56 THE BOOK OF USEFUL PLANTS 



Amur River in Manchuria, whence it was carried 

 into Europe five hundred years ago. The peas- 

 ants of Russia raise five million acres of it each 

 year. It has the advantage of hardiness, and 

 ability to grow on very poor soil. Its season is 

 short. Sowed after oats are harvested, it makes 

 a crop, in some seasons. It is often put in as 

 catch crop to plow under in the late fall. It 

 ripens in the latitude of Sitka, Alaska, even. 



Buckwheat hulls are sold as packing for bulbs 

 and such things. 



BREADFRUIT 



It is almost too much to believe — the story of 

 bread that grows on trees ! But people who travel 

 in tropical countries have seen and eaten this won- 

 derful fruit, and they tell us that the story is not 

 a fable, but a simple, everyday fact. The natives 

 go out and pick loaves of bread and bake them 

 whole among the hot embers of outdoor or indoor 

 fires. Then they open the crust and find the 

 crumb part a rich, starchy mass that tastes to 

 foreigners like mashed potato made rich by the 

 addition of plenty of cream. 



The breadfruit tree now grows in southern 

 Florida, and bears its fruit there. So it is not 



