Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-12-14

manufacturer. Although the machinery
for extracting the oil is simple and not
nuts would be required to support the in
vestment for the small oil factory.
An interesting suggestion which has
been made in connection with the grow
ing Of wood of trees is to plant them
along the roadsldes Of the country, Civ.
ing shade and at the same time pro-
ducing a valuable secondary crop. The
nuts cannot be eaten and can be used
only for the purpose of manufacturing
oil. The tree is particularly heavy leafed
and consequently valuable as shade
tree. RAYMOND w. PULLMAN.
The American high school has the op-
portunity of the century to lead in the
great movement for a
High Schools real and active de-
Opportunity. and in life. This is
the belief Of Thomas Jesse Jones, a Sec
ondary schools specialist Of the United
States bureau of education. According to
this government expert. the high school
can, IL 1t will, not only lead the public
. school system of the country, but 1t can
guide and direct more largely than any
other social group every phase OF de-
mocracy. reaching out, as it does. into
the home, the church, the playground,
the field, the shop and legislative halls.
This tremendous possibility" says Mr..
Jones, ''is claimed for the high schools
Of the land because Of their strategic
position in our civilization. No other
agency in our land can direct SO many
minds, ready for truth and experience,
to study and practice so serious and
systematic. One-fourth of the school
children of the land receive some high
school training. The period of Adde'S
cence, largely within the high school
years, is well known to be the most sensi-
tive CT all to the truths and habits that
conSti tute character.
What, then, are the educational ele-
ment, which the high school must rec
ognize? First of ALL. teachers must catch
the spirit of the twentieth century de-
mocracy and learn of the great move
They must know much of the great ques-
tons which are now given the attention
of so many public-spirited men and wom-
en-, rich and poor.
why must the nation suffer the APP
palling national loss of 65O,O0O persons
every year from preventable causes? A
multitude of men, women and children,
almost twice the, population Of the Cap
ital city OF our nation, practically thrown
away with scarcely tinge of regret
from even the best educated people of
the land! Why should the electrocution
of miserable murderer attract the at
| tention of the public more than the death
of 100000 infants every year from pre-
yentable causes? Is it not possible to
improve conditions causing divorce rate
of one in twelve marriages in the United
States as compared with a rate in France
| of only one in thirty marriages and in
Germany of but one divorce in forty
| four marriages? Shameful housing con-
ditions of the working classes, the prev
alence of poverty. the number of youth
full lawbreakers. the impulsive radcalism
! of mob rule or the selfish conservatism
| of tradition and privilege, the reckless
destruction of the natural resources to
| swell the fortunes of the few, the de-
population of rural areas and the in
creasing congestion of cities-all these
are the call of society for a universal
democracy. They call to the teachers
of the land and above all to the high
| school teachers.
I'm word the high school teacher
who would grasp the greatest oppor-
tunity for social service now open to any
person must realize that education is life
and that every activity in the high
school must be an integral part of life. -
Many visitors to New Orleans and Los
Angeles and persons who have Travelled
in the Central American
Vegetable and certain European
p.. countries have often won
dered why it is not pos
sible to find the chayote or vegetable
pear on the bill of fare in the average
hotel in the United States. This tropical
vegetable, which resembles white squash,
may be cooked in various ways, and the
excellent dishes which the people of
Central America, and to a lesser extent
the chefs of the hotels of few Amer
lean cities, prepare from this plant APP
peal Immediately to the taste of almost
every traveller.
The chayote. pronounced ka-yo-tay, and
which Is known under d number of other
names, is now recommended for expert
mental purposes by experts of the United
States Department of Agriculture. Al
though it was introduced in this country
a number of years ago, its development
has been slow, but the government ex-
poets to be in a position next fall to
furnish seeds of the plant to large
| number of persons who might wish to
experiment with its culture.
The chayote is a most peculiar vine
in many respects. In the first place the
chayote is one of the few plants whose
fruit Is planted whole for seeding pur-
poses instead of merely placing the single
seed into the ground. The vegetable is
almost pure white pear-shaped, and
weighs from ten to twenty ounces. each
being about the size of the largest pear
which comes on the market There are
a number of varieties, some of which are
fairly smooth, while others are covered
with small thornS. The fruit is divided
into either five or six segments by heavy
lines much like the lines which run over
cantaloupe.
The chayote vine is perennial, unlike
most other vegetable plants. and pro-
duces fruit it's first year California
farmer recently sent to David Fairchild.
i'm charge Of the Office of foreign seed and
plant introduction of the United States
Department Of Agriculture, several fruits
from two vines-the only ones he had
growing-along with a brief statement of
the yield OF each vine. On these vines
about $50 fruits We're grown, averaging
The vegetables retailed at 10 cents each
on the Los Angeles market. which would
mean that the farmer could sell them in
large quantities at 3 to ) cents apiece,
which would pay him $3 to $3.50 per vine.
In the Los Angeles market the chayote
is called the "chayote squash" In New
Orleans the retail price of the chayote,
or "mirliton," as it Is called there, is
about 75 cents q dozen. In q number of
foreign countries the vegetable has be-
come popular, particularly Spain, AL
geria and in the Island of Madeira where
it is usually on the menu of the hotels.
Farmers living throughout the south
ern states and westward all the way to
California who wish to experiment In
growing chayotes may obtain advice on
their culture and fruits for seed in the
experiment by writing to Mr. Fairchild
at the Department of Agriculture No
attempt has been made to push the ex
tensive development of the culture of the