Cottonwood report. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1893-1901, 1896-05-22
THE VALUE OF WEEDS
BILIOUS BECAUSE THEY DO NOT
EAT MORE GREENS.
Common Garden PursIane-CuItiva-
tion of gweeds-Gatherfng
of Herbs by Indians.

| The Americans are becoming bllous
race. 1t is because they do not eat enough
green's" Such, at all events. is the opin-
ion that will be expressed by Secretary
Morton in the forthcoming Year BOOK OF
the department of agriculture.
II appears that there are lots Of useful
vegetab les growing wild all over this
country. The people, regarding them as
| weeds, pay no attention to them. In
other parts of the world the value OF
many of them is justly appreciated-es-
| pecially in Europe. Savage races in gen.
eral have habit of utilizing green herbs
in sprlngtime. That tired feeling, SO
| much advertised in the newspapers at
| this season of the year, would not be SO
| prevalent II the consumption OF fresh
YARDS" from the field and meadow were
more common. The worst state of affairs
EXISTS in the south, where an unvarying
| diet of corn bread, bacon and molasses
i has produced a widespread and chronic
| condition of biliousness.
There Is a great deal that is very in
teresting about the wild pot herbs of the
| United States. The best known of them
is the dandelion. At this season large
| quantities of dandelion leaves are gath
cred and sold in the markets. The dan
| delion Is native plant on our highest
| mountains; but the dandelions OF our
| lawns and pastures have been brought,
| like so many other common weeds, from
Europe. While the dandelion grows In
| almost all parts of this country, it is not
a common plant in and west of the great
| plains, nor in the extreme south. The
| market gardeners in the neighborhood of
Paris have been cultivating the dande-
l hon far Ia and three
| ognized horticultural varieties have been
| developed within that time. In Paris
dandelions are eaten as a salad, green or
| blanched When they are employed as a
| pot herb, the water in which they are
| boiled is changed two or three times dur
| ing the process, in order to remove the
| bitter taste.
The common garden purslane, more
| commonly known as "pulsey," exists as
weed in almost every garden in the
United States; yet rarely does one meet
| with a person who has ever eaten it OIL
| who Knows of it's usefulness as a pot
| herb. 1t is great annoyance to gar
dencrs, being difficult to eradicate; as
| Charles Dudley Warner says 'its roots
| take hold on h" The plant is native
| uf India. where Il has been cultivated
from the earliest times, and was such
an early accompaniment of civilization
rs to have a Sanscrit name. 1t was car
| red westward to Europe, and has there
| been in use for centuries as a salad and
| pot herb. Indeed, several varieties are
| now known in cultivation. In this coun-
try, however, 1t is known only as weed
| tf principal economic value being sup
| posed to be as food for hogs-a purpose
to which large quantities of it are de.
| Tod Ac bar iS nal q
retaining when cooked a slight acid
| taste.
Black Mustard.
The black mustard plant, from which
the condiment known as mustard is
chiefly derived, has long been cultivat-
ed in Europe for its young leaves. 1t
was introduced into the United States
| many years ago by the same sort of acct
| lent that has brought such great varie-
| " of foreign weeds to this country. Here
| il is known only as weed and in some
regions-particularly in California, where
| t passes under the name of wild mus
| tard"-it has become a pest In wheat
helds. So readily does 1t seed itself that
Il is rarely, If ever. really cultivated in
the United States, though small areas In
the corners of gardens are often left
without cultivation as mustard patch
e." Its value as a honey producing
plant has added further to its desirable
| ness on farms.
The pokewood is a native Of the United
| States, growing as far westward as the
| great plains. 1t occurs commonly in
rich, uncultivated ground, in open places
| in woods, or in almost any neglected spot.
The stems reach a height Of from to
feet and bear dropping clusters of pur-
| nIo Sbana6 him
like a beet, contains a deadly poison,
| which is used incidentally. Occasionally
t. is eaten with fatal results The berries,
while reputed to be poisonous, are often
eaten by birds, and presumably are quite
| harmless. In early spring the stout
| stems push out from the ground, and are
brought into the city markets, where
| they are sold under the name of
sprouts" In Mexico this plant is found
frequently about old missions, suggest
ing a former use of some kind, but at the
present time it does not appear to be
employed in that country as a pot herb.
The common pigweeds are of several
varieties. They seem to have been in
troduced from tropical America. One
species is used in large quantities by the
Indians of the southwest, both in Ari-
zcna and in northern Mexico. In the
markets of Guyamas, IN the Mexican
state of Sonora, this sort OIL pigweed
finds a considerable sale, the young
plants growing each year from seed and
being gathered when they are from six
TO 10 inches high. No attempt is made
to cultivate the plant, the Mexicans trust
ing to the natural supply. 1t is believed
that several Of the pigweeds now com
mon in the United States might be cul
t,vated to advantage. The same remark
APPLIES to the guinea" on which the in
habitants of the semi-arid plateau Of
Peru and Bolivia have chiefly relied fol
their food supply for centuries. Will
them II Is cultivated chiefly for the seeds
which are produced in great abundance
and are used for making bread. In Eu
rcpe, where it has been introduced int
cultivation, it has found favor as a pc
l herb.
A species OF prickly pear, known to tn
( Mexicans as tuna" was introduced int
: California and New Mexico during tn
9 years of the Spanish conquest. 1t i
: found to this day about many of the oil
S Spanish missions. most frequently TAX
y ing the form of hedges. In some of tn
s markets of Mexico the young joints @
f this plant are sold as a pot herb unde
: the name of "nopal." The joints. afte
Il the spines and prickles have been re