In his book, Travels, Page 318, William Bartram found various nut
and fruit trees growing near Wrightsville, Ga. In
1773 he found
"Juglans hickory;" and the American filbert, (Hazlenut),
"Corylus," and Fruit Trees; Red Mulberry "Morus
rubra" American
persimmon, "Diospyros;" Wild Cherry, "Prunus padus," and the Wild
Plum, "Prunus indica."
Bartram,
page 425, noted in Travels, that at"Manchae, on the
banks of the Mississippi noted that he discovered, "under the
shadow
of a grand forest; the trees of the first order in
magnitude and beauty, as Magnolia grandiflora, Liriodendron
tulipifera,
Platanus........Fraxinus excelsior," the Red
mulberry, "Morus rubra, Laurus sassafras........Tilea,
liquidambar styraciflua
& c."
On Page 398, Bartram also identified in Alabama, Hickory Trees,
"Hiccory",.... Black Walnut, Juglans
nigra,....and an abundance
of Chestnut trees on the hills with Pinus taeda and Pinus lutea.
On Page 401, Bartram noticed
near Mobile, Al "The highest hills
near large creeks afford high forests with an abundance of
chestnut trees."
Bartram,
on page 365, identified the American chestnut as being
important in the construction of Cherokee Indian buildings, which
was
quite different from the habits of the Creek Indians. Bartram
wrote, "and the whole covered or roofed with the bark of
the
chestnut tree [American] or long broad shingles."
On Page 181 and Page l85, Bartram described finding, "Juglans
cinerea",
and various allied plant populations after crossing the
Savannah River and going into Florida, "the forest consisted of
orange
groves, overtopped by grand Magnolias, Palms, Live Oaks,
Juglans cinerea, Morus rubra, Fagus sylvatica, Tilia, and
Liquidambar.
On Page 437 of Travels, William Bartram "Observed growing in a
garden in Mobile, two large trees of the Juglans pecan."
William Bartram in Travels, page 83, was very impressed with the
nut (acorn) of the live oak tree, that was used by
wildlife and
by the Indians for food. Bartram stated that the live oak tree
"bears a prodigious quantity of fruit; the
acorn is small, but
sweet and agreeable to the taste when roasted." Bartram stated
that acorns were food for animals.
"The Indians obtain from it a
sweet oil, which they use in the cooking of hommony, rice, and
they also roast it in hot
embers, eating it as we do chestnuts.
Thomas Jefferson planted pecan trees, 'Carya illinoinensis,'
(Illinois nuts)
in his nut orchard at his beautiful home,
Monticello, in Virginia; and George Washington reported in his
journal that
Thomas Jefferson gave him "Illinois nuts;" pecans
which grew at Mount Vernon, Virginia, George Washington's home.
The
pecan trees grew and remain majestic in height and spread
proudly, even today. He called agriculture, "the noblest of
occupations."
Although most nuts are a product of perennial trees, some are
produced on bushes. We have learned from the fossil record
of
ancient mound builders, that have been unearthed by archeological
excavations and explorations in America, Asia,
and Europe, that
nuts have been collected as food for centuries. Nuts were
gathered from shrubs or nut trees for either
immediate fresh
eating or to preserve in a dark, cool place for future food
reserves. Some ancient cultures ground-up
the nut kernels into a
flour to use in bread preparations, while others boiled the nut
kernels and used the creamy,
oily extract in their food in many
ways. The nuts, roots, leaves, tree stems, and nut hulls were
often used as medicinal
remedies for health problems.
The geographical range of nut trees covers most of the United
States and pecan trees,
American chestnut trees, California
walnut trees, and shagbark hickory trees are native trees, some
occurring as widely
distributed natural forests. Hickory trees
perhaps cover a wider range, because of the cold hardiness, than
any of the
other nut trees. Despite the fact of the pecan tree's
Southern origin, the nut shows a surprisingly resilient
resistance
to cold. The pecan tree will live through low
temperatures of zero degrees Fahrenheit and other drastic, sudden
weather
changes.
The most satisfactory nut trees grown in the United States on a
commercial scale, by backyard gardeners,
or by tree collectors
are Almond tree, 'Prunus dulcis,' American chestnut tree,
'Castanea dentata,' Chinese chestnut
tree, 'Castanea sativa,'
Allegheny chinquapin (chinkapin) tree, 'Casanea pumila,'
American filbert (hazelnut) tree,
'Corylus americana,' shagbark
hickory tree, 'Carya ovata,' pecan tree, 'Carya
illinnoinensis,' Butternut walnut (white
walnut) tree, 'Juglans
cinerea,' California walnut tree, 'Juglans hindsii,' black
walnut tree, 'Juglans nigra,' English
(Persian) walnut tree,
'Juglans regia,' and Heartnut walnut tree, 'Juglans
ailantifolia.'
Many tropical nut
trees, such as cashew trees, macadamia nut
trees, and Brazil nut trees, can not be grown in most climate
zones of the
Unite States except Hawaii, extreme southern
Florida, and extreme southern California.
Most nut tasters and food
gourmets agree that the shelled pecan
is a much more desirable nut in respect to the flavor, cost of
production , and
an available nut supply over almonds, but the
aggressive and cooperative superior marketing promotion of the
Almond
Nut Association has left the bureaucratic and primitive
marketing strategies of the Southern Pecan Association far
behind.
One advantage gained by almond tree promoters is that all
European and Mideastern countries grew and used almond nuts in
their
food supply for centuries, and pecan nut promoters have not
properly distributed and advertised this unfamiliar American
product
to a massive market exposure, and to those foreign
markets to the sampling of the pecan that is necessary to be
successful.
Pecan shelled nuts also offer tremendous benefits to
healthy bodies since their kernels contain extremely high
concentrations
of polyunsaturated fatty acids, that are so high
in antioxidants, and they protect the heart by removing clogging
cholesterols
that interfere with blood flow in veins and
arteries.
A recent cost comparison of shelled nuts showed that almonds
cost
$6.00 per pound, walnuts $4.50 per pounds, and pecans $9.00 per
pound. Nuts offer a delicious, healthy product
to world markets
with profitable financial rewards to those who choose to plant
nut trees and market the the shelled
product.
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Written by: Patrick
Malcolm. Learn more about various trees
by visiting the author's website:
http://www.tytyga.com
