Part 6

The wood is dark-colored, becoming almost black when properly seasoned, and was formerly extensively used for cabinet work, inside finish, gun stocks, and many ornamental purposes; it is not in so much demand at present, as other cheaper woods may be had which seem to answer the purposes quite as well, but it is still numbered among our valuable forest productions.

The nut has a thick, hard shell, which is deeply and unevenly corrugated with rough, sharp points and ridges, and is almost too well known to admit of description. The kernel is large and sweet, but has usually a rather strong, rank taste, less oily than the butternut. An oil is expressed from its kernel which is known as nut-oil, and is much used by painters as a drying oil. A kind of dye is also manufactured from the husk, or outside cover, of the nut.

The butternut, as its name _Juglans cinerea_ implies, is somewhat related to the black walnut, in fact, rare instances are recorded in which the two species have become mixed, forming a tree which resembled both species. It is found in about the same regions frequented by the black walnut, but extends further east and north into New Brunswick, Maine, Quebec, and Ontario, and does not extend quite so far west. It is most abundant in the Ohio River Valley. It is not so plentiful in the forest as the black walnut, and where it is so found does not fruit well. Its favorite resort is an open grove or along a fence row. Attempts to cultivate it generally yield only disappointment, but under right conditions the trees are very fruitful, one tree having been known to produce forty bushels in a single season, and trees bearing twenty bushels are frequently reported.

The fruit is longer than that of the black walnut and tapers to a point at both ends, with the ridges somewhat more pronounced, but aside from the difference in shape they present a similar appearance.

THE EDIBLE PINE.

The edible pine, or piñon (_Pinus edulis_), is only one of many varieties of pine nuts which grows on the Pacific Slope of the United States and in Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Mexico.

The pine nut has a rich, marrowy kernel in a shell that varies in thickness from that of a chestnut to that of a hazel-nut. The form and size of the nuts also vary greatly according to the species. They are but little known to the people of the eastern states, but in some of the cities of California they are marketed in large quantities. The larger ones are valued for dessert and confectionery purposes and will doubtless become popular in the East.

They are well known to the Indians and have formed a staple article of their diet for centuries. Their method of harvesting them is very simple. They collect the cones after they have fallen from the trees, then heat them until they open, then rattle them out upon their blankets.

Of the twenty-four species of pine which grow along the Pacific Slope one-half furnish seeds that are esteemed by the Indians as food. When a Mexican Indian starts out on a long trip across the country and does not wish to burden himself with food he fills a small pouch with piñon nuts and can subsist on a small number of them for a remarkably long time.

+----------------------------------------------------------------- + | Transcriber's Note: | | | | Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. | | | | Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant | | form was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed. | | | | Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained. | | | | Italicized words are surrounded by underline characters, | | _like this_. | | | | The Ginger illustration was moved from page 51 to page 50 and | | its explanation was moved from page 53. | | | | The Contents table was added by the transcriber. | +------------------------------------------------------------------+