They're not useless says Jan

Jan Lipert, a frequent website correspondent, responds to John Blakeman's comments about Osage Oranges posted yesterday

[This is a far richer subject than I imagined...]

Hi, Marie --

In the late 1950s, decades before the invention of paint-balls and water balloons, the boys in my grammar school in New Jersey discovered that the Osage oranges lying under the schoolyard hedge made wonderful 'bombs' to throw at each other. The ripe fruit would smash upon impact, to the great joy of the boys and the consternation of the the teachers -- and, I am sure, of their mothers, who had to clean their uniforms.

Please tell John that Osage oranges are not completely useless, after all!

Jan Lipert