Barbour County index., 1900-12-05
NUTS USED AS FOOD.
Uncle Sam Suggests That more a
Them he Eaten. Immense Guam.
titles Of Nuts Consumed I'm
Europe.

Anem ne Eaten. Immense Guam.
titles Of Nuts Consumed ln
Europe.
Uncle Sam has in his employ at the
present time a corps of scientific ex-
pertS whose business Ut is TO study
foods, and to advise American house
wives as to nhe most economical mode
OF hlAang the family marekt basket,
cost and mourishmenb being Jointly
considered, saysthe Boston Transcripts.
These dietetic shaTps are anxious TO
persuade the people ITO eat more nuts,
which, while approaching the grains
IN food value are decidedly cheap, Or,
TN the case of some kinds, would soon
become so if attention was paid to
cuRtivatfng them. In European coun-
tries, particularly France and Italy,
chestnu1s and other such tree seeds
are consumed in large quantities by
the masses of the population, largely
because they are inexpensive, and
There lis no reason why they should be
looked upon i'm the United States
merely as "a luxury for occasional
use During the year of 1899 we i'm
ported 1857, APT pounds of almonds,
valued ait 81, ,222, ,5S7, as well as $625,759
WIN I'll VI COCOdu SiI0 LOO WOI-l0
of various other kinds of nuts.
Thus it appears that even the nuts
weeaIt are largely brought from abroad
though nearly all of them might be
produced very easily in this country.
1t will not be long before all the CO.
coanu,tS we consume are grown on
our own land, inaSmuch aS many
Plantations of them have been set out
in Florida Within the last few years,
and already there are 250,000 of the
growing trees in that state, about ten
per cent. of them bearing now. Ma
turally, Porto Rico will furnish large
quantities of cocoanuts for use in the
United States, where the demand for
the fruit lis steadily increasing.
Dried and shredded cocoanut is q
very Important article of commence,
and vast amount of it is
already used in this country
The meat Of the fresh fruit
is both palaItable and nutritious, while
the milk iced, is a most delicious
drink. Grated, the meat enters into
tthe composition fthe famous East
India condiments curry, while from
the Oil is made a beautiful butter
which is finding dts way to the tables
of the poor as a substitute for oleo-
margarine. When small and green,
the nuts are powdered for medicinal
use, being mixed with the oil of the
ripe nut for a healing ointment. The
milk contains about half as much fat
as cows milk.
CheStnuts are cultivated on "a great
scale 6n Europe, particularly in France,
where the chief morning dish for a
large part of the working class is a
shelled NUTS and cooking them with
milk and salt, the mixture being sold
hot ON the streets. Also these nuts
are dried and ground Ito -four, which
may be kept for quite a while, and
which, when mixed with water and
baked in thin sheets affords IA sweet
and nutritious cake. An excellent
soap is made from chestnuts, which
are likewise used as "a stuffing for
birds, and sometimes boiled and
dipped i'm syrup for a conserve. There
lis German dish of chestmuts baked
with ratsins and by the we'll to do
they are utilized for various sidedish-
eS esteemed as luxurdes. In Italy they
are substituted for CORN meal in q
kind of porridge called "polenta," of
which the poorer classes are extreme
qy fond, ,and among theAppennimes fiat
cakes of the -four, mixed with wa
ter, are cooked between hot stones.
Experiments made by the govern
ment experts point to the conclusion
that nuts generally speaking, are not
dndigesitible, despite the popular i'm
pressOin to the contrary. They are
apt Ito be munched ait odd hours and
on top of hearty meals, when the di-
gesltfve organs have already been suffi-
ciently taxed, and In this way they
have acquired am undeserved reputa-
tion for unwho1esomeness. Most nuts
contain very lititle waiter, much fat,
and only Il small percentage of starch,
| but Ito this rule the chestnut is "a not
able exception, being nearly half wa
ter and Rbou 43 per cent. starch and
2 per cent. fat.
| Large qualnltbies of pecan nuts are
NOW used in this country though
! chiefly by confectiomers. This lis a
species of hickory nut, native to this
continent, and not found anywhere
else in the world. The finest pecans
come from Louisiana, though the bulk
VI uHc crop u pIOuuCCu III IOAdS
They are shipped ito New York by the
carload and are shucked by ingen-
ious machines which separate the ker-
! nels from the shells in the neatest way
imag'inab BILE, preserving the entire
/ form. The meafs SELL for from 80 to
SO cents a pound, and one firm dis
poses of no less than 10000 pounds
of them per annum. Pecan oil makes
very good table Oil. and as lpbri-
can't it is used by cIockmakers and
gunsmiths. Tt is fine iluminanf,
and the kernel biing so rich in oil that
it will burn for few moments bright
ly wheA Sligbted with a match Thous-
4nds of acres of pecan trees are al
ready under cultivation in the gulf
states. and it is said that an orchard
will yield a fortune and a big income
for anybody who has patience to wait
ten years until the trees come into
full bearing. One full grown tree will
yield two barrels of nuts each season
which will bring SIS barrel whole
sale.
Almonds while recognized only al
a luxury for dessert, find greaa
market in this country. AS already
stated. we imported nearly 10000, ,OOt
pounds OF them IN 1899 and-in tbs
same year California produced more
thsu "a ndl ion lbs. Ono man out in Cal
ifornGa has two square miles planted
In almond trees. They don't do wei