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.
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| 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_. |
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| 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. |
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