260 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD, 



" In general, it luaj- be said that fruits are wholesome, palatable, and attract- 

 ive additions to our diet, and may be readily made to furnish a considerable 

 part of the nutrients and energy required in the daily fare. Fresh fruits are 

 dilute foods and closely resemble green vegetables in total nutritive value, but 

 dried fruits and many preserves, etc., are much more concentrated, comparing 

 favorably with some of the cereals and other dry vegetable foods in the amount 

 of total nutrients and energy which they supply per pound. The characteristic 

 chemical constituents of fruits are carbohydrates, and so they are naturally and 

 properly used in a well-balanced diet to supplement foods richer in protein, as 

 cereal grains, legumes, nuts, eggs, dairy products, meats, and fish. Intelli- 

 gently used, fruits are a valuable part of a well-balanced diet and may well be 

 eaten in even larger (piantities that at present." 



Practical directions for jDreserving native fruits and vegetables, Mrs. 

 L. H. Adams and E. 1'. Saindsten {Wisconsin ,St(i. Bill. 136, pp. 13). — Household 

 methods for making jams, jellies, preserves, etc., are described, particular atten- 

 tion being paid to the use of native fruits. A few directions for canning vege- 

 tables are also given. 



The energy required by man in the form of heat, E. Maurel (Coiiipt. Rend. 

 Soc. Biol. [Paris], GO {1906), No. IS, pp. S63-866). — The author briefly summar- 

 izes his own investigations and discusses other published work. His own esti- 

 mate of the average amount of energy required in temperate regions in spring 

 and fall by a man weighing 65 kg. is 2,400 calories, in summer 2,000 calories, 

 and in winter 2,800 calories. 



ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 



Condimental and tonic stock foods, W. Frear (Pennsylvania Sta. Rpt. 1905, 

 pp. Jfl-59). — A number of condimental and tonic stock foods were examined 

 chemically and microscopically and data suunnarized regarding the effect of 

 such feeding stuffs on the rations of farm animals. 



Analysis shows that these feeds are in general made up of cereals and com- 

 mercial by-products and of ordinary and inexpensive drugs, such as copperas, 

 Epsom salts, fenugreek, gentian, mustard, sulphur. The price at which they are 

 sold is usually out of all proportion to their nutritive value and the cost of their 

 ingredients. The data summarized show that, generally speaking, aromatic foods 

 do not increase the flow of digestive juices nor do such feeding stuff's induce 

 greater gains in weight or milk yield. As the author points out, animals in 

 health rarely need these feeds while those which are sick need special treat- 

 ment. " The farmer can make his own condimental mixture far more cheaply 

 than he can buy most of the market preparations." 



" It will not do, however, to infer that such mixtures are never uesful, even 

 though they do not cause the healthy animal to improve in its functional activi- 

 ties, do not ward off disease, nor promise cure of well-developed disorders. 

 Wlien used in sufficient quantity they may serve to arouse a flagging appetite, 

 secure the consumption of food when too little variety is available, or when it 

 is inferior in quality, or stimulate a depressed digestive system to the point of 

 digestive activity, as cayenne rouses the adynamic stomach of the drunkard. 

 In such cases, when salt alone has failed to correct the undesirable condition, 

 and change of staple diet is impossible, a condimental mixtiire may be helpful." 



Inspection of feeding stuffs {New York State Sta. Bui. 280, pp. 233-260).— 

 The feeding stuffs examined during the fall of 1905 and the winter of 1905-0 

 under the State law included cotton-seed meal, linseed meal, gluten meal and 

 feed, corn bran, malt sprouts, dried brewers' grains, hominy feeds, mixed wheat 

 offals, compounded feeds, meat meals and similar animal products, compounded 



