The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1893-11-16
OtiEsTNUfs.
Their Value as Food is Overlooked In
America

America.
When the cereals cease to be cult
waited the ''granaries of the world"
will no longer be the vast plains of
! Australia. India, Russia and the
Western States of America. They
will be the now untitled hillsides of
the temperate zones, the now impen-
eUrable jungles of the tropics. The
mountainous regions of our Eastern
States will regain the agricultural
supremacy of the country. The
trackless wilds of Africa, South and
Central America will be the greatest
agricultural regions of the world
OF the plants growing in the TEN!
perate zone, there is but one which
will become a substitute for the
cereals. Where the wheat field pro-
! duces from fifteen to twenty-five
bushels an acre, a chestnut grove on
the same area will produce over and
over again that amount OF equally
nutritious food. The chestnut grove
requires no cultivation. The late
| frosts of spring and the droughts of
summer will not materially injure the
crop where wheat crops would be
! ruined. The fortunate owner of d
| chestnut grove can gather his nuts
| in the fall, and the rest OF the year he
can labor at what task he chooses
In all the countries of Southern
Europe chestnut flour is largely con-
sumed, and the demand exceeds the
supply. Bread, cakes, pies, are made
from the -four, and the nuts also
boiled and eaten whole. The Euro
pean nut is much larger than the
| A of l.lr
tree, and is much more prolific 1t
will flourish here, as has been proved
by trial, and the larger chestnut,
which must be cooked to be palatable,
is now found in most of our markets.
If chestnut flour is such an excel
lent substitute for wheaton flour, and
is SO easily and cheaply produced,
why do we not find more people cul
tivating CHESTNUT trees? The chest
nut tree requires long time to come
to a bearing age, thought continues
to bear for centuries. The man who
would plant chestnut grove today
would leave a rich legacy for his
grandchildren, but would himself
receive little return for his expendi
ture. Few men wish to lose the use
of any considerable part of their land
in order that their posterity may
have rich Inheritance. Even iu
thickly populated European coun.
tries no one plants a chestnut grove.
The groves are all OF natural growth
) The farmer desires the present use Of
his land, and will not ALLEVIATE it foI
the sake of posterity. When once
the governments actively interest
, themselves in the food problem OF
the future chestnut trees will be set
out on government lands, year by
: year small tracts of farm lands will
, be planted by their prOprietors and
! in the course of a few generations
! chestnut groves will abound.
In our country, where the various
State governments foster tree plant
ing, where there is an annual arbol
day, why should not the trees
J planted be trees which, as beautiful
7 and long-lived as any trees that
grow, at the same time would con
: tribute to the na tional food supply
: If the State governments of New
England and the Middle Atlantic
7 States desire to preserve the water
} powers of their rivers by returning
the shorn hills to forests once more
: let them plant chestnut trees. If thu
States of the West desire to preven
: disastrous floods in the great rivers
5 by establishing timber reservation
/ ON the higher lands, let them plan
! chestnut trees. If the village com
: mun;ties desire to beautify the drive
e OF their vicinity by planting tree
r along the roadside, let them plan
5 chestnut trees,