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  that 
  Mediterranean 
  agriculture 
  began 
  on 
  the 
  basis 
  of 
  tree 
  crops, 
  

   and 
  there 
  are 
  now 
  about 
  twenty-five 
  such 
  crops 
  in 
  the 
  Mediter- 
  

   ranean 
  basin. 
  The 
  oak 
  tree 
  furnishes 
  five, 
  cork 
  bark, 
  an 
  ink 
  pro- 
  

   ducing 
  gall 
  which 
  enters 
  into 
  the 
  manufacture 
  of 
  all 
  our 
  ink, 
  the 
  

   Valonia, 
  or 
  tannin-yielding 
  acorn, 
  which 
  is 
  an 
  important 
  export 
  

   from 
  the 
  Balkan 
  states; 
  the 
  truffle 
  worth 
  several 
  million 
  dollars 
  to 
  

   France; 
  and 
  lastly 
  the 
  acorn. 
  In 
  the 
  Balaeric 
  Isles, 
  I 
  am 
  informed, 
  

   certain 
  acorns 
  are 
  more 
  prized 
  than 
  chestnuts 
  and 
  the 
  trees 
  yielding 
  

   them 
  are 
  grafted 
  hke 
  apples, 
  and 
  the 
  porker 
  is 
  turned 
  out 
  to 
  make 
  

   his 
  living 
  picking 
  up 
  acorns 
  where 
  they 
  fall, 
  and 
  enriching 
  his 
  diet 
  

   with 
  a 
  special 
  kind 
  of 
  fig 
  grown 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  way 
  for 
  his 
  use. 
  We 
  

   Americans 
  are 
  too 
  industrious; 
  we 
  insist 
  upon 
  putting 
  a 
  pig 
  in 
  a 
  pen 
  

   and 
  then 
  waiting 
  upon 
  him. 
  The 
  pistachio, 
  the 
  walnut, 
  the 
  filbert 
  

   and 
  the 
  chestnut 
  are 
  all 
  important 
  tree 
  crops 
  in 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  Mediter- 
  

   ranean 
  countries 
  and 
  many 
  American 
  travelers 
  have 
  probably 
  seen 
  

   the 
  chestnut 
  orchards 
  of 
  France 
  and 
  Italy, 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  found 
  by 
  

   examination 
  are 
  able 
  to 
  make 
  the 
  rough 
  and 
  unplowable 
  mountain- 
  

   side, 
  bristling 
  with 
  rocks, 
  as 
  valuable 
  as 
  the 
  level 
  black 
  prairies 
  of 
  

   Illinois. 
  

  

  The 
  natural 
  objection 
  may 
  be 
  raised 
  that 
  the 
  utilization 
  of 
  so 
  

   much 
  hilly 
  land 
  in 
  fruit 
  and 
  nut-yielding 
  trees 
  will 
  give 
  such 
  supplies 
  

   of 
  new 
  food 
  that 
  people 
  will 
  refuse 
  to 
  use 
  them. 
  The 
  above 
  objec- 
  

   tion 
  is 
  well 
  founded; 
  but 
  swine, 
  sheep 
  and 
  poultry 
  eat 
  what 
  is 
  given 
  

   them. 
  I 
  have 
  an 
  example 
  of 
  a 
  farmer 
  of 
  Louisiana, 
  who 
  planted 
  a 
  

   hillside 
  to 
  mulberry 
  trees. 
  The 
  mulberries 
  held 
  the 
  ground 
  in 
  

   place 
  by 
  their 
  roots 
  and 
  dropped 
  their 
  black 
  harvest 
  to 
  the 
  ground 
  

   through 
  three 
  months 
  of 
  summer, 
  and 
  the 
  hogs 
  gathered 
  them 
  up 
  

   and 
  converted 
  them 
  into 
  pork 
  worth 
  $12 
  an 
  acre, 
  without 
  any 
  effort 
  

   on 
  the 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  owner. 
  The 
  mulberry 
  area 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  

   is 
  probably 
  close 
  to 
  a 
  milHon 
  square 
  miles. 
  Over 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  region 
  

   south 
  of 
  Mason 
  and 
  Dixon's 
  Line 
  the 
  persimmon 
  is 
  a 
  hated 
  tree 
  

   weed; 
  yet 
  it 
  stands 
  by 
  the 
  miUions 
  in 
  fields 
  and 
  fence 
  rows, 
  fairly 
  

   bending 
  down 
  with 
  a 
  full 
  crop 
  of 
  fruit 
  every 
  other 
  year, 
  which 
  is 
  

   much 
  sought 
  after 
  by 
  the 
  opossum 
  and 
  other 
  wild 
  animals, 
  and 
  

   eaten 
  when 
  possible 
  by 
  the 
  American 
  porker 
  from 
  September, 
  the 
  

   end 
  of 
  the 
  mulberry 
  season, 
  until 
  March, 
  for 
  the 
  persimmon 
  has 
  a 
  

   habit 
  of 
  dropping 
  its 
  fruit 
  through 
  the 
  long 
  winter 
  period. 
  The 
  

   oak 
  whose 
  acorns 
  probably 
  made 
  the 
  pig 
  what 
  he 
  is, 
  is 
  almost 
  neg- 
  

   lected 
  in 
  America; 
  yet 
  for 
  ages 
  the 
  Indians 
  of 
  the 
  Pacific 
  coast 
  have 
  

   made 
  their 
  bread 
  from 
  acorns 
  of 
  two 
  species 
  of 
  oak, 
  one 
  of 
  which 
  is 
  

   now 
  gathered 
  by 
  the 
  farmers 
  of 
  California, 
  put 
  into 
  their 
  barns 
  and 
  

  

  