The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-01-24

Made the Subject of Agricultural De-
partment investigation.

Philadelphia Record
The common belief Is that the Chinese
diet consists largely OF rodents and bird
nests, but. while not quite so unappetiz-
ing. Ii nevertheless consists almost exclu-
sively Of foods with which other people are
unfamiliar. The Chinese dietary is almost
exclusively vegetarian, and the Chinese
have the reputation Of producing the great
est amount OF food material from a given
aera- The United States government agri-
cultural experts are studying the principal
Chinese food plants for the purpose of dis
covering whether any of them would make
suitable or desirable additions to our vege-
table gardens. Naturally the Chinese quar-
ter Of San Francisco. from it's proximity
and ready accessibility to Chinese ports.
and the large food requirements of the
numerous Cinnamon who market there. Of
fered the greatest opportunities for these
Investigations. Most OF the curious roots
green vegetables. seeds and other articles
or food making up the stock in trade of the
Chinese merchant are totally unknown and
unstable outside of the narrow limits of
the Chinese quarters. A few of them are
grown in California, but almost all are i'm
ported directly from Canton.
Anyone who has made visit to our Race
street colony must have been impressed
with the high esteem in which watermelon
seeds are held as holiday dainty, be-
Ing usually eaten raw. Dried persimmOns
are not to be wondered at although this is
an unusual method of preserving them at
least with US. The young shoots of bam-
boo are sold either picked in brine or
canned species of fungus that grows
on decaying wood, similar TO that often
seen about our woods. and known in some
parts or the country as wood ears" is
used In large quantities in San Francisco.
This Is not much worse than our highly
priced mushroom, of which IL is a distant
relation, but this fungus is decidedly tough
and woody. in which characteristics il diff
ferS materially from delicate mush-
room Several varieties of seaweed, or al
gae. are eaten and highly priced. One form
which resembles masses of horse hair, is
treated with boiling water until il forms
gelatin0uS mass, and Is then used as a
thickening medium for various culinary
preparations, one OF the most esteemed
or which Is a combination of this vegetable
with dried shrimps. These are a few Of
the queer food materials described in a
pamphlet just issued by the Department of
Agriculture and prepared by A c. True. of
the Office OF Experiment Stations. entitled
"a Description OF Some Chinese Vegetable
Food Materials
The more substantial food products con-
sist largely OF strange roots and tubers
which take the place of our winter vege-
tables. Their use of the arrowroot Is not
exclusive, its roots having been used long
ago by the Indians of eastern America.
When cooked In the same manner as po-
tatoes II forms very acceptable food.
though one or very pronounced and char
acterfsttc flavor. Nevertheless. IL has be-
come recognized as an article OF food
among the poorer non-Mongolian classes in
San Francisco and large quantities OF il
are consumed by them.
The taro Is a root highly priced for food
by the natives throughout the tropics. The
interior OF the roots has about the consis-
tency OF sweet potato, the starch grains
being exceedingly small. According TO Di-
rector True. from a dietetic standpoint il
apparently offers no especial advantages
over our commonly cultivated vegetables,
but where IL is eaten IL seems to be a salts
factory substitute for them and the Anglo
Saxon residents of the tropics soon acquire
a liking for II. Even I'm San Francisco there
Is a limited demand for IL among the
white races.
The sacred lotus OF the Egyptians. and
even our latter day lily, are highly es-
teemed as food plants among the Chinese.
The bulbs OF the latter are considered more
as a dellcacy than a staple article OF
diet, while almost every part OF the lotus
Is valuable for either it's medicinal or nu-
tritive qualities Starch constitutes 50 per
cent or the dry substance OF its roots.
Both or these articles are imported from
Canton The lily bulbs sell at from 10 TO %
cents pound and are identical with the
bulbs sold By our nurserymen for growing
ornamental plants. The Japanese regard
them especially desirable food for in
valids and conyalescents. When used for
this purpose the bulbs are only slightly
cooked and are eaten after the addition of