North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["kieran or donna" <redherring@tnaccess.com>]

Some of you have read most of this on the Indians nut growers group, so you
may hit delete.  For the rest of you, I'd like to pick your brains.  About
12 yrs ago I read that somewhere in the US in
last 20 or so years someone attempted to cross honey locust with either
tamarind or
carob.  Do any of you recall that, or more to the point, know who or where
that was?
    While I am sure that a theoretical cross to one of these would be an
excellent idea, improving flavor while giving much more hardiness than the
two non-native species have, there are always problems in this kind of
thing.  My interest in hardy citrus shows a good deal of sterility in citrus
crosses, you wouldn't know it, because citrus has a neat trick of making
clones in it's seeds, so it doesn't care all that much that the cross is
making non-viable embryos.  My interest in roses is even more revealing,
lots of roses make really pretty flowers but no hips because they are simply
sterile.  Mules.  If it's the fruit we are after, a mule won't get it.  But
it would be interesting to poke around a bit in the world of horticulture,
which seems to be a bigger money maker than the world of the mere farmer,
and see if there are any crosses in existence between locusts already.
There is the black locust, which is quite ornamental, and that little pink
flowered locust, brought in as a soil improver, quite pretty, I know where
there is a stand of them.  If no such crosses exist, whether man made or
found, the chances of crossing outside the group is probably diminished.
    Even so, if mule like crosses could be made, there is some slight chance
that the pollen could be taken back to the honey locust and get a 3/4 honey
locust with some novel genes in it.  The trouble is that where the more
useful species exist, the low life locust does not, and where the locust
exists, it would require a green house to keep either of the other two.  As
they are trees, this is not exactly as easy as crossing tomatoes.  I would
think it possible that in a town like Atlanta, someone from India might
conceivably have a greenhouse with a bearing size tamarind.  (Somehow I
doubt that they will have an 80 yr old carob tree in a pot, that' how long
they take to crop.)  Or if the
pollen will store, it would probably be pretty easy to get someone to mail
some out of south Florida or CA.  Only those people down there are not
likely to
be  NAFEXers, they are more likely to be in some tropical fruit
organization.  Just thinking aloud.  Are honey locusts insect pollinated or
wind pollinated?
    And, going back to my excerpt, I am quite sure that honey locusts have
some useful stuff in them.  Some chemist poking around might find that you
folks afflicted with locusts are sitting on a gold mine.  But first, I would
look around to see if there are some old traditional uses for the pods.
Anyone ever see a beer recipe or other recipe for them?  Any of you actually
USE them as food in any shape, form or fashion, even once in your whole
life?  Just curious.  Let's compare to some other very minor fruits.  Any of
you ever chew on hackberry's?  Ever try to do anything with THEM?  And the
acorn business, anyone besides me ever eat them?  Sigh.  I am on the one
hand trying to say if even NAFEXers haven't used honey locust pods, they
must be pretty damned useless.  But on the other hand, given the ubiquity,
the ease of harvest and preparation of white oak acorns, and their very fine
flavor,  it is plain that usefulness, palatability and availability do not
make a food widely used.  Culture is more important.     Donna