The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-10-30

W00WAU8 ILL., Os ~ OCt. eUs0AS
this time OF The yssr thkre 10 rips
for harvest one II the least used
and appreciated of American food
crops-thst Of nuts, wild and tame.
The nut has fallen into such sad
diSrspute n this country tina. the
very word has come to be nyura-
lively applied 70 humans who are
slightly dimculty for society to as
simulate. Nearly everyone regards
nuts ~ indigestible. They are
therefore given no regular place IN
the bill OF fare, but are always
tackled onto the end Of 1t. This 10
q place where they are admirably
calculated to maintain their reputa-
ton for indigestibility. For nuts
are . rich and heavy food, and are
not in the least suited to be eaten
on top Of . lot Of other neurishing
food. They could much more ap-
propriately take the place Of meat.
for they are rich in fat and contain
. good deal Of protein. They are
great energisers. To get the good
out Of them they need only to be
chewed thoroughly aud to be eaten
with other lighter foods in order to
form . balanced diet.
No doubt an enormoQs foo1 ~
source goes to waste In the wild
nuts that are never gathered, but it
ID doubtful whether it would pay
to do the work Of gathering them in
| most places. Down in Texas the
Wild pecans are gathered. regular
ly and a thousand carloads Of them,
or more. are shipped out Of the
state every year, 10 that they con-
stttute q real source Of wealth for
the Texans.
A few carloads Of chestnuts used
to be shipped out Of western Mary
land every year, but the rapid
spread of the chestnut blight has
about put an end to that industry
The department of agriculture il
experimenting in crossing the ma.
tive chestnut with japanese va.
riety, which is somewhat more re,
sistant to the blight, and there is 6
hope that the chestnut may b.
saved as an orchard tree in thii
way. but the great wild groves o.
chestnuts are dead or doomed.
The Blhck Walnut
There is not much need fol
mourning over the chestnut, how
ever. when there are other hne ma
tive nuts which thrive perfectly ant
which are almost wholly neglected
The black walnut 10 . case in point
1t is a fine nut of excellent flavor
and grows over large part Of tn,
United States. from southern New
England to Florida In the east an,
from Minnesota to Texas in tn
west, while there 10 q special va
riety on the Pacific coast. The blacl
walnut tree will grow on. vast
lands which will support little 9th
er timber. 1t is an admirable shad
tree about the house and AlonI
roads and fences. 1t is also one o
the most valuable timber trees ma
tive to the United States.
1t is this latter fact that doome'
it. The pioneers cared little abou
the nuts and much about the tim
Der. Hence the trees were CD
down ruthlessly. This has not onl
make it relatively scare tree, bu
has destroyed much Of the stool
from which an improved nut nigh
have been derived. For wild nu
trees. growing in the woods, seldor
yield q valuable crop. The stock Q
the trees that bear the best nut
, must be selected and propagated. 1
this way larger nuts with thinne
shells and flavor are slowly pre-
duced BY selective breeding. Will
older and more thoughtful people
t were thus improving their nativ
nut trees, Americans were destroy
. ing them. AS . natural result, "