43 



flour made from Tan Oak acorns, the leaching' being done in the sandy 

 beds of northern rivers. 



"There is undoubtedly very great variation in the quality and yield 

 of the various individual trees of one species, even in a given locality. 

 Trees notable for their yield and especially for the quality of their 

 acorns, were the special property, in aboriginal days, of a particular 

 family or small tribe. This fact of variation is true as well of the 

 Black Oaks ; for example, the Coast Live Oak, Quercus agrifolia, 

 varies so remarkably in the edibility of the acorns as borne by these 

 trees that the yield of certain trees is estimated by white men as a sub- 

 stitute for chestnuts. There are gardeners in the great Del Monte 

 grounds at Monterey who gather the acorns of a certain Coast Live 

 Oak tree which stands in that area and eat them as they go about 

 their work just as they might chestnuts. 



"Some further material upon this matter' can be obtained from my 

 Silva of California, which is in the New York Library and in the 

 library of the New York Botanical gardens. There is also an article 

 entitled "Food Products of the Native Trees" on page 161- of my small 

 manual entitled "The Trees of California," Edition 2. Doubtless 

 this can also be consulted at the New York Botanical Garden." 



PRIMITIVE MANUFACTURE AND USE OE ACORN MEAL 

 By V. K. Chestnut, U. S. Department of Agriculture 



I can corroborate very well what Dr. Morris has said. I am a 

 chemist, but do not belong to the Chemical Foundation. I have, how- 

 ever, sat at the foot of the Indian and have learned a great deal from 

 him. 



I had an opportunity in 1892 to go up to an Indian reservation in 

 northern California and make a study of their food habits. My object 



