STEEP TRAILS 



of Nature's bounty and celebrate the harvest 

 home with dancing and feasting. The cones, 

 which are a bright grass-green in color and 

 about two inches long by one and a half in 

 diameter, are beaten off with poles just before 

 the scales open, gathered in heaps of several 

 bushels, and Ughtly scorched by burning a thin 

 covering of brushwood over them. The resin, 

 with which the cones are bedraggled, is thus 

 burned off, the nuts slightly roasted, and the 

 scales made to open. Then they are allowed 

 to dry in the sun, after which the nuts are 

 easily thrashed out and are ready to be stored 

 away. They are about half an inch long by a 

 quarter of an inch in diameter, pointed at the 

 upper end, rounded at the base, light-brown 

 in general color, and handsomely dotted with 

 purple, like birds' eggs. The shells are thin, 

 and may be crushed between the thumb and 

 finger. The kernels are white and waxy-look- 

 ing, becoming brown by roasting, sweet and 

 delicious to every palate, and are eaten by 

 birds, squirrels, dogs, horses, and man. When 

 the crop is abundant the Indians bring in large 

 quantities for sale; they are eaten around every 

 fireside in the State, and oftentimes fed to 

 horses instead of barley. 



Looking over the whole continent, none of 

 Nature's bounties seems to me so great as 

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