Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1917-11-10
EDIBLE FRUIio
f
What Early Pioneers Did May Be
NOw-The Mulberry
Valuable.

food which the woods Afforded. While
few people want to try that sort Of
thing nowadays, persons who know
the food value of the fruits of our ma
tive trees and shrubs are, according
to foresters, able to use them to good
advantage in supplementing other
foods
Aside from the numerous edible
mushrooms, roots, fruits of shrubs
and smaller plants, the trees of our
forests afford large variety of edi-
bles which are highly priced by
woods connoisseurs. First in import
ance, of course, are our native nuts
beech nuts, butternuts. walnuts. chest
nuts and chinquapins, hazel nuts.
and several kinds of hickory nuts. in
| Guiding pecans. The kernels OF all
Of these are not only toothsome but
highly nutritious and are used BY
vegetarians TO replace meat. The oil
OF the beech nut is said TO be little IN
ferior TO olive oil. while that OF but
ternuts and walnuts was used BY some
OF the Indians for various purposes
The Indians. il Is said. also formerly
mixed chestnuts with cornmeai and
made a bread which was baked IN
corn husks, like tomales. In parts 81
Europe bread Is made from chesfnuts
alone. The chestnut crop In thfs
country is being reduced each year b.
the chestnut-blieht disease which In
some sections IS gradually kiuinx auf
the tree
Acorns are commonly thoarhf 81 ~
or only for feeding hoEa. bat many
kinds 81 them can De- made edible and
n0urishlng for people e. wen The
Indian custom vas % pound OF rrind
the acorns up and leach eur tho Tan
min, which makes most &C them uuff
FOR eating when raw. hy treating the
pulp with hot water The resulting
lour. which contained considerable
starch. was made either into por-
ridge or baked in small cakes OF
bread. AS a rule. the acorns Of the
various white oaks having less tan
min are the ones best suited for food.
but Indians also used those OF the
black oaks, even though they contain
much tannin. The acorns of the bas-
ket or COW oak, the chinquapin oak,
shin or Rocky Mountain oak. live oak,
| and of several other species, are
sweet enough TO be eaten raw.
Another nut which is not suited for
eating raw, but from which a palat-
able food is said to have been pre-
| pared by the Indians is the buckeye.
The kernels of these nuts were dried,
powdered, and freed of the poison
which they contain when raw by fill
tration. The resulting paste was
| either eaten cold or baked
Several Western pines have seeds
which play an important part in the
died of the loscali Indians. Perhaps
the best known of these is the fruit
of the nut pine or pinon which forms
the basis for local industry of some
size Not only is il extensively eaten
by local settlers and Indians, but
large quantities are shipped to the
cities where the seed is roasted and
sold on the street. The similar seed
of the Parry pine and the large Dig
ger pine seeds are eagerly sought by
have gained its name from its use as
food by the Digger Indians. The
seeds of the longleaf pine are edible
and are improved by roasting. In
deed, 1t may be said that most nuts
are more digestible when roasted than
if eaten raw.
One of the best known fruits, the
foresters say, is the persimmon, which
is edible only after it is thoroughly
ripe. AS this is usually not until late
in the fall il is commonly thought
that the fruit must be frostbitten. IL
the persimmon is eaten before it is
well ripened, the fannie acid which
the fruit contains has a strongly as
tringent effect, which justifies the
story of the soldier in the Civil War
who said he had eaten green persim-
mons so as to shrink his stomach up
TO fit his rations. The pawpaw, or
custard apple, is also best when thor
oughly ripe. The fruit of some
species of haws is eaten or preserved
in different parts of the country,
while those of several different kinds
of wild cherries have q food value and
are used for various purposes Wild
plums are abundant in certain sec
tions and occur in particularly plenti-
full quantities along the streams in
The Eastern and Middle Western
States.
Several varieties of wild crab APP
pies make delicious jellies. Some Of
the largest, which attain the size of
small apples, are more or less abund-
ant throughout eatern North Caro-
lima Elderberries are frequently
used for pies and for sauce. Those
found in the West are sweeter and
have better flavor than the eastern
varieties.
The berries of the blackberry, or
sugar berry. as it is called in the
South, are dry bur have an agreeable
taste. Those of the mulberry are
sweet and juicy when ripe. The null
berry is valued in some sections for
feeding hogs and poultry and some
species are occasionally cultivated.
Many people like the fruit Of the
shad bush, "sarvice" berry, or June
berry, as it is variously called. In
parts of the country this fruit is used
to make jelly
The French Canadians are said TO
use the acid flowers Of the redbud. or
Judas tree, in salads, while the buds
and tender pods are picked in vine