er parts of Mexico. There are two varieties,
the screw bean and the pod bean, found on the
Colorado. The similarity of its gum to Gum
Arabic, was noted there, and it was used medi-
cally in the Hospital at Fort Yuma. The tree,
however possesses other more valuable quail
ties. 1t is species Of acacia. The two kinds
differ somewhat in appearance the trunk and
branches of the screw bean being straightcr
and not spreading so wide as the pod The
bean or pod of this resembles the thread of a
screw, hardly so large as the barrel of an Or
binary goose-quill, and three or four of them
rising from one stem. The other is an ordinary
pod. Both are excellent food for cattle, and
the principal food of the Indians. The pod
bean begins to ripen the early part of June :;
the screw a little later. The Indians eat it be-
lore it ripens, when it is still astringent, and
move their lodges into its groves for the wo-
men to collect the beans and prepare them for
winter. 1t is a feast time for them. A kind of
conical basket is made of arrow wood and
plcced in the ground in this the women pound
the pods with wooden pestle. The flour is
afterwards dried and placed in earthen vessels
for future use, and eaten as bread. When the
pods are first prepared, the Indians mix the
-four with water to the desired consistcnce. AS
many as can get around the vessel seat them
selves ON the ground, and scoop its contents up
with the fingers placed together in the form of
spoon. The juice has a saccharine taste, not
unpleasant, and is highly relished by the saw
ages. The screw bean has been boiled down
into syrup by the whites, and makes a
tolerable substitute for molasses. A failure of
the Mesquite crop would occasion famine
among the Indians of the Colorado. The Mes
quite has yellow blossom, with fragrance SIM
liar to that ofthe jessamine. A grove of young
Mosquitoes at a distance resembles peach Or
chard The trees on the Colorado are small,
with a short trunk and crooked branches The
wood is hard, susceptible OF high polish, and
suitable for small articles of furniture. In So
nora it is said to grow much larger. As fuel,
it is superior to hickory 1t grows on the bot
tom lands of the Colorado and ella rivers, on
New River, and ON all the low places of the
Colorado and Sonora deserts. The branches
are thorny, but are eaten with avidity by
mules and without this valuable tree the diff |
culties in crossing these deserts would be much
increased"
re- The State of Vermont is intersected by |
400 miles of railroad, which have probably |
cost, up to the present time, s24OOO,OOO, or
$4,000 per mile. Their construction has
doubled within the last ten years, the value of
he taxable property of the State.
B- The Legislatures of Maine and Massa-
husetts convened on Wednesday last.