NUT GROWING 



1431 



Italy and other parts of Southern Europe 

 where there are a number of nut-yielding 

 pines. A variety of pinenuts is used in 

 India by natives and Europeans some- 

 times pounded and mixed with honey 

 and sometimes like other nuts as des- 

 sert. In this country the small, rather 

 pointed pinenuts (pinon) which are 

 most common are usually marketed 

 shelled, but as they grow are covered 

 with a more or less hard, woody shell. 

 The pistache nut (now grown in Cali- 

 fornia) has long been used and is prized 

 by confectioners for its delicate flavor 

 and attractive green color, yet it is by 

 no means common. The nuts are small, 

 not unlike a bean in size and shape, 

 though more pointed, and before market- 

 ing are freed from the pods in which 

 they grow. The individual nuts are cov- 

 ered with a gray or purplish skin, and 

 are blanched before they are used. 



The so-called lichi nut, which is really 

 a dried fruit surrounded by a nut-like 

 shell and not unlike a raisin in flavor, is 

 a favorite in China and has become quite 

 common in this country since its intro- 

 duction by the Chinese. The ginkgo nut, 

 the fruit of an ornamental tree quite 

 widely grown in the United States and 

 sometimes called the maidenhair tree 

 from the shape of the leaves, and which 

 fruits abundantly in some regions, is sel- 

 dom eaten except by the Chinese, who 

 gather it whenever possible. The small, 

 roundish, oval, thin-shelled nut is sur- 

 rounded by a very acrid, bad-smelling 

 pulp, the whole fruit being not unlike a 

 green Damson plum in size and appear- 

 ance. In China, Korea and other parts 

 of the Orient this nut is much used as 

 a food, but, so far as can be learned, is 

 always cooked in some way. Roasted 

 like a peanut, it has a pleasant flavor. 

 The ginkgo nuts are on sale in the Chi- 

 nese shops in San Francisco and doubt- 

 less in other cities, and were studied 

 at the California experiment station 

 some years ago, together with a number 

 of other typical Chinese food materials. 



The water chestnut, or horn chestnut 

 (Trapa Uspinosa), an aquatic plant, pro- 

 duces a seed or "nut" which somewhat 



resembles two curved horns united in 

 one, the kernel of which is largely used 

 as a food by the inhabitants of Asiatic 

 countries. This so-called nut is also on 

 sale in the United States, but chiefly in 

 Chinese shops. Another water plant 

 (Eleocharis tuderosa) is also known as 

 the water chestnut, but in this case it 

 is the corm or bulb that is eaten. It is 

 not unlike a chestnut in shape, and has 

 a tough, brown skin. This is grown in 

 Asia, but is imported by the Chinese in 

 this country. A pointed nut or seed 

 somewhat like a pecan in appearance, 

 the pit of the Chinese olive (Oanarmm 

 sp.) is also on sale at Chinese shops in 

 the United States. The kernels are oily 

 but palatable, resembling the common 

 American butternut (Juglians cinerea) in 

 flavor. Closely related species of Cana- 

 rium nuts are also imported to some 

 extent for general trade, though they 

 are by no means common. 



The candle nut of the tropics is very 

 oily, and after it has been stored for 

 some time and is thoroughly dried is 

 edible and by many considered palatable. 

 If eaten too soon, however, the croton- 

 oil-like body which it contains generally 

 causes very serious illness. The chufa, 

 nut grass, or earth almond is a small 

 tuberous root of a sedge-like plant and 

 may, perhaps, be classed more properly 

 with the vegetables than with the nuts. 

 It is not common, though eaten to some 

 extent. 



Prom time to time new nuts make 

 their appearance on the market as some 

 nut prized locally becomes known to 

 the trade. A nut which seems to be 

 growing in popularity, though still un- 

 common, is the Paradise nut of South 

 America, which resembles a Brazil nut 

 in appearance and flavor. Still less com- 

 mon is the South African cream nut, 

 though it is sometimes shipped to this- 

 country. The choicest member of the 

 Brazil-nut group is the true ''butternut*" 

 of the tropics, which is very seldom 

 found outside that region. Its flavor is 

 very delicate and delicious, but it does 

 not keep well; and even if it would bear 

 shipment successfully, the available sup- 



