The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1897-08-29
Ef7sasEeAs-Aal 'a's4'- :
WEEDS GOOD TO EAT.
EXCELLENT FOOD PLANTS THAT HAVE
BEEN LEFT FOR THE BEASTS.

Ago That Tomatoes and Cucumbers
Were Thought to BE Poisonous.
The department of agriculture be-
Ieves that in the plant life of this con-
tinent may be found many additions to
our dietary Frederick V. Coville, bot
anist of the department, has spent con-
siderable effort i'll examining many of
the plants now classed as weeds which
are capable Of sustaining vitality in
man. He takes the position that
wider use of green vegetables in the
dietaries of most people, particularly
those with healthy digestions, would
be a marked benefit. -
Chemistry has demonstrated largely
the substances which the human system
needs, and Botanist Coville finds the
essentials present in a great many
plants some of which are nowhere CON
sidered as effective food for man and
some of which have only local use as
human food
Mr.. Coville points out that wild
herbivorous animals feed on the fats
and carbohydrates stored up in plant
seeds i'll the fall. They fatten on this
diet and gather in bodily fuel for the
winter. Having exhausted their supply
of fat by spring, they make green herb
age their principal food. This renews
their muscular vigor and vitality. This
dietary system prevails among savage
peoples and is largely followed by the
Indians of the western states. Mans
food has grown more artificial with the
advance of civilization, until, as Bot
anist Coville says, floods are now Sc
lected more by custom than by in
stinct." The European races are more
given to eating salads and boiled green
vegetables than the people Of the United
States are. The greater part of the
plant food consumed by Americans is
made up of seeds, roots and tubers. 1t
is because of this that the people of this
country are bilious
The first weed which Botanist Coville
would have us eat is charlock. This
plant grows as a weed from New Eng
land to the Pacific coast and is consid-
cred troublesome weed in the wheat
districts of Wisconsin, Minnesota and
North Dakota. 1t is closely related to
black mustard, another familiar weed.
Charlook is known in New York state
as "wild mustard" and is considered
poisonous. Charlocl1 was a common pot
herb in northern Europe centuries ago,
but it has not been recognized as food
for man in the new world.
The leaves of the chicory plant are
also good to eat and in some neighbor-
hoods are thus utilized 1t occurs as
weed i'll the Atlantic and Pacific states
and here and there in the interior. Its
leaves grow in the form of a rosette,
after the fashion of the dandelion. Vel
low rocket is a weed common through
out the eastern states which man might
eat 1t is closely allied to the winter
cress, which is used as winter salad
and pot herb i'll Washington and Balti
more.
The dandelion is a weed which has
already gained considerable favor as a
food in the United States. though it is
not grown for market. II is very COM
mon throughout the United States, ex
cept in the extreme south and west of
the great plains, thought 1t has rooted
itself in certain parts Of Washington
and California. The truckers around
Paris have been cultivating the dande
lion for many years with good results
and have developed several horticul-
tural varieties. There it is used largely
as salad, the plants being eaten green
or blanched.
The department of agriculture calls
especial attention to the dock, two spe-
cies of which, the broad leafed and the
curled, occur as common weeds i'll
meadows, pastures and cultivated fields.
Several species of dock are used widely
as pot herb in Europe. Dock was used
extensively by two tribes of American
Indians, the Pimas and the Maricopas.
Dock grows in the arid regions of Ari-
IONA, New Mexico and Texas, where sue
culent vegetation is rare.
Lambs quarters, orpigweed, or goose
foot, is weed which belongs to the
same plant family as the beet and spin
ach and ought to be used as a table
vegetable. 1t is cultivated in Europe
and is very common throughout the
United States.
Marsh marigold, or "cowslip, p" is a
native plant of North America. 1t
grows in swamp land all over the north
ern part of the United States and Brit
ish America. 1t has a local use as a pot
herb, but its value i'll this respect is not
generally appreciated. Pigweed occurs
i'll many fields all over this country,
but the average American does not
know its value as food plant 1t is
eaten by the Indians of the southwest
and by the people of Mexico. In some
parts Of California it is cultivated by
the Chinese.
Pokeweed is used locally i'll some
parts of the south, but its more general
use would be gratifying to the economic
botanists of the department of agricul-
ture. The French people have intro
duced this plant into their country and
esteem it highly.
The department. thinks it probable
that common nettle, milkweed and
round loafed mallow will come TO be re-
Earded as good food.
The suggestions made by the depart
ment NAV be offensive to some people;