Catoctin clarion., 1900-06-28

The Department Of Agriculture at
Washington has been carefully and
Systematically investigating the 1000
stock in trade of nearly every coun-
try on the globe.
Agents who are food students have
been sent to China, Peru, Persia, Mex
leo everywhere to the remotest ends
of the earth for the purpose or hnd-
ing out what the new or neglected
food products are, their value as
nutritious diet, and the extent to
which they can be used to lengthen
the menu of the civilized cook.
Some very interesting and startling
facts are being handed in through the
reports that cover the food question
from New England to the Philippines,
from Mexico to the heart OF the Mon
golian empire. 1t has been dlscoV.
cred that the nut trees alone could at
pinch feed population three times
as great as the present number OF IN
habitants.
While a dozen vegetables cover the
limit of the variety on the average
table. the earth is growing hundreds
of kinds that are nutritious, dcllclous
and easy to cultivate.
"A
dians is using forty-one kinds of veg
etables which are absolutely unknown,
even to the chef who draws salary
as large as that of a United States
Senator.
An endless variety of downtroddon
weeds can be converted into Whole
some, succulent garden truck Even
the much maligned nettle has the lat
est qualities of a delicious eXtremet.
Especially interesting are the facts
furnished by the nut specialists.
There is no product that requires so
little cultivation as the nut, and none
is more wholesome as a food staple.
An orchard of two thousand trees in
California yields every year over "a
600 pounds of hulled nuts. Already
the commercial mind has seized upon
the enormous profits to accrue from
the sale of various preparations or
nuts. and at least ten large companies
manufacture nothing but nut food.
The government is making special
point of recommending nut culture.
In New England the abandoned farms
are being planted with nut trees, and
the workedout ground is found TO
furnish nouriShmont enough to cause
the walnut, butternut and chestnut to
flourish abundantly. Farms in nearly
every Northwestern state are plant
ing nut trees along with their peaches
and pears, and are utilizing the hill
sides where nothing else will grow for
fruit orchards.
In the past the objection to nuts as
food has been that they were hard to
digest, but with the new methods OF
preparing and cooking them, they are
rendered as healthful as they are
palatablc, even in America, where
good digestion does notinvariably wait
on appetite.
The introduction of new foods is
an excellent plan for both the health
and commercial prosperity of nation.
Nearly all of what are now regarded
as indigenous fruits and vegetables
have been imported to us from other
lands. OF the food plants now in use
only pumpkins and a few grapes,
plums and berries We're originally
found on the soil.
Oats. barley and rye originated in
wild forms along the Mediterranean,
The first noted species OF wheat was
brought from Persia. The common
garden bean traces it's ancestry back
of the landing of the Pilgrims to an
early aboriginal state In the Andes.
The Orient furnished us with melons,
cucumbers and onions. Egg plant
and tomatoes were discovered in
Peru Ounces, pears, currants and
large white grapes In Europe. While
the most common of our vegetables,
celery, lettuce, cabbage and spinach,
were transplanted from the shores OF
the Mediterranean.
If these important features of our
daily food supply have all found their
way to us from foreign lands, II seems
but question Of sufficient search
throughout the world to increase the
store until all possibility OF food
famine in future ages is rendered in
conceivable.
One point that is being strongly
brought out by the government is that
many things once considered wild and
poisonous. and many that are still
looked upon as weeds, are health.giv.
ing products and should be ranked as
a portion of the reserve food supply.
Indeed the bureau has selected seven.
teen Of the most ordinary weeds and
has issued pamphlet eXtolling their
virtues as available, healthful foods.
In the list are found dock, the mashed
marigold. mercury, black charlock,
commonly held as poisonous; chic.
cory. pokewood, also regarded as pois.
onous; purslane, for which the farmer
inherits his dislike, and the dcspised
nettle.
A wonderful reserve fund for the
human appetite is to be found in the
vegetable diet of the Klamath In
dians. A novel variety of food form.
ing a menu unknown to civilization
is offered in the pulp of the great vel.
low water lily which is converted in
to farinaceous food; in the weed
known as goosefoot, which bears a
black seed which is ground up for
loaves and cake, and in the arrow.
head, which in the fall develops a
starchy white tuber at the end of the
roots not to mention the tubcrs that
resemble bects, turnips and carrots,
the nuts that are ground into coffee"
and the flower leaves that furnish
fairy.like desserts.
The tanning Of wild fruits is another
branch of the food agents business.
Mr.. Augustus Henry, who is authority
on Chinese fora states that there
are at least one hundred varieties of
fruits growing wild in the interior of
China that, if transplanted to another
soil and properly cultivated, would
prove as important a food supply as
our present necessary apple and pear.
The lie Conte pear, which has revolu-
tonized pear growing In Southern
California, was originally the Chinese
san pear grown solely for ornamental
purposes.
Not So Cold as It Looked.
yes" l suppose this does look like
cold work" said West Philadelphia
housemaid, as her employer stopped
moment on Saturday morning to
express a word of sympathy for her
in her anna rnntly Chillinn lob She