Edible Fruits, Nuts, Roots, and Plants
Categories: Vii Wild Food On The TrailWhile wild foods gathered on the trail give a delightful variety to camp
fare, be advised and do not gather, still less eat, them unless you are
absolutely sure you know what they are and that they are not poisonous.
You must be able to identify a thing with certainty before tasting in
order to enjoy it in safety. It is well worth while to make a study of
the wild-growing foods, but in the meantime this chapter will help you
to know some of them. _The italicized names are of the things I know to
be edible from personal experience._ You are probably well acquainted
with the common wild fruits such as the raspberry, strawberry,
blackberry, blueberry, and huckleberry, but there are varieties of these
and all will bear description.
More
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Corn-Meal Mush
Corn-meal mush does not absolutely require fresh cream or milk when served. It is good eaten with butter and very nourishing. Many like it with maple-syrup or common molasses. Time is required to make well-cooked mush; at least one hour will be n... Cot-Bed
For an entire summer camp army cots which fold for packing are good and very comfortable with a doubled, thick quilt placed on top for a mattress. The sporting-goods stores show a great variety of other beds, cots, and sleeping-bags, and a line t... Count the Turns of the Key
With your first roll of films it is well to learn and remember the number of turns you must give the key to bring a new exposure into place. With my camera which takes a four-by-five picture, five turns of the key are necessary between the exposures... Coyote, Prairie-Wolf
The coyote, or prairie-wolf, is about the size of a large dog and resembles one. Its color is gray, made by a mixture of black and white hairs. It is a cowardly animal and not dangerous, but its contemptible character could not prevent a wave of com... Cross-Tie Parcel Knot
When you have two or more parallel twines on your parcel and have begun to bring down the cross-line, secure it to each twine in this way: Bring the long twine down and loop it under the first twine to form a bight as in _I_ (Fig. 66). Then carry... Cuts
The accidents that most frequently happen are simple cuts and bruises. For a slight cut wash the wound in lukewarm water to remove all dirt or foreign matter, then press the lips or sides together and hold them in place with strips of court-plaste... Dandelion
A salad of tender, young _dandelion_ leaves is not to be despised, and the plant grows everywhere. Only the very young leaves, that come up almost white in the spring, are good. The flavor is slightly bitter with the wholesome bitterness one likes i... Dangleberry
Another variety is called the dangleberry. The berries grow on stems in loose clusters; they are rather large, of a dark-blue color with a bloom; they ripen late and are not very plentiful. The pale-green leaves are large, white, and resinous undern... Deadly Nightshade
To the nightshade family belong plants that are poisonous and plants that are not, but the thrilling name, deadly nightshade, carries with it the certainty of poison. The plant is an annual and you may often find it growing in a neglected corner ... Deer-Fly
The deer-fly will bite and bite hard enough to hurt. It will drive its sharp mandibles into your skin with such force as to take out a bit of the flesh, sometimes causing the blood to flow, but the bite does not seem particularly poisonous, though y... Diamond Rattlesnake
The rattlesnake marked in diamond patterns of gold outline on brown is of the south and is oftenest found in Florida. This is a very large snake, and closely allied to it is the Texas rattlesnake, which is the same in markings and color, but paler, ... Diving
You will learn to dive merely for the joy of the quick plunge into cool waters, but there are times when to understand diving may mean the saving of your own or some one else's life, and no matter how suddenly or unexpectedly you are cast into the w... Dopes
Then there are dopes to be rubbed over the face, neck, and hands. The three said to be the best are Nessmuk's Dope, Breck's Dope, and H. P. Wells's Bug-Juice. There is also a Rexall preparation which, I am told, is good while it stays on, but will w... Dressing-Table
A near-by tree will furnish the substantial foundation for your dressing-table and wash-stand combined. If you can find a side-piece of a wooden box, use it for the shelf and fasten this shelf on the trunk of a tree about two and one-half feet or mo... Drowning--Shafer Method
Secure a doctor if possible, but do not wait for him. Do not _wait_ for anything; what you do, do _instantly_. As soon as the rescued person is out of the water begin treatment to restore respiration, that is, to make her _breathe_. If you can do ... Duffel-Bag
Articles for general use while at camp can be packed together in one or more duffel-bags; if but one bag is needed, provisions might go in the same receptacle when space and weight permit. It is much better, however, to have a separate bag for provi... Dwarf Blueberry
Perhaps the most satisfactory of all berries when one is really hungry is the blueberry, of which there are several varieties. The _dwarf blueberry_ is probably the most common. It is the earliest of the blueberries to ripen and grows in the thin, s... Eastern Wild Gooseberry
Among the mountains from Massachusetts to North Carolina, the eastern wild gooseberry grows. It is said that its flavor is delicious. The fruit is purplish in color and is free from all prickles. It grows on slender stems and, like the cultivated go... Edible Fruits, Nuts, Roots, and Plants
While wild foods gathered on the trail give a delightful variety to camp fare, be advised and do not gather, still less eat, them unless you are absolutely sure you know what they are and that they are not poisonous. You must be able to identify a... Emergency Stretchers
Loss of blood is too weakening to permit of the patient walking, and the exertion may start the wound bleeding again, so a stretcher of some kind must be contrived in which she may be carried. You can make a good emergency stretcher of two strong po... Essential Foods
Outdoor life seems to require certain kinds of foods; these we call essentials; others in addition to them are in the nature of luxuries or non-essentials. ... Etiquette of the Wild
Translated this means "_hands off_." The unwritten law of the woods is that personal property cached in trees, underbrush, beneath stones, or hidden underground must never be _taken_, _borrowed_, _used_, or _molested_. Canoes and oars will often ... Exercise
While wholesome camping calls for sufficient physical exercise to cause a girl to be blissfully tired at night, and yet awaken refreshed and full of energy the next morning with a good appetite for breakfast, until you become accustomed to the outdo... Fainting
Fainting occurs most often in overheated and over-crowded places where the air is impure. The proper treatment is to lay the patient flat on her back with the head lower than the rest of the body and feet raised; then loosen the clothes at waist and... Field-Mouse
There is the little field-mouse, a short-eared and short-tailed little creature with a thick neck and of a red-brown color. It feeds on grain and seeds, and when hard pressed for food will also eat the bark of trees. ... Figure-Eight Knot
Use the figure-eight knot to make a knot on the end of a rope or to prevent the end of the strands from untwisting. Form a loop like Fig. 53 near the end of the rope, bringing the short end over the long rope; then pass the short end under the long ... Finding Your Way by Natural Signs and the Compass
An important phase of woodcraft is the ability to find your way in the wilderness by means of natural signs as well as the compass. If, however, you do not know at what point of the compass from you the camp lies, the signs can be of no avail. Havin... Fire in the Rain
To build a fire in the rain with no dry wood in sight seems a difficult problem, but keep cheerful, hum your favorite tune, and look for a pine-knot or birch bark and an old dead stump or log. In the centre of the dead wood you will find dry wood; d... Fireman's Lift
To be able to use the fireman's lift may be to save a life, as it can be employed when there is but one person to do the carrying. With practise any girl of ordinary strength can lift and carry another of her own size or even larger. In order to ... Fish
Fish cooked in the embers is very good, and you need not first remove scales or fins, but clean the fish, season it with salt and pepper, wrap it in fresh, wet, green leaves or wet blank paper, not printed paper, and bury in the coals the same as a ... Fish-Hawk, Osprey
On the shore you will also find the fish-hawk, or osprey; a well-mannered bird he is said to be, who fishes diligently and attends strictly to his own business. The fish-hawk's nest will generally be at the top of a dead tree where no one may distur... Fisherman's Knot
The fisherman's knot is used by fishermen to tie silkworm gut together. It is easily untied by pulling the two short ends, but it never slips. Lay the two ropes side by side (_L_, Fig. 67), then make a loop around one rope with the other rope, passi... Fishing
Just here would seem to be the place to talk of fishing, but I am not going to try to tell you how to fish; that would take a volume, there are so many kinds of fish and so many ways of fishing. One way is to cut a slender pole, tie a fish-line on t... Flapjacks
Mix dry flour, baking-powder, and salt together, 1 good teaspoonful of Royal baking-powder to every 2 cups of flour, and 1 level teaspoonful of salt to 1 quart (4 cups) of flour. To make the batter, beat 1 egg and add 1-1/2 cups of milk, or 1 cup of... Floating
Some people can float who cannot swim. Others can swim but are not able to float. That is, they think they are not and do not seem willing to try, but it is quite necessary every one should know how to rest in the water, and learning to float is ver... Footprints or Tracks
In trailing animals look for footprints in soft earth, sand, or snow. The hind foot of the muskrat will leave a print in the mud like that of a little hand, and with it will be the fore-foot print, showing but four short fingers, and generally the s...