^64 EXPERIMENT STATION EECORD. 



"There were a great number of farm bands in the Japanese army dnrinj; the 

 war, and the use of meat and other unusual articles of diet led to the increased 

 demand for these commodities ou the return of these men from the front. This 

 change is -felt less, however, among the farm hands than among any other 

 classes, although more potatoes and bread are consumed by this class than was 

 the case with them prior to the war with Russia." 



Report of Committee on Social Betterment, G. M. Kober (Reports of the 

 PrcfiidvnVs: Homes Commission. Wnshiiiffton. D. C, 1908, [pt. 5], pp. 281, pis. 

 //; Reprint, pp. 281, pis. .'/). — The Report of the Committee on Social Better- 

 ment, which forms one of the reports of the Homes Commission appointed by 

 President Roosevelt to study housing, sanitation, and social betterment in the 

 District of Columbia, includes sections on such topics as Industrial and Per- 

 sonal Hygiene, Alimentation and Foods (noted below). The Causes and Pre- 

 vention of Infectious Diseases, Infantile Mortality, The Prevention of Per- 

 manent Disabilities in Childhood, and The Scale of Wages and the Cost of 

 Living, by the author of the report, papers on Good Food at Reasonable Cost 

 (noted below), by C. F, Langworthy, Food and Home Betterment (noted below), 

 by G. M. Kober and Emma M. Cross, Sociological Study of 1,251 Families, by 

 G. H. Weber, The Business Relations of Wage-Earners, by J. B. Reynolds, and 

 How to Benefit the Poor in the Slums, by W. F. Downey. 



The Sociological Study of 1,251 Families includes a summary and discus- 

 sion of living conditions, income and expenditures, occupations, hours of labor, 

 employment, and similar topics. Inquiries concei'ning the noon-day meals of 

 wage-earners brought out the information that in 078 cases they were compelled 

 to eat cold food, 750 carried dinner pails, and 205 " were reported as being 

 accustomed to consume alcoholic beverages with their meals. The number in 

 each case was greater among the white than among the colored wage-earners." 



As a whole the Report of the Committee on Social Betterment is a very valu- 

 able document not only for the information which it provides regarding con- 

 ditions in the District of Columbia, but also for the general discussions of social 

 conditions and for the suggestions made for bettering existing conditions. 



Alimentation and foods (U. S. Senate, 60th Cong., 2. Session,' Doe. G.'i'h PP- 

 121-157). — This discussion of food problems with special reference to the need 

 of wage-earners' families and the providing of a palatable, wholesome, and 

 adequate diet at reasonable cost forms a part of the Homes Commission Report 

 (see above), and includes three papers. The first, Alimentation and Foods, by 

 G. M. Kober, is general in its nature and discusses the principles of nutrition, 

 the composition of food, and similar topics. The second, (Jood Food at Reason- 

 able Cost, is by C. F. Langworthy, and the third. Food and Home Betterment, 

 is by G. M. Kober and Emma M. Ci'oss. 



The second paper discusses the general principles of nutrition especially with 

 reference to families of moderate income, gives in tabular form the approximate 

 weight and nutritive value of an average iiortion of a number of common foods, 

 and explains the use of such data in calculating the food value of a meal and a 

 day's ration. 



In the introduction to the third paper it is stated that sociological studies 

 made with some 1,200 workingmen's families showed that 47(» families with an 

 income of $500 or less expended 43.68 per cent of their annual income for 

 food; 1.53 families with an income of from .$500 to $600 expended 43.59 per cent; 

 153 families with an income of from $600 to $700 expended 41.40 per cent; and 

 153 families with an income of from $700 to $800 expended 40.21 per cent. 



With a view to improving the diet of such families with respect to cost, 

 nutritive value, and palatability, typical menus are suggested for v^^inter and 



