PURE AND IMPURE FOODS. 
SUBSTITUTES FOR TEA. 
Many substitutes for tea can be found 
in any ordinary woods. The idea is not a 
new one, for many country folks made use 
of the substitutes in the days when the 
luxury of Chinese tea was not so easily 
afforded as now. Before the Revolution 
when the colonists were in a turmoil over 
the stamp taxes, it was considered unpa- 
triotic to drink tea that had paid tribute to 
the government, and the so-called Liberty 
tea was the popular drink. 
The four leaved, loose strife was, no 
doubt, the herb from which this beverage 
was made, possibly with the aid of various 
other herbs. It is common to almost every 
woodland. 
In some districts of the Southern United 
- States, pennyroyal tea is a common beverage 
and seems to take the place of real tea. 
The leaves of the New Jersey tea, a low 
bush which grows everywhere in dry wood- 
lands, and bears in June and July a profu- 
sion of delicate white blooms, were also 
extensively used during the Revolution. An 
infusion of the leaves has a bright amber 
color, and in looks is as attractive as the 
real beverage; but the taste, though astring- 
ent, is by no means lively. Some effort has 
recently been made in commercial circles to 
revive the use of this plant as a substitute 
for tea. The leaves are said to contain 
about 10 per cent. of tannin. 
Hemlock leaves and those of the arbor 
vitae have played an important part in the 
making of rustic tea. The arbor vitae is 
a tree that grows wild in great abundance in 
Northern woods, and the old time Maine 
lumbermen used frequently to resort to its 
leaves for tea when other herbage failed 
them for the purpose. It is thought to be 
invigorating. 
The leaves of the. wintergreen, a small 
plant, whose bright red berries, about the 
‘size of peas, are sold on the streets under 
the name of teaberry, have long been used 
for tea. The foliage is aromatic, and people 
who like a dash of spiciness in their drink 
have sometimes added its flavor to real tea. 
It is near of kin and similar in taste to the 
creeping snow berry, a small, delicate vine, 
abundant in the great bogs and mossy 
woods of the North and Alleghany regions, 
and this is also approved by mountain pal- 
ates as a substitute for tea. Thoreau, in 
“The Maine Woods,” tells of his Indian 
guide bringing it into camp one night and 
recommending it as the best of all substi- 
tutes for tea. “It has a slight checkerberry 
flavor,” Thoreau records, “and we agreed 
that it was better than the black tea we had 
brought. We thought it a discovery and 
that it might be dried and sold in the shops.” 
Better known as a tea plant is the Lab- 
rador tea, Ledum latifolia, which grows in 
cold bogs and mountain woods from Penn- 
315 
sylvania Northward. The leaves, which 
emit a slight, not unpleasant fragrance when 
bruised, are tough and leathery, and covered 
with a rusty brown wool. Steeped, they 
give a wild, gamy flavor to hot water, and 
the drink resulting suggests a poor grade 
of black tea. 
Sweet fern which is such an abundant 
growth everywhere on sterile hillside and 
by mountain roads, is another famous tea 
plant often known as “mountain tea.” Dur- 
ing the War of the Rebellion its use for tea 
was particularly prevalent in the Southern 
States, and many a Southern lady who was 
reared in luxury was reduced to drinking 
this poor substitute for her favorite Oolong 
or flowery Pekoe. - 
The foliage and flowers of all the golden- 
rods contain an astringent principle, and are 
moderately stimulating so that their suit- 
ability for the manufacture of a domestic 
tea was recognized by the American colon- 
ists as long ago as when George III. was 
king over them. One species, the fragrant 
leaved goldenrod, known sometimes as Blue 
Mountain tea, possesses, in addition, the 
flavor of licorice. Drunk piping hot in the 
wilderness, it makes a pleasant feature in 
the camper’s limited menu. This especial 
kind of goldenrod begins to bloom early in 
the summer and is easy of recognition, even 
by the non-botanical, because of the licorice 
perfume which the leaves give out when 
rubbed. It is a common species in the pine 
barrens of New Jersey. The astringent 
quality, in a greater or less degree, is pos- 
sessed by nearly all these plants. They also 
contain considerable tannic acid. These 2 
properties go far to make tea the popular 
beverage it is. 
As an ardent admirer of RECREATION, 
permit me to compliment you on the No- 
vember issue and to join with you in 
the hope that we shall see the day when 
the game hog will be consigned to utter 
oblivion. Your war is as righteous as the 
Crusades, and you may well realize that 
you have the support of every true sports- 
man. 
Bronte A. Reynolds, Englewood, III. 

“The reason I can’t get along with my 
wife is that she wants to submit all our dif- 
ferences to arbitration.” 
“To arbitration?” 
“Yes. She always wants to refer disputes 
to her mother.”—Four-Track News. 

I have bought your magazine from my 
newsdealer 2 years, and find it deeply inter- 
esting. The way you handle pot hunters 
and game hogs is refreshing. Let the good 
work go on. 
. C. Musser, Yeagertown, Pa. 
