EDIBLE FRUITS OF FOREST TREES 



IT is said that Daniel Boone and some of our other 

 early pioneers could go into the wilderness with only 

 a rifle and a sack of salt and live in comfort on the 

 game and other wild food which the woods afforded 

 While few people want to try that sort of thing nowa- 

 days, persons who know the food value of the fruits of 

 our native 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 for- 

 ests afford a large variety of edibles which are highly 

 prized by woods connoisseurs. First in importance, of 

 course, are our native nuts — beech nuts, butternuts, wal- 

 nuts, chestnuts and chinquapins, hazel nuts, and several 

 kinds of hickory nuts, including 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 inferior to olive oil, 

 while that of butternuts and walnuts was used by some 

 of the Indians for various purposes. The Indians, it is 

 said, also formerly mixed chestnuts with cornmeal and 

 made a bread which was baked in corn husks, like 

 tomales. In parts of Europe bread is made from chest- 

 nuts alone. The chestnut crop in this country is being re- 

 duced each year by the chestnut blight disease, which in 

 some sections is gradually killing out the tree. 



Acorns are commonly thought to be fit only for feed- 

 ing hogs, but many kinds of them can be made edible and 

 nourishing for people as well. The Indian custom was to 

 pound or grind the acorns up and leach out the tannin, 

 which makes most of them unfit for eating when raw, by 

 treating the pulp with hot water. The resulting flour, 

 which contained considerable starch, was made either 

 into a porridge or baked in small cakes of bread. As a 

 rule, the acorns of the various white oaks having less 

 tannin, 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 basket 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 palatable food is said to have been prepared 

 by the Indians, is the buckeye. The kernels of these nuts 

 were dried, powdered, and freed of the jjoison which they 

 contain when raw, by filtration. The resulting paste was 

 either eaten cold or baked. 



Several western pines have seeds which jilay an im- 

 portant part in the diet of the local Indians. Perhaps the 

 best known of these is the fruit of the nut pine or pinon 



which forms the basis for a local industry of some si?e 

 Not only is it extensively eaten by local settlers and In- 

 dians, 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 Digger pine seeds 

 are eagerly sought by the Indians. The latter tree is 

 said to have gained its name from its use as a food by 

 the Digger Indians. The seeds of the longleaf pine are 

 edible and are improved by roasting. Indeed, it 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, it is com- 

 monly thought that the fruit must be frostbitten. If the 

 persimmon is eaten before it is well ripened, the tannic 

 acid which the fruit contains has a strongly astringent 

 effect, which justifies the story of the soldier in the Civil 

 War who said he had eaten green persimmons so as to 

 shrink his stomach up to fit his rations. The pawpaw, 

 or custard apple, is also best when thoroughly ripe. The 

 fruit of some species of haws is eaten or preserved in dif- 

 ferent parts of the country, while those of several differ- 

 ent kinds of wild cherries have a food value and are used 

 for various purposes. Wild plums are abundant in cer- 

 tain sections and occur in particularly plentiful quantities 

 along the streams in the Eastern and Middle Western 

 States. 



Several varieties of wild crab apples make delicious 

 jellies. Some of the largest, which attain the size of 

 small apples, are more or less abundant throughout east- 

 ern North Carolina. Elderberries are frequently used for 

 pies and for sauce. Those found in the West are sweeter 

 and have a better flavor than the eastern varieties. 



The berries of the hackberry, or sugar berry, as it is 

 called in the South, are dry, but have an agreeable taste. 

 Those of the mulberry are sweet and juicy when ripe. 

 The mulberry 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 pickled in vinegar. Honey locust 

 pods, often locally called "honey-shucks," contain a 

 sweetish, thick, cheeselike pulp, which is often eaten. 

 Those of the mesquite furnish the Mexicans and Indians 

 with a nutritious food. The Creoles of Louisiana, famous 

 for their cookery, are reported to use the young buds of 

 the sassafras as a substitute for okra in thickening soups. 



%V7"OODLOT owners will be interested to know that 

 ' ' birch, cherry, walnut, oak and mahogany have been 

 approved for airplane propeller stock by the United 

 States Government. Spruce is the principal wood used 

 for the frames. 



TT has recently been discovered that gum lumber im- 

 •*• mersed in pure gummed spirits of turpentine lasts 

 many years longer when exposed to open air. The usual 

 method of treating the lumber is to give it three coatings 

 and allow it to thoroughly dry after each one. 



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