The Mesquite Bean. 243 



uations, it becomes a low, wide-spreading tree, 20 to 30 feet in 

 height, with a trunk seklom over a foot in diameter, although some- 

 times found from two to three feet in thickness. 



In the arid regions, where this tree is found in its best estate, 

 this tree is most useful for the excessivelj- hard, durable wood, valu- 

 able for fuel, in fencing or for other uses. Mesquite posts and rails 

 are but slightly affected l^y exposure to the influences of ordinary- 

 weather. The trunk and roots as well are unsuqjassed for fuel, 

 making a hot fire, and in many sections, from California to Texas, 

 is the most common, often the only obtainable, fuel. The wood is 

 also useful in cabinet work, being heavy, fine-grained, and taking a 

 fine polish, w^hen it has the appearance of mahogan3^ It is richly 

 colored, varving from purplish black in the center to a reddish 

 brown and j'ellow near the bark. 



The tree is also adapted for live fences; of rapid and easy 

 growth in situations where scarcely an^^ other tree will thrive, it 

 can be made to form impenetrable hedges in a few years from the 

 seed. 



Baron von Mueller says : ' The variety glandulosa exudes a gum 

 not unlike gum arabic, and this is obtained so copiously that chil- 

 dren could earn two to three dollars a day in gathering it in Texas, 

 latterh' about 40,000 pounds being bought by druggists there.' 



On the other hand, Dr. V. Havard in speaking of the mesquite 

 tree of Texas, sa\^s: ' During the summer months the bark secretes 

 an amber colored gum which has the taste of gum arabic, and like 

 it makes excellent adhesive mucilage. Its solution in water is 

 slightly acid andastringent ; it is a useful and palatable drink in the 

 diarrhoea of children. The quantity of gum secreted by each tree is 

 not large enough to make it an important article of commerce.' 



In California I have never observed the gum in any quantity. 

 I have collected specimens of this gum that closel v reseml)led jet in 

 color and very hard when found — evidently caused to exude bj' fire. 



The tree produces abundantly of its long and slender bean-like 

 pods, with a thick and spongy mesocarp, sweetish to the taste. 

 These pods contain from 25 to 30 per cent of grape sugar, 11 to 17 

 per cent of starch, 7 to 11 per cent of protein; of organic acids, 

 pectin and other non-nitrogenous nutritive substances 14 to 24 per 

 cent. The\^ are also comparatively rich in potash, lime and phos- 

 phoric acid. The pods of several varieties are said to be rich in 

 tannic acid. 



Containing, as they do, more than half their weight in assimila- 

 ble nutritive principles, these pods constitute a valuable article of 

 food, find are one of the staples w^ith many Mexicans and Indians. 



