254 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 
in the northern mountains. The settler, in times of famine, 
often appealed to the Indian, and many of the fruits and vege- 
tables upon which he fed have been since neglected. The Indian- 
club and the Indian-fig, for instance, two of his important food- 
plants, are perhaps worthy of cultivation and improvement.* 
The Indian of New Jersey was soon superseded by the settler,. 
who, provided with two powerful implements—the axe and the 
gun—cleared small patches of land, and built cabins along the 
rivers. ‘I'rapping was the settler’s first occupation and peltry f 
was one of the first and most important products of the virgin. 
forest. Hunting and trapping in early times were hazardous, 
but often lucrative occupations. The forest was difficult to clear, 
and just as the young poplars to-day harass the New England 
farmer, by invading his pastures, and the mink and fox rob the 
hennery, so in early times a hundred-fold more bothersome were 
the suckers and seedlings, and animals from the woods between 
the clearings. Fire was freely used, and from the ashes potash 
was extracted by leaching. This lixivium, by mixing with 
grease produced soft-soap, which is still manufactured by country 
people. In many places to-day wood is extensively burnt for its. 
ashes and used as a fertilizer. 
Soon shipbuilding déveloped into an important industry. Oak 
and pine of the finest kinds were plentiful. Saw-mills were 
built along the streams, and lumber was shipped even to the 
West Indies in exchange for rum, sugar and molasses. The 
construction of schooners continued until recent times to be an 
important industry. Now, only small sloops, scows and bateaux 
are built. Ships of iron, propelled by steam, have superseded 
the clipper. 
* It may often be the humblest and least conspicuous plants which yield the richest food materials, 
and not always the major forest products which, considering labor and time, yield the largest returns. 
The salep of Turkey and the truffles of France are excellent examples. Salep is a farinaceous food 
obtained from the tubers of wild orchids, It contains a substance called bassorine, which is very nutri- 
tious. Over $3,000,000 worth of truffles are exported annually from France. They come mostly from: 
Perigord, and grow in limestone regions on the roots of oaks. 
Several wild animals have, and perhaps others might be, profitably bred for their pelts, The 
skunk (Mephitis mephitica), one of the commonest and most disagreeable of all the animals of Eastern 
America, produces a salable fur called “Alaska sable,’’ and in spite ofthe facts that it emits a nauseating 
odor and that a kind of hydrophobia results from its bite, has been kept in confinement and bred for its 
skin. The mink has been tamed and reared in minkeries in New York State. It has been said that a 
mink is as profitable asa cow. Coues, in his “‘ Fur-bearing Animals of North America,’’ says: ‘‘ Were 
not fashion so notoriously capricious, mink pelts would maintain a conspicuous place in the fur-marts of 
the world; certainly few surpass them in richness of color, gloss and fineness ” 
