Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-01-30
FOOD VALUE OF CHESTNUTS
THEY ARE EXTENSIVELY USED IN
MANY PARTS OF FRANCE.
Interesting Facts Reported by Con-
sui Covert on Various Modes
of Preparation.

Consul John c. Covert at Lyons, France,
in a report to- the State Department. gives
some interesting facts about the extensive
use of chestnuts as food in France.
Chestnuts are known in France as mar
rons'' and chatagnes,' the latter being the
smaller of the two There are about twenty
varieties OF these nuts. No one variety can
be preserved better than another. The con-
sui says they should be used when fresh
and may be kept in that condition for some
time by being buried in sand. When dried.
they are generally threshed until the shells
fall off, when they are ground into a flour
and eaten as a food. The price Of chestnuts
range from a little over 81 to about 1913
per 200 pounds.
In some parts of France, In what are
called the schist lands. chestnuts form an
important article of daily food They are
boiled, pulverized and eaten like American
mashed potatoes. There are various ways
Of cooking the nuts: They may be roasted
on Goals, boiled with celery, or roasted In
Theoretically sealed earthen pot. They are
freely used in the dressing for turkey. geese,
dessert
Chestnuts In Confectionery.
The chestnut occupies a conspicuous place
in confectionery. Confectioners buy them
raw and prepare them for sale in different
ways. The best candied chestnuts cost 40
cents per pound.
In one Of the large establishments where
chestnuts are prepared, between 900 to $50
hands, mainly girls and women, are en-
ployed and over p. 900, 600 pounds of chest
nuts are handled annually. After having
been peeled. boiled and cleansed and left in
strip for three days they are treated with
thin coating Of vanilla, packed In pretty
boxes and shipped.
Consul Covert. while in one Of the large
warehouses, noticed boxes of these chest
nuts directed to the different large cities
Of Europe. to the United States and to
South American countries. The work of
preparing chestnuts Is continuously in
operation, day and night for the four
months of the year when the fruit Is In
condition.
Other Uses of the Tree.
Inc wood Of the chestnut tree Is consid-
cred very valuable for many purposes. 1t
is strong and tenacious and may be sub
jected for years to the influence OF the air,
wind, or water without decaying. In some
places 1t is cultivated solely for the wood.
as 1t has many uses. The consul says 1t
should not be planted in calcareous ground
as that Is fatal to it's growth but 1t flour
ishes in gravelly land and requires no spe-
cial attention.
In many parts of France the chestnut
trees are planted on hillsdes, because their
roots take a tenacious hold of the earth and
prevent washouts. Losses from foundations
have greatly decreased in the Cevennes
since these trees were planted on the noun
tain slopes of those regions.
The consul says there are many places In
the United States, along the shores of Lake
Erie, near Cleveland, for instance. where
the ground Is admirably suited for the
growing of these trees The consul adds
that, sugar is so per cent cheaper in this
country than in France, and as machinery
would certainly take the place of human
labor the American candled product would
soon undersell that of France.