112 THE BOOK OF USEFUL PLANTS 



The early Virginians, imitating the patient squaws, 

 pounded the nuts, shells, and kernels together, in a 

 mortar, then strained out, after boiling in plenty 

 of water, the rich " hickory milk," to which they 

 added cornmeal, and then baked, on hot stones 

 or in ovens, cakes fit for a king. Oil pressed from 

 the kernels they found the equal of olive oil, a 

 luxury seldom seen in the New World then. 



The pecan is a long, pointed nut, with a much- 

 crumpled kernel in an astringent, corky, red 

 wrapping, under a thin, smooth shell. Improve- 

 ment by selection is reducing the thickness of 

 both coverings, increasing the size and plumpness 

 of the kernel, and the productiveness of the tree. 

 Though many plantations of pecans have been 

 made, and the crop is certainly a paying one, the 

 great bulk of the pecans are still gathered in the 

 woods. The meats sell at sixty to seventy-five 

 cents per pound. 



CHESTNUTS 



Famous old chestnut trees, supposed to be near 

 two thousand years old, and most picturesque in 

 their decrepitude, are venerated in different sec- 

 tions of southern Europe. They divide honors 

 with the ruins of temples built with hands. Far 

 more attractive, to my mind, are the sturdy trees 



