USEFUL WILD PLANTS 



rights. The berries were consumed either dried and 

 ground into pinole, or cooked as a mush, or in the 

 fresh state. Death from intestinal stoppage is said 

 to have sometimes resulted, however, from too free 

 indulgence in the uncooked fruit.* A favorite 

 aboriginal use, too, was in the manufacture of cider, 

 which will be described in the chapter on Beverage 

 Plants. 



To white cooks the Manzanita is of negligible in- 

 terest except, as already hinted, as a basis for a jelly, 

 which is famously good. The following recipe I 

 have from Mr. Edmund C. Jaeger of Riviera, 

 California: Select berries, by preference of the 

 smooth-skinned variety, which are more juicy than 

 the others, picking them when full grown but still 

 green, say about the first of June. Put them in a 

 boiler with cold water to cover; and after bringing 

 them to a boil, let them simmer until thoroughly 

 cooked through: then pour into a cheese-cloth sack 

 and press out the juice. This will have a cloudy 

 look. Add sugar in the proportion of pound for 

 pound, and boil till the liquid jells. The sugar clari- 

 fies the juice, and the jelly is a beautiful, clear, amber 

 red. Should the berries be too ripe, there will be 



4 Chesnut. "Plants Used by the Indians of Mendocino Co., Cali- 

 fornia." 



96 



