Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-10-03

placing them upon the food markets
of the country.
A new salad plant which has late
~ been tried satisfactorily In the
New York market and 10 already be-
coming well known In California IL the
I, Japanese Judo" which 10 grown In q
manner similar to asparagus and can
be easily forced for the winter mar
ket. AZ a salad, udo has been COM
| mended by the chefs Of some Of the
leading hotels in New York. 1t has
also received great favor as q vege-
table. So far II 10 not produced in
commercial quantities as 1t takes years
Of education to popularize a new food.
but one truck farmer in California has
this year planted 40 acres OF udo with
the intention Of growing 1t for the
| eastern market.
Bananas Popular Food.
! II IL quite within the memory Of
! most people when bananas began to be
| a popular fruit. To many people the
taste for them had to be cultivated.
although their production has now be-
come so complete that they threaten
in popularity the peaches. pears and
apples which are native to the country.
In the same way the department Of
agriculture expects to popularize the
avocado. or alligator pear. which with
in the last five years has made its ap-
pearance upon the market OF every city
Of any size. The annexation OF tropi-
cal territory TO this country has add
ed to the variety Of our food supply
and the economic advantage of util-
ius~. a.. a.,
anyone.
In Hawaii the cultivation Of the
avocado has been undertaken in a
scientific manner by the experiment
station so that its advantages were
established to those familiar with 1t
even before the attachment of Porto
Rico and even of the Panama canal
zone. Now II is becoming quite ex-
tensively cultivated, both in Florida
and southern California. so that the
supply is each year becoming greater
although it Is not yet sufficient to
make the price low enough for popu-
lar demand. There are stories told of
fabulous prices still being paid for the
fruit of single avocado tree. It has
one disadvantage, however. which the
experiments Of the department Of ag
riculture are working to overcome. The
fruit does not ship well. chiefly be-
cause the seed is large and hard and
rather loose inside. In the shipment
this seed frequently becomes entirely
free from the fibers restraining It and
rolls around, bruising the inside flesh
of the fruit so that 1t becomes rancid
and turns dark. To make satisfac-
tnr r<sp
should have smaller seed more
tightly attached and 1t is believed that
this will soon be achieved by those
engaged in its cultivation.
Has Various Names.
How the term, alligator pear ever
became applied to this fruit Is un-
known, unless, as some one has sug-
gested, 1t was a drunken sailors at
tempt to ask for aqua carte which
Is the old Spanish name for the fruit
in Central America. 1t has been called
"midshipman's butter" and this name
is not so much OF a misnomer since
the fruit Is so oily that 1t makes an ex-
cellent substitute for butter when
eaten with dry bread and a little salt.
The taste for the avocado must be
reans agree that the pleasure derived
from it is worth the cultivation while
the exceptional nutritive qualities of
the article make Its food value impor-
tant. At present the price of the
avocado. ranging from 80 to IS cents
apiece, renders them distinct lux
ury, but with their increased cultiva-
ton there Is no question but that
they will become cheaper
The addition of a number OF new
fruits to those already familiar to this
country is another result OF the eff
forts Of those who are seeking to en-
large our food supply. The number
of Americans who during their stay
upon the canal zone have become at
tached to the papaya. will call for a
large supply of that melon like fruit
which few years ago was almost I'M
known. This is a semi-tropical fruit
which is being experimental with in
some of the southern states. In Pan
anna 1t is used as a melon chiefly, al
though chef in the employ Of one of
the officers of the canal commission
won many enconums over his intro
duction of papaya ice cream. The pap
lends itself well to decorative desserts.
Several new melons imported from
Turkey have lately become well es-
tablished along the western coast Of
this country. The casaba or ice cream,
melon has been introduced in two
types. The summer type is russell In
color and similar to the Rockford
cantaloupe in appearance. The winter
type Is green outside. The flesh in
side Is almost cream white in streaks
and rich in flavoring
The introduction Of the Chinese
date or jujube, into Texas and Cali
fornia has now become quite well es-
tablished. The name OF this fruit Is
a misnomer as 1t Is more like a plum
than date in appearance and con-
sistency, and II does not grow upon
a palm tree. but upon a tree resem-
bling a plum tree with the idiosyn-
hot Iva <.a1