Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 February 1920 — WATER LILIES FOOD [ARTICLE]

WATER LILIES FOOD

Seeds and Tubers Make Good .Stew With Meat. Dr. M. G. Gilmore Learns From Indians of Valuable Food Supply Left Untouched. Bismarck, N. D.—Tons of food lie peacefully undisturbed in the hundreds of acres of water lilies throughout the United States, according to Dr. Melvin G. Gilmore, curator of the North Dakota Historical society, who is engaged in research work covering North America to determine the possibilities of native products; As a result of the first stage of his inquiry, findings of which were published recently in the thirty-third annual report of the" American bureau of ethnology. Dr. Gilmore declares devel-

opment of America’s wild plant life has been practically nil. “In the 300 years that the white man has dominated the western hemisphere,” the scientist asserts, “he has not reduced to cultivation from wild stock a single natural species except to bring under semi-domestication the pecan fltld certain grapes of the, east,*’ In connection with this assertion. Dr. Gilmore quotes the United States crop report for as giving a value of $3,000,000 to crops of this country alone grown from plants first brought under cultivation by the Indians. He sees the greatest possibilities for advancement in this direction in wild fruits, nuts and roots. An Instance is found in the “Nelumbo” type of water lily flourishing largely in the ponds of the east and central west. The seeds and the tubers of this species are good food. Dr. Gilmore declares, and make good stew when used with meat, particularly beef. Such stew was originally concocted by the Indians, as were many other dishes which, it Is said, could be economically adopted today. “These uses of wild plants are no longer experimental.” the investigator says. “We could have learned all about them from the Indians, but we didn’t go to them and inquire. “I have spent a number of years among them trying to learn more_of their habits of domestication and mean to continue the work while the older of the tribesmen still live to hand down these lessons.”