Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-06-01

poses q number OF the finest specimens
OF the famous Karakul sheep which
money can buy. and it is the lambs or
this breed which furnish the beautiful
Persian lamb and broadtail skins when
are 80 highly priced for the making OF
wOTnen's coats and furs
Many hundreds Of thousands of dollars
worth Of Persian lamb skins and the
broadtail Persian are imported to sup
ply the fur trade in this country eacn
year, and the experiments which have
been conducted by DR.. Young in cooper
alton with breeding experts of the gov
eminent seem to indicate that 1t may be
possible to establish prosperous Per
sian lamb industry in the United States.
The present home of the Karakui sheep
is in Persia. southern Russia. Asia
Minor, northern Africa. Turkestan and
brought to this country by DR.. Young
were purchased at the annual sheep
show held at Moscow, Russia.
An American woman today pays $50
to $3.50 for long Persian lamb coat.
and $500 or $1,000 and upward-usually
upward-for a broadtail coat Of good
quality. The introduction OF the Persian
lamb industry in this country might
promise q reduction in the cost OF living
OF women who are in the habit of enjoy
ing such expensive luxuries as coats
made of the beautiful skins of the small
black lambs.
duction in the price Of skins would mean
a greatly stimulated demand for Per-
sian lamb furs and at the market price
$3.50 to $500 a skin. 1t is believed that
in the raising of Persian lambs Ameri-
can farmers can make good profit
The governments breeding experts. how
ever. are not advising live stock grow
ers Of this country to go in for Per-
sian lamb production until more IS known
about the adaptation of the industry to
this country. and whether American
farmers can be taught to handle the
valuable skins as carefully as the pro-
ducers of the old world.
The lambs of the karakul sheep
known to the trade as Persian lamb
are born black. although their parents
have a coat Of long. wavy wool, which
is gray and which at first glance re-
sembles the long fleece of the black
faced highland sheep of Scotland.
The best Persian lamb skins are OBJ
tanned when the animal is killed on the
day of it's BIRTH At this time the wool
is in tight knots close to the skim and
is very soft and smooth. AS the lamb
grows older the coat begins to change
anu gradually the wool lengthens and
turns gray. When the lamb Is SIX
months old. its wool is entirely gray. A
person not knowing the nature of the
animal. and seeing the young karakul
lamb and it's mother. would not i'm
agine that the two belonged to the same
family.
bureau Of animal industry Of the De
partment of Agriculture has used two
! Karakul rams in breeding experiments
with the leading breeds of sheep. These
experiments have been carried on at the
governments breeding farms near Wash
ington and have been in charge OF r..
L. Shaw, one of the experts OF the ami
NAL husbandry division. The work mas
been highly satisfactory so TAR, anu
many Of the lambs born up to the pres
/ ent time have produced skins which lead
experts to believe that the governments
Investigations will warrant the Ameri-
can sheep breeders in few years 10
! going in for the production of Persian
lambs on a large scale.
Dasheens creamed, dasheens candied
dasheen pie and dasheen soup are few
of the recipes in the latest
Dasheen section of Uncle Sam
cook book. which treats OF
AeclPeS. the preparation of the
oriental potato-like vegetable which was
introduced in this country five years ago
and which has achieved instant popular
ity wherever it has been introduced.
The publication at this time of thirteen
tested recipes on methods of cooking the
wholesome dasheen is to meet general
demand for information on how to pre-
pare the vegetable immigrant for the ia
ble Besides the recipes which have just
been named, the governments COOKS nave
prepared the following dishes from this
new vegetable: Dasheen shoots. dasheen
greens, boiled dasheen. mashed dasheen
! dasheen dressing for fowl and Other
meats and dasheen pudding.
The growing interest in the dasheen as
a new American crop leads farm experts
to believe that it is destined to become a
product of considera BILE Importance in the
southern section of the United. States.
where conditions for its growth are usual
Nv good In appearance the dasheen is a
tuber which resembles the potato. but It
contains 30 per cent more protein and
starch than the potato. has pleasant
nutty flavor and is easily digested. The
plant of the dasheen has large, broad
leaves which are very similar in appear
ance to the elephant ear plants which are
grown in gardens In many parts OF the
| United States.
The dasheen was first served in public
several years ago. when it was intro
duced as q feature in the menu OF the
| annual banquet Of the National Geo
| graphic Society, in Washington. Since
that time the government has made many
farmers acquainted with the vegetable,
and through the division of foreign seed
and plant Introduction of the Depart
! ment of Agriculture has distributed many
| seeds to men who wish to experiment.
Remarkable progress has been made with
the experiments, and the southern sec
ton of the United States has been found
to be generally adaptable for its cult
vation Speaking of the preparation of
the dasheen for food. Robert A. Young
of the foreign seed and plant introduction
division. who has just completed study
of the oriental vegetable, says:
THE young tops. when properly cook
ed can be substituted for spinach at a
| time when the weather is too hot to grow
| spinach The blanched shoots obtained
by forcing dasheen corms in the dark in
a greenhouse or under other suita BILE con-
ditions constitute an entirely new prod
uct which is meeting with general APP
proval The nutty flavor of the tubers
| gives them a peculiar palatability which
| has struck the fancy of large number
of persons The higher heterogeneous and
! starchy character gives them an advan-
tase as food that would seem to make
the plant. when compared with the pota-
to an even more valuable food producer.
This vegetable is a staple article of food
for millions of people in tropical and sub
tropical countries. In general it is used
| in the different ways in which the white
potato Is used. 1t may also be candied
like the sweet potato
RAYMOND w. PULLMAN