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MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



result of an excessive fermentation — is known to affect, frequently 

 and seriously, the process of digestion. We are, unquestionably, 

 well guided in our choice of cheese, for we prefer not only a 

 sweet cheese, but also one that is rich in fatty matter. The 

 good result noticed from a mixed food consisting of wheat bread 

 and meat, as compared with wheat bread alone, has scarcely 

 been questioned ; cheese and bread are, no doubt, more whole- 

 some and nutritious than cheese alone. Mankind has been 

 guided instinctively, it appears, in selecting a congenial and 

 healthy food for diverse climates and occupations. The market 

 price of our main staple articles of food has been frequently 

 pointed out as a practical recognition of their comparative 

 intrinsic value as the sustainers of life and health. A good 

 Cheddar cheese brings a higher price than a good skim-milk 

 cheese. Wheat brings a higher price than oats. The fact that 

 even the manufacture of articles of food turns, with the excep- 

 tion of cheese, almost entirely upon the concentration of respi- 

 ratory substances, as sugar, starch, butter, wines, beer, etc., has 

 been mentioned with some force as a proof that there is a greater 

 want for non-nitrogenous than nitrogenous substances. A fact 

 which manifests itself so universally, forces upon us the obliga- 

 tion to take notice of it. The following little list may convey 

 some idea about the relative proportion of respiratory and flesh- 

 producing constituents of some of our valuable articles of food : — 



Bread of wheat flour, 

 Meat of a fat ox, 

 Meat of half-fat ox, . 

 Fat pig, sheep, lamb, 

 Old sheep, half-fat, 

 Cheddar cheese, 

 Skim-milk cheese 

 Pure milk, 



When looking for a standard of a most congenial and nutri- 

 tious diet we quite naturally incline to pronounce in favor of 

 good milk. For we find in it, first, a large proportion and full 

 representation of the most essential mineral constituents needed 

 for our system, which cheese contains but in part ; and, secondly, 

 we recognize in it nitrogenous (casein) and non-nitrogenous 



