The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1898-01-03
EDIBLE WEEDS.
The Department of Agriculture Tells of
Many That May be Eaten.


The Department of Agriculture Tells of
Many That May be Eaten.
The department of agriculture be-
lieves that in the plant life of this con-
tinent may be found many additions to
our dietary. Frederick V. Covlle, bot
anst of the department, has spent con-
siderable effort to examine 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
marked benefit"
Chemistry has demonstrated largely
the substances which the human sys-
tenn 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 a local use as
humand food.
Mr.. Coville points out that wild her.
bivorous animals feed on the fats and
Carbohydrates stored UP In plant seeds
in the fall. They fatten on this diet
and gather In bodily fuel for the win
ter. Having exhausted their supply of
fat by spring, they make green heritage
their principal food. This renews their
muscular vigor and vitality. This die
tary system prevails among savage peo-
Piles, and is largely followed by the In
dams of the western states. Mans food
has grown more artificial with the ad-
vance of civilization, until, as Botanist
Covile says, foods are now selected
more by custom than by instinct" The
European races are more given to eat
| ing 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 a troublesome weed in the wheat
! districts OF Wisconsin. Minnesota and
| North Dakota. 1t is closely related to
| black mustard another familiar weed.
| Charlock is known in New York state
| as wild mustard" and is considered
| poisonous Charlock was 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 chiccory plant are
| also good to eat, and in some neighbour
| hoods are thus utilized. 1t occurs as a
weed in the Atlantic and Pacific states,
| and here and there In the Interior It's
leaves grow In the form OF a rosette,
| after the fashion of the dandelion. yell
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 a winter salad
| and pot herb in Washington and Balti-
| more.
The dandelion Is a weed which has
already gained considerable favor as a
food in the United States, though 1t is
not grown for market 1t is very COM
/, mon throughout the United tSates, ex-
/ cept in the extreme south and west OF
4 the great plains, though it has rooted
itself in certain parts of Washington
and California. The truckers around
| Paris have been cultivating the dan
delion for many years with good results
4 and have developed several horticultu-
\ raj varieties. There it Is used largely
as a 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 In
meadows, pastures and cultivated fields
r.. 4 .1- al,
at a pot herb in Europe. Dock was
used extensively by two tribes of Amer.
icen Indians, the Pimas and the Mari.
copas. Dock grows in the arid regions
of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas
where succulent vegetation is rare.
Lambs-quarters, or pigweed OF
goose-foot, is a weed which belongs tc
the same plant family as the beet ant
spinach, and ought to be used as table
vegetable. 1t is cultivated in Europe
and is very common throughout the
United States. !.
Marsh marigold, or "cowslip," is g
native plant of North America. L
grows in swamp land all over the north
ern part of the United States and Brit
ish America. 1t has a local use as {
pot herb, but its value in this respectni
J not generally appreciated. Pig-weet
occurs in many fields all over this coun
. try, but the average American does no
know its value as food plant. 1t !!
eaten by the Indians of the southwes
and by the people of Mexico. In somt
parts of California it is cultivated b.
! the Chinese.
Pokeweed is used locally in SOM
. parts of the south, but its more genera
: 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 ant
: esteem it highly.
: The department thinks it probabl
l that common nettle, milkweed AM
) round-loafed mallow will come to be re
7 garded as good food.
l The suggestions made by the depart
: ment may be offensive to some people
but then it wasn't so very long ag
: when the tomato or "love APPLE wa
thought to be poisonous, when the Gu
7 cumber was looked upon as fata
t dose, and when people of the north wer
, prejudiced against the banana.-Wash
, ington Times.