44 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



Experiments to determine its standing as a possible root for the 

 olive have been suggested. 



Wild Nuts of California. The wild nuts of California are of 

 very little commercial importance. The wild almond (Prunus 

 Andersonii) of the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada is chiefly of 

 botanical interest, although some experiments are in progress in 

 its use as a grafting stock for the sweet almond. The California 

 filbert (Corylus Calif ornica) has none of the quality of the im- 

 proved filberts nor even of the wild hazelnut. Our chestnut 

 (Castanopsis chrysophylla) has a sweet kernel, but a hard shell, 

 almost like a hazelnut; its variety, sempervirens or Bush Chin- 

 quapin of the Sierra Nevada and dry Coast Range, is said to have 

 a bitter flavored kernel. Our native walnut (Juglans Calif ornica} 

 is better in flavor than the Eastern black walnut, but its hard shell 

 makes it of little commercial account in competition with better, 

 cultivated nuts. 



The one native nut which is regularly sold in the local market 

 is the "pinenut" seeds of several species of Pacific coast pines, 

 particularly the "Nevada Nut Pine" or "One-leaf Pinon." Their 

 flavor is somewhat resinous, but is agreeable. 



The seeds 'of two species of palms, Washingtonia Ulifera and the 

 Lower California Erythea armata, are sought for by the Indians, 

 who also eat the sweetish fruit of the Yucca Mojavensis, which 

 somewhat resembles in shape the banana, and in flavor the fig, and 

 is called the "wild date." 



The Indians also use the acorns of several species of California 

 oaks as food, extracting the bitterness by soaking in water, and 

 then making a rude bread of the acorn meal. 



The "jajoba," or "goat-nut" (Simmondsia Calif ornica), is a low 

 shrub, the fresh fruits of which, deprived of their seed-coats, are 

 eaten like almonds, and when dried by fire and ground they are 

 used as a beverage, in the form of tablets made up with sugar, or 

 as a simple infusion. Fire-dried seeds contain 48.30 per cent of 

 fatty ,-matter ; the oil is suitable for food and of good quality, and 

 possesses the immense advantage of not turning rancid. In Lower 

 California it is prepared by boiling with water. 



The nuts of the California laurel were roasted by the native 

 tribes and esteemed a great delicacy. Further improvements in the 

 preparation process may some day adapt them to the white man's 

 tastes. 



Cactus. The common cactus (Opuntia Engelmanni) bears a 

 sweet edible fruit which the Indians dry in large quantities for 

 winter use. By long boiling they make a sauce, which, after slight 

 fermentation, they consider especially nutritious and stimulating. 

 The local species has been used by Mr. Burbank in some of his 

 crossing to secure improved spineless fruits on plants of more* vigor- 

 ous growth and productiveness. 



