Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-11-15
WEEDS THAT ARE WHOLESOME.
seorned BY Our Ancestors, They Are
Now on Our Tables.


Now on Our Tables.
Since the pure food law has gone
into operation, one has new and
strange thoughts forced upon him by
recalling the number Of weeds, fungi,
and vegetable parasites regarded as
dangerous, as well as repellent to our
ancestors, writes julius Chambers in
the Brooklyn Eagle.
Our grandparents regarded toma-
toes as the fruit of the weeds, utterly
unfit to eat. The bushes grew wild
in the middle west, where passed
my boyhood, and were to be encoun-
tered in the corners Of worm" fences.
The tomato was a yellow or redskin-
ned pod Of seeds about the size Of
plum. In shape, 1t was perfectly
round, The fruit Of this neglected
weed had been developed by cultiva-
ton into the large and succuient veg
etable Of today. It has become one
of the most valued accessories to cul-
mary art-invaluable in the prepara-
ton of sauce and dressings for meats
Of any kinds. And yet, physicians In
sist that 1t contains the cancer germ.
When farmers cut their full-grown
cabbages from the stalks which lifted
them nearly foot above the ground,
preparatory to burying the cabbages
In the ground or slowing them in the
cellars of their "smokehouses," they
noticed that young bulbs sprouted
around the tops Of the decapitated
stalks. Nobody thought Of eating
them in our American grandparents
days. Hogs and sheep were observed
to be very fond Of them. Goats. also,
ate them with audity; but, then. goats
thrive upon newspapers and were
currently believed to feed on tin cans.
Those little bulbs are the Brussels
sprouts Of our present dietary system!
Opinion is greatly divided as to the
origin of the cabbage. and for that
reason the vegetable hasn't taken
high rang among the family Of edible
plants. Germans rot 1t In BARREL
pickle It, and name 1t "sauer-kraut."
That It is a development by evolution
from the "skunk-cabbage" OF the
ponds is doubtful, because its leaves
are quite dissimilar in form. But 1t Is
a food of very low origin. The same
may be said of turnips. beets, and po-
tatoes-among the latter must be IN
cluded the yam or sweet potato.
When the French colonized the
country that is now Louisiana, they
found weed growing amid the bay
GUS and overfiowed land along the
Mississippi to which the aborisines
gave the name Of "okra"-a WORD
meaning muddy place and probably
referring to the localities In which
the herb grew. 1t bore q mucilagin-
GUS pod, which, when cut exuded a
milk-white juice. When the Creoies
got their cooking outfits In working
order, they tried the weed as thick
ener for their porridges and found II
very eatable. The man or woman
who ate the first dish of okra soup
must have been worthy Of q Carnegie
medal. However, the weed became
one of the staples of New Orleans
epicurianism. The Creoles called It
..gumbo," reference to its glutinous
character. From that day its place
In culinary art never has been In dan
ger. "Gumbo" is hardly known In
paris; French cook will have naught
of It; but it is king Of all American
soups, being to this country what
mutton broth, with barley, is to Scot
land; what bouillabaisse is to France
and puchara to Spain.
But the milk weed, Of the louisiana
swarr1ps remains one Of the food dis
coyeries of the world. The Roman
sourmands whose palates were SO
highly trained that they could tell the
difference in taste between lampreys
fed upon human flesh and those tat
tened upon goats, would have appre-
ciated okra, or more properly, gum
bo" stew. With chicken, 1t Is de-
light to the palate.