St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1879-01-25
THE RED MANS HARV EST,
One OF fha Remarkable Crops of Nevad.

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San Franeieeo Bulletin.
Every mountain, however far il swells
into the sky, eeems utterly barren. APP
preaching nearer, a low brlshy growth is
seen, strangely black in aspect. as though
it had been. burned. This is a nut>pine
forest, the bountiful orchard of the red
man. When you ascend into its midst
you find the ground beneath the trees
and in the opening also, NEARLY naked
and mostly rough on the surface. A sue
cession of crumblipg lodges of lava, lime
stone, slate and quartzite, coarsely strewn
with soil weathered from them by storms
and sunshine here ard there bunch of
sage or linosyris, or purple cluster or
turf of dry bunch grass. The harshest
mountain sides, hot and waterless, seem
best adapted to lis development. No
SLOPE is too steep, none too dry: every
situation seems to be grstefully chosen,
if only it be sufficiently rocky ard firm
to afford secure anchorage for the tough
grsspiDg roots. 1t is sturdy, thick.set
little tree, usually about fifteen feet high
when full grown, and about as broad as
high, holding its knotty branches we'll
out in every direction in stiff zigsags,
but turning them gracefully upward at
the ends in rounded bosses. Though max
ing 10 dark mass in the distance, the
foliage is pale grsyish green, in stiff,
awl>shaped fasiol:s. When examined
closely these round needles seem inclined
to be two-leayed, but they are mostly
held firmly together, as If to guard
against evaporation. The bark On the
older sections is nearly black, SO that the
boles and branches are clearly traced
against the prevailing gray of the noun.
tains on which they delight to dwell.
The value of this species TO Nevada is
not easily overestimatd. It furnishes
fuel, charcoal and timber tor the mines,
and together with the enduring juniper,
30 generally associated with it, supplies
the ranches with abundance of frewood
and fencing. Many squale mile has
already been denuded in supplying these
demands. but SO great il the area covered
by it. no app1eciable loss has as yet been
sustained. It is pretty generally known
that this tree yields edible nuts, but their
Importance and excellence as human
food le infinitely greater than il sup
posed. In fruitful seagons like this one,
the pine-nut crop of Nevada is perhaps
greater than the entire wheat crop Of
Californ MIA, concerning which 60 much is
|. said and felt throughout the food markets
of the world. The Indians alone ap.
preciate this portion Of natures bounty,
and celebrate the hsrvest home with
dancing and feasting. The cones, which
are q bright grass green in color, and
about two inches long by one and half
in diameter, are beaten off with poles
just before the scales open, gathered in
heaps of several bushels, and lightly
corched by burning 8 thin covering of
brushwood over them. The resin with
which the cones are bedraggled is thus
burned of, the nuts slightly roasted and
the scales made to open. Then they are
allowed to dry in the sun, after which
the nuts are easily threshed out and are
ready to be stored away. They are about
half an inch long by quarter of an inch
in diameter, pointed at the upper end,
rounded at the base, light brown in gen
eral color and handsomely dotted with
purple, like birds eggs. The shells are
thin, and may be crushed between the
thumb and finger. The kernels are
white and waxy-lookirg, becoming
bDwn by roasting, sweet and delicious
to every palate, and are eaten by birds,
squirrels, dogs, horses and men. When
the crop is abundant the Indians bring
in large quantities for sale; then they
are eaten around every freside in the
state, and oftentines fed to the horse in
stead of barley.
Looking over the whole continent,
none of natures bounties seem to me SO
great as this in the way of feod-none 20
little appreciated. Fortunately for the
Indians and wild animals that gather
around natures board, this crop is not
easily harvested in monopolizing way.
If it could be gathered like wheat, the
whole would be carried away and dissi>
| pated in towns, leaving the brave inbabi-
tants Of these wilds to starve. Long
before the harvest time, which is in
September and October, the Indians
examine the trees with keen discern
ment, and, inasmuch as the cones require
two years to mature from the first
appearance of the little red rosettes of the
fertile flowers, the scarcity or abundance
of the crop may be predicted more than
year in advance. Squirrels and worms
and Clark crows make haste to begin the
harvest. The Indians make ready their
long beating-poles; baskets, bags, rags,
mats are gotten together. The squaws,
out among the settlers at service, wash>
ng and druoging, assemble at the family
huts; the men leave their rancho work,
all, old and young, are mounted on
ponies, and set off in great glee to the
nut lands, forming cavalcades curiously
picturesque; flaming scarfs and calico