Wild Berries Are Healthful And Plentiful
By 0ft. ALFRED MORDECAI
Fr?m the time of his savage
state man has welcomed the
tight of certain wild berries,
which not only please the pal
ate, but which he associated
with better health. At on* time
indeed, he regarded then as a
medical boon. Among these
may be mentioned strawberries,
raspberries, blackberries, goose
berries and cranberries. These
fruits contain small amount of
citric add, such as found in
orange, lemons and limes. Tied
ill with this arid there Is also
ascorbic acid (vitamin C),
which prevents and cures
scurvy. Scurvy at one time was
a scourge In all climates where
the summers was short, the
winters long (and the diet
faulty). Wild strawberries and
raspberries were widely distri
buted in nature and even culti
vated in the old country to
some extent 2000 year* ago. The
same wild plants were found
in abundance by the white set
tlers of this country.
The little wild strawberries
possessed a delightful aroma
and a delicious flavor, but the
fruit was very small and the
yield scant. In the course of
time gardeners learned to
select the better plants for cul
tivation. Cross breeding follow
ed, so that we now have many
varieties. Some that bear fruit
throughout the summer, some
that climb trellises and aome
that are of gant sie. However,
Queen Victoria of Englahd was
probably right when some
years ago she complained to
her gardeners that in striving
for more spectacular berries,
they had sacrificed the aroma
and delicious flavor of her
"littla favorite". She preferred
the "old time, unimproved var
iety". This latter kind we have
wild in the fields and along
the roadside* throughout the
Appalachian Mountains. Tot
flavor they have never been
excelled. If you in small fam
ily groups crawling about in
the stubble with tin cups and
pails as you wheel through the
mountains in early summer,
you may be quite sure that such
people are combining business
with a day oi plnwn. Stall
jars of wild strawberry pre
serves will then soon appear on
the roadside stands. When care
fully prepare# nothing is more
apprtitiac than the "little fav
orite", made into "preserves",
or )?>t eateti from the plant.
The red raspberry of oar
mountains also ranks high as
'a gustatory delight, whether
served raw with sugar and
cream, stewed or preserved. For
some reason however the sup
ply never meets the demand.
We have at least three varie
ties of black-berries which grow
more or less abundantly in our
mountain valleys. Om kind
grows somewhat erect with
long canes, the berries as a
rule Inferior. Another kind is
more bushy, the berries larger
and sweeter. Then we have the
tailing kind, known as the Dew
berry, which excels all the oth
ers. This variety is now exten
sively cultivated in the low
country. Blackberry pie; black
berry cobbler and blackberry
preserves ae hard to beat. But
eat the ripe raw fruit with
eream for vitamins.
The root of the blackberry
contains considerable tannic
acid. Extracts of the root there
fore were employed as a medi
cine in former times. A delici
ous coHial was also nude by
mermen ting the berries with
sugar fn sprlces, when bottling
the Juice. This proved a popu
lar homemade remedy for pat
ients convalescing from typh
oid fever and other exhaustive
The goo? berry, once popu
lar in our mountain valleys and
erroneously called '"currants",
wu probably introduced from
England, where on feast days
the stewed berries were served
with roast goose. We still have
memories of the jars of JeOv
that graced the pantry shelves
in former days, but the plants
no longer can be found except
occasionally as to escappee
(rowing wild in some out of
way place. In late rammer the
buab Is liden with berries.
The gooeebeny plant was
found to fee susceptible to a
funfus disease, which waa In
tensified fer the mountain fees
and dampness. This dlaeam
was transmissible to our valu
able white pine* and a serious
threat to their existence. Con
gress enacted a law forbidding
the cultivation of gooeeberriee.
11m Agricultural Department
oad the plants destroyed.
(Continued ea page three)
Ooldwatar haarlljr favored bf
You?g Republic*?*.
Another Linotype Added
BUT WILL IT FIT? we asked ourselves
Friday morning when a linotype machine
' arrived to be Installed In the printing dc
partment of the Watauga Democrat. Alter
some deliberation and removing a screen
door, it did fit. Max Pox delivered the ma
chine, which makes tike Watauga Democrat
a "three-machine shop."
A WmMiI WmM *t 1
DtaMvir II U4ayt
JS
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