284 State Horticultural Society. 



This demonstrates that, however valuable strawberries and 

 apples may be as a part of an everyday diet, they can scarcely be 

 considered as nutrients. In other words, their actual nutrient 

 value is exceedingly low. 



In order to support life and maintain strength, strawberries 

 and apples, like most other fruits, must be eaten in connection with 

 more concentrated foods. 



Wherein, then, does the dietetic value of fruit consist? Let us 

 briefly consider: The qualities which render fruits and some of 

 the more delicate garden vegetables wholesome, and cause us to 

 have a natural appetite for, and hence to enjoy them, are their acid 

 juiciness and flavor. The juice is largely water, but it contains 

 the sugar and acid of the fruit, and if these are present in large 

 quantities, and in the right proportion, it is agreeable and refresh- 

 ing. Most of our food products are valued on the basis of the dry 

 matter they contain. Not so with fruit. 



Pure milk is 87 per cent, water, and may be further diluted by 

 breed, feed and greed, and its value as food diminished thereby. 

 Many of our fruits contain as much water as average milk, but, as 

 a rule, it is the best fruit that contains the most water. I have 

 frequently tested the amount of water in the "nubbin" strawber- 

 ries, "cull" peaches and "runty" apples, and have often found less 

 than 80 per cent. 



In the finest specimens of each of these fruits, not overgrown, 

 but perfect samples, that would sell for the very highest prices, 

 I have usually found over 90 per cent, of water. A heaped bushel 

 of fine large peaches, that contained 100 specimens, showed, when 

 tested, 92 per cent, of water, leaving only 8 per cent, of solids. 

 This bushel of peaches sold readily at $5.00. A heaped bushel of 

 small peaches of the same variety, this bushel containing 400 speci- 

 mens, showed 84 per cent, of water and 16 per cent, of dry matter. 

 These were sold with difficulty at 70 cents for the bushel. This 

 shows that the acid juiciness is the main factor in the value of 

 fruit. Flavor is due, in part, to the organic acids already men- 

 tioned, but more largely to certain volatile oils and aromatic ethers. 

 It is to these oils and ethers that those delicate characteristic 

 flavors of different varieties of fruit are chiefly due. 



Chemistry and physiology have taught us that where these 

 "fruity" acids, oils, and ethers are taken into the body, they under- 

 go oxidation, which process tends to lower the temperature of the 

 blood, or, at least, to modify our temperature sensations, and thus 

 correct or allay any slight feverishness that may exist. They also 



