prepared for food; it also yields an oil which forms an important
article of commerce. The milk of the fruit is a cooling beverage, and
the woody shell of the nut answers very well for a cup from which to
drink it. The saccharine juice of the tree also affords an excellent
drink; and from the fresh young stems is prepared a farinaceous
substance similar to sago.

The cocoanuts grow in clusters drooping from the tuft of long, fringed
leaves which crown the branchless trunk of the stately palm. The
cocoanut as found in commerce is the nut divested of its outer sheath,
and is much smaller in size than when seen upon the tree. Picked fresh
from the tree, the cocoanut consists first of a green outer covering;
next of a fibrous coat, which, if the nut is mature, is hairy-like in
appearance; and then of the woody shell, inside of which is the meat and
milk. For household purposes the nuts are gathered while green, and
before the inner shell has become solidified; the flesh is then soft
like custard, and can be easily eaten with a teaspoon, while a large
quantity of delicious, milk-like fluid is obtainable from each nut.

As found in our Northern markets, the cocoanut is difficult of
digestion, as is likewise the prepared or desiccated cocoanut. The
cocoanut contains about seventy per cent of oil.

The _Chestnut_ is an exception to most nuts in its composition. It
contains starch, and about fifteen per cent of sugar. No oil can be
extracted from the chestnut. In Italy, and other parts of Southern
Europe, the chestnut forms an important article of food. It is sometimes
dried and ground into flour, from which bread is prepared. The chestnut
is a nutritious food, but owing to the starch it contains, is more
digestible when cooked. The same is true of the _Acorn_, which is
similar in character to the chestnut. In the early ages, acorns were
largely used for food, and are still used as a substitute for bread in
some countries.

The _Hazelnut_, with the _Filbert_ and _Cobnut_, varieties of the same
nut obtained by cultivation, are among the most desirable nuts for
general consumption.

The _Walnut_, probably a native of Persia, where in ancient times it was
so highly valued as to be considered suited only for the table of the
king, is now found very commonly with other species of the same family,
the _Butternut_ and _Hickory nut_, in most temperate climates.

The _Pecan_, a nut allied to the hickory nut, and grown extensively