A NEGLECTED AMERICAN FOOD PLANT 



"In view of the several possibilities of use it may seem strange that Olneya has not 

 been cultivated before or that it was not domesticated by the native agricultural 

 tribes of the southwestern States or of Mexico, but tree-crops were not a general 

 feature of the native American agriculture." This photograph shows a branch of 

 Olneya with nearly mature pods, from a tree that produces only one or two beans 

 in a pod, as stated in botanical descriptions of the species. (Fig. 14, natural size.) 



