The Forrest City times., 1891-12-04
THE FARM AND HOME.
CONCERNING THE PROPERTIES
 OF VARIOUS FOODS.
A Coadsnssd Summary of Valuable Bullsein-How to Make a MIR House-Fsrm Notes end
 Hints for Housewives.
Chemistry of Foods.

In a recently issued bulletin of the
 Storrs school experiment station. Con- necticut on the chemistry and econo- my of foods, the following condensed summary is laid down. They are di- vided into four classes-protein. fats. carbohydrates. and mineral matters. Among the protein compounds are lean meat white of egg. curd of milk. and gluten of wheat The fats are mostly butter and lard. The carbohy- drates arc sugar and starch. The nu- trients of animal foods are mainly protein and fats, and those of vegeta- ble foods are largely carbohydrates. Fat meat and some fish contain con- siderable quantities of fat and lean meat and other fish contain very little. Protein Is found in considerable quan- titles iu beans. peas and oat meal
 In nutrition of the body. protein forms muscle tendon. and tissues gen. orally. The fats do not form muscle. but they form fatty tissues. The carbohydrates may be transformed in- to fat All three serve as fuel and yield energy in the form of heat and muscular strength.
 Many interesting facts are furnished in this bulletin. Not far from fifty dietaries of several hundred people in private families and boarding-houses mostly in New England. have been collated, and the chemical analysis of quite number of animal foods-meat, fish, oysters and the like. have been made in the chemical laboratory of the station. since 1880. and the chemical composition of foods compiled from American analyses. The results of several hundred examinations of foods are given in tabular form. and their comparative cost and value in detail. of which our limited space will not permit notice. but the following facts in connection with these examin- ations will be interesting to our read CTS: A pound of lean beef and quart of whole milk contain about the same amounts of actually nutritiva material; but the pound of beef costs more than the quart of milk. while it's nutrients differ not only in number and kind. but are for ordinary use, more valuable than those of the milk. In general animal substances contain the most nutrients, although potatoes and turnips and allied green vege- tables are exceptions. Meats have more water in proportion as they con- tain less fats; very lean beef being nearly three-fourths water. while the other and fatter cuts are less than one half water. The flesh of fish is in gen. eral more watery than that of ordinary meats. Flour and meal have very lit- tie water. and sugar almost none. The vegetable foods are rich in carbohy- drates. and the meats abound in pro- tein and fats of which the vegetable foods have usually very little. Beans and oatmeal, however. are rich in pro- tein. while fat pork has very little.
 WE notice few facts given under the head of Cost of Food Although this cost is so great and all are so in- timately dependent on it yet even the most intelligent people know less of the actual uses and values of their food for fulfilling it's purposes than of almost any other Of the neces- saries of life Working men in Massa- chusetts, with incomes from f350 to $500 a year, pay 64 per cent of their incomes for food, leaving out the cost of preparing it for the table. On in- comes of from $750 to q. 200. 56 per cent is spent for the food. Again, eggs at l5 cents dozen furnish more nutrients and energy for 9 cents than a round of beef at 15 cents or sirloin at 20 cents pound.
 The subject of this bulletin is ob- viously one requiring a vast amount of careful investigation, in which great progress has been made within the last twenty years. but mistake has been made by some chemists and at some stations in supposing that ex- periments in the laboratory may de- termine the digestibility and value of foods better than by actual experi- ments in feeding animals. Something depends on the volition of the animals, and more on their peculiar characters and an animal which does not like a certain food may not be so well bene- fted by it as another which it digests with satisfaction - Country Gentle man.