The Pioche record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1908-1925, 1920-04-09
have had for himself. The par
ticlar advantage in planting


Moss of ,hes. trees for waste places. where little
else vii, grow and they need less attention per-
hans than other trees of the nut-bearing group.
If is probable however, that the extensive pi'h'-
ing Of pine trees for food purposes Will nave "
wait until we have advanced to the point OF put
ting other kinds of nut trees upon gooa srouhu
first. Pines will be employed for the more barren
hillsdes when the people OF 800 years from ho"
complain of the high cost of living.
II is not generally known that some OF the
smaller pine nuts. like those of the sngleieaVeo
pine or Of the sugar pine, are delicious when
cracked and eaten out of hand The smaller pine
nuts are pounded up by the Indians with little
water and the thick rich creamy emulsion IKE
hickory milk can be kept for long time without
decomposition In addition to the nuts or the
sugar pine the Indians collect the sugar OF DRIED
Juice which exudes at points where cuts have been
made in the tree for the purpose.
In Europe and Asia pine nuts for the market are
cracked by machinery or by cheap mana lapor' anu
1t is probable that we may eventually hull some
of the smaller ones buckwheat Is huled.
With few exceptions nuts contain little carDohy-
drate (starch or sugar). They are, however, rlch
in fat and protein. On account OF their hlgh 1at
content they are probably the most highly con-
centrated of all natural foods. pound OF nuts
contains an average of more than 1900 calories,
double the amount supplied by grains, four times
as mucl. as average meats and ten times as mGeh
as average fruits and vegetables.
The notion that nuts are difficult of digestion
has really no foundation. in fact. The idea is
probably the natural outgrowth of the custom or
eating nuts at the close of meal When an
abundance Of highly nutritious food has already
been eaten, and the equally injurious custom or
eating nuts between meals Failure of thorough
mastication must also be mentioned as possible
cause Of indigestion. The fats OF nuts are the
most digestibe of all forms of fat.
Whole races Of men. comprising many millions,
live without meats of any sort, and when fed
sufficient amount of other foods are wonderfully
vigorous, prolific, enduring and intelligent.
The great economic Importance of the encour-
agement Of nut culture in every civilized land Is
best shown by comparing the amount of food
which may be annually produced by an acre OF
land planted to nut trees and the same area de-
voted to the production of beef. On an average
two acres of land and two years are required to
produce steer weighing 600 pounds. The prod
uct of one acre for one year would be one-fourth
as much. The same land planted to walnut trees
would produce an average of at least 1OO pounds
per tree per annum for the first twenty years
Forty trees to the acre would aggregate 4,OOO
pounds of nuts 1000 pounds of walnut meats
The highest food value which could be ascribeC
to the $50 pounds Of beef furnished BY steer
weighing COO pounds would be 10000 calories
The food value of the nut meats would be 3,oOOOV
calories, or twenty times much food from tn
nut trees as from the fattened steer. and food o
the same general character, protein and fat. bu
Of superior quality. The walnut is not the onl
promising food tree The hickory, the pecan tn
butternut. the fiber and the pinon are all capabl
of producing equal or greater results.