FOODS HUMAN NUTRITION. 165 



sodium chlorid per gallon was used, the lujury was very much increased, 

 practically 50 per cent of the foliage being affected. When applied with dis- 

 tilled water containing 10 grains of sodium carbonate per gallon, injury was 

 noticeable 14 days after the first application, and 7 days after the third ap- 

 plication the trees were almost completely defoliated. Applied with distilled 

 water containing 10 and 40 grains of sodium sulphate per gallon, some injury 

 resulted, but this was not so marked as that produced in the presence of sodium 

 chlorid. In similar experiments where lime was added at the rate of 4 lbs. 

 to 50 gal. injury to the foliage was almost entirely prevented." 



FOODS— HUMAN NUTRITION. 



Prices of meat, James Wilson {U. S. Dept. Agr. Rpts. 1909, pp. 15-31; Rpt. 

 91, pp. 10-2^; Yearhook 1909, pp. 15-31). — As a part of his annual report the 

 Secretary of Agriculture gives special attention to a discussion of the prices of 

 meat, and as the result of a special inquiry, discusses the increase in retail 

 prices over wholesale, the conditions affecting meat supply, meat price move- 

 ments, and beef and pork ijrices, and gives a general summary of the move- 

 ment of meat prices. 



From reports obtained in 50 cities throughout the United States it appeared 

 that " the mean gross profit in selling beef, that is, the total retail cost charged 

 to consumers above the wholesale cost paid by the retailers, is 38 per cent. In 

 5 cities the rate of increase is 20 per cent or under ; in 10 cities, 21 to 30 per 

 cent ; in 12 cities, 31 to 40 per cent ; in 12 cities, 41 to 50 per cent ; and in 11 

 cities over 50 per cent." 



As regards factors afl:ecting retail costs of meat, the expense of delivering 

 goods, the overdoing of the retail business by the multiplication of small shops, 

 and the tendency on the part of consumers to focus their choice of cuts on 

 steaks and roasts of " names regarded as respectable " are enumerated and 

 discussed. 



In the summary of data regarding conditions affecting meat supply atten- 

 tion is drawn particularly to the fact that the production of stock cattle has 

 been diminished by range abandonment, to the new demands made on farms for 

 corn for beef production, to the high price of corn, to high prices of all meat, 

 partly because of high corn prices, to the fact that the production stock of 

 hogs was reduced in 1907, to high farm land values, and to the fact that both 

 supply and cost of meat production have united to raise meat prices. Further- 

 more, " for 70 years the production of meat has declined relative to population ; 

 meat exports increased until 1906, after which they sharply declined ; there 

 has been a decreasing meat consumption per capita ; [and] iucreaseil per capita 

 consumption of cereals, vegetables, fruits, and saccharine foods." 



Data regarding beef prices are also summarized and discussed. 



Economical use of meat in the home, C. F. Langworthy and Caroline L. 

 Hunt (U. H. Dcpt. Af/r., Fariiicr.s' Bui. 391, pp. y/5+//).— Information regard- 

 ing the value of meat as food, the proportion of different cuts and their rela- 

 tion to meat prices, the texture and flavor of meat, and general methods of 

 preparing meat for the table are discussed as well as ways of reducing the 

 expense for meat in the diet, the publication as a whole being based ui)on the 

 results of experiments which have been carried on as a part of the nutrition 

 investigations of the Office of Experiment Stations. Lessening of expense for 

 meat in the diet, it is pointe<l out. involves such factors as a decrease in the 

 amount of meat used, the buying of meat in quantity for home use, the better 

 utilization of the fat, trimmings and other parts often wasted, and a special 

 attempt to prepare palatable meat dishes from the less expensive cuts. 



