DAIRY MEETING. 169 



gestions we can all profit by. The first one is that suggested by- 

 Horace Fletcher, — chew the food very, very carefully. The 

 second would be to avoid all doughy substances, like very fresh 

 bread. Have you not seen mothers give to children very fresh 

 tread ? You know, yourself, that fresh bread is appetizing, but 

 if you take it into your mouth and chew it you know how it 

 forms a bullet, and when the bullet is swallowed, it cannot be 

 digested. 



Then another suggestion is to drink plenty of water. We 

 ought to drink two quarts of plain water every day in order to 

 keep us in good health. 



With regard to our food as affecting our digestion : The 

 first point would be to have good, wholesome food, and the sec- 

 ond, be sure to have the starchy foods, like the breakfast foods, 

 thoroughly cooked, so that the starch before eating has partially 

 been changed. Then, too, in the cooking we want to develop 

 the flavors, and also the odors, so that we can smell the food. 

 In regard to the quantity, the best thing to do is to eat moder- 

 ately. As a matter of fact, we can digest food best when the 

 stomach is moderately full ; if quite empty it does not have 

 enough to work on, and if too much distended, it is powerless 

 to do the w^ork as it should be done. So we should be quite 

 moderate in our eating. 



In regard to tea and coffee and vinegar, — food accessories : 

 If we drink tea or coffee at our meals it will interfere in a meas- 

 ure with the digestion of the food. It has been proven by chem- 

 ists that it retards the juices. If we are willing to pay the pen- 

 alty, then all right. It has been said that variety will help in 

 food, but we Americans go to the ^extreme in variety, in this 

 age. We need a certain amount of variety, but we think we 

 must have more variety than is actually necessary. The point 

 is for us housekeepers to try to cook things in different forms so 

 that they will be attractive. 



There are certain things that affect digestion, as the age of a 

 person, whether old or young, and the amount of exercise taken. 

 If you are working in a bank and sitting on a stool most of the 

 day, you will not require as much food as if working in the 

 field. In regard to climate, you will need more food in the 

 North than in the South. 



The reasons for cooking are to render the food more palatable, 

 and develop the flavor. In cooking turnips, we know that the 



