The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1882-09-28
AcOrnS.

Acorns.
Acorns are the fruit or nut of the oak.
of which there are about 100 species
distributed over the globe, but mostly in
temperate climates. In ancient times
Rome, according to Strabo; was supplied
with pork, fatteneG mainly on the mast
III the forests of Gaul, and the poor
people in the mountains of Spain made
acorn meal, from which coarse and whole
some bread and cakes were made, as is
now lone by Italian peasants. Pliny,
who gives more minute descriptions of
the various species of oaks and their
fruit, says (Liber 16, chap. 81 that in
Spain acorns were often brought to the
table for desert but it is possible he re-
ferred to the chestnut, or some similar
nut, although it is well known that the
acorns OF the o oak of the south of
Europe are of a much milder flavor than
those of more northern species. The
same difference is noticeable in the oak
fruit OF this country, the acorns of the
live oak of the Southern States being |
more p~alatable h those of the white
or black oaks of the North. Acorns
were formerly considered of much value
in Great Britain for feeding swine, and
'O1O uDON do 1OOu u Iu0
hardy race of men living there. About
the end of the seventh century King Ina
issued an order regulating the fattening
OF swine with acorns or mast by his Saxon
subjects, and a century later Elphelmus
reserved the pawnage or pasturage of
Q hogs as a part of his Iady's dowry.
Mast, as wild nuts came to be called in
later years, was much valued through
out Great Britain, as it had long been
on the Continent, and Edward the Con-
lessor, in 1850, mentions or gives a GER
tain quantity in one of his donations. In
the time of William the Conqueror the
woods of England were surveyed and
valued in proportion to the number of
swine that could be fattened on their
acorns, the oak being then valued most
ly for its fruit. The Norman kings, in
their love for the chase, sometimes in
truded upon private domains and took
from their owners the right of pawpage,
or gathering the cas- therefrom.
Famines have sometimes been in
creased in severity, if not caused, by the
failure of the mast crop. At the time of
the great famine in England in 1116 it
is recorded that among crops failing
that year that of mast was very deficient,
which made a scarcity of meat, and in
consequence added much to the distress
of the people. In the early settlement
of America the acorn crop was named as
one of the good things found in the new
country, and pioneers in all the wooded
sections of the United States have found
the mast of much value, and in many
sections mast-fattened pork is not un-
common at the present time, which pos
sesses a sweet and delicate flavor of its
own, and if not quite so firm and solid
as that produced from Indian corn, has
as a compensation the fact that it costs
less to raise.
Acorns are of two distilc let classes.
these being annual and biennial fruiting.
The English oak and also our native
white, burr, post, oyer-cup, live and
chestnut oaks blossom in the spring and
perfect their fruit in the same year, but
the acorns of the willow, silingle and
water oaks are not matured until the end
of the second season. In regions where
these last-named species predominant,
there will usually be a great abundance
of fruit one year and but little the next,
the trees appearing to affiliate as dc
apple trees in an orchard, all giving full
crops in the bearing year without regard
to their age or other conditions. There
is also a great difference in the qualities
of the acorns of the two classes, those OF
the annual bearers being much sweeteI
and less bitter than those of the others,
1t will also often be noticed that the
acorns of trees of the same species grow
ing near together frequently vary con
siderably in size and flavor, and although
these variations may not be greater thar
occur in other wild nut trees, they are
quite marked and well known, We re.
member TIVE -white-eaks-that stood side
by side in a pasture; the acorns of ont
were of such excellent flavor tina
{ the boys of the neighborhood never
allowed them to remain ungathered
) while those of the other were left for ami
mails of less fastidious taste. Raccoons
! bears and the various species of deer, az
5 well as many of the smaller animals, are
very fond of acorns, and the same may
l be said of all the larger granivorous
birds, such as turkeys, cartridges ant
blackbirds.
I In these days of collections one o
|, acorns would be among the most credit
F., able, and We doubt not any who would
1 undertake to make one of the ~varietie
> to be found in their own immediate vi
! entity would be surprised at their mum
Der. He who will during the coming
: year make such a collection, and thel
make himself acquainted with the pecu
: ~liarities of the tree that bore each, it
habits of growth, value for timber, APP
!, pearance of wood and foliage, and othe
4 points in which it differs from other oaks
u will obtain a fund of information witt
which he would not willingly part.-N
Sun,