. The American florist : a weekly journal for the trade. Floriculture; Florists. 874 The American Florist. May 20, something from her blanket into the blaze and scraped some ashes over it. Two or three more of the same things followed and were similarly buried in the hot ashes. Each was the size and shape of a large butternut, and green- ish white in color. By and by she withdrew them, and removing the charred skin, ate them, with evident relish. "What are j'ou eating, sister?" asked Bob, our guide, in her native tongue. And she told him hosh-kawn — the Navajo word for the fruit of t
. The American florist : a weekly journal for the trade. Floriculture; Florists. 874 The American Florist. May 20, something from her blanket into the blaze and scraped some ashes over it. Two or three more of the same things followed and were similarly buried in the hot ashes. Each was the size and shape of a large butternut, and green- ish white in color. By and by she withdrew them, and removing the charred skin, ate them, with evident relish. "What are j'ou eating, sister?" asked Bob, our guide, in her native tongue. And she told him hosh-kawn — the Navajo word for the fruit of the wide- ly distributed Yucca baccata, or Span- ish bayonet, of the southwest. It was August, and we had passed hundreds of the fruiting plants in our travels without suspecting them of edi- bility; but that day we made a busi- ness of gathering a quantity of the fruit and at night had a hosh-kawn roast. Bob said they had roast apples "plum skinned"; but to my notion, the flavor was rather that of sweet potato. At any rate, we thought them good, and they inspired respect in us for Navajo cookery. That, however, is only the beginning of the story of the yucca's usefulness; for in some measure, the yucca has, in its time, been to the desert Indian what the date palm has been to the Arab. Besides furnishing food (the fruit is not only eaten green, but by some Indians is cured for winter use), the plant has a fibre of much^ value as a textile material, and in pre-Colum- bian times this was largely used in the weaving of garments, remains of which have been abundantly found in the an- cient cliff dwellings of the southwest. I have myself picked up in the debris about such places, pieces of well-woven cordage made of the yucca fibre, which also served in the manufacture of pre- historic sandals. This use of the yucca has now been abandoned, but the foli- age still supplies an important basket material; and in the hands of an artist, very beautiful effects are obtained by
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectfloriculture, bookyea
