DIETETIC VALUE OF FRUITS. 305 



vor and food value of the fruit, while those formed after maturity 

 cause a perceptible deterioration almost immediately in some, as 

 strawberries, raspberries and cherries, while others improve by lying 

 for a short time, as apples and grapes. 



Children would be interested in knowing that green fruit con- 

 tains no chemical constituent not found in ripe fruit and that the 

 difference in color, texture and flavor between a green and a ripe 

 apple are due to the proportions in which these chemical constituents 

 occur. Girls especially will appreciate the fact that under-ripe fruit 

 usually contains the pectin bodies, which are the jellying principle of 

 fruit, in larger amount than ripe fruits do, and that apples which are 

 a little underripe can therefore be used for jelly making, while ripe 

 apples, grapes, etc., on account of the greater amount of sugar con- 

 tained, are better for making fruit juices, vinegar, cider, etc. If girls 

 learned in school that some fruits, as cherries and peaches, contain 

 so small an amount of pectin as to render jelly making with them 

 difificult, they would not be compelled to learn by experience that it is 

 well to can cherry juice while preparing early cherries and use wath 

 currant juice later, thus obtaining a firm jelly with a cherry flavoi 

 which though not exactly the same as pure cherry is much better 

 than an imperfectly jellied jelly. If late cherries are used, the cur- 

 rant juice may be canned to use with them. 



A woman who knows that peaches contain little pectin and do 

 not make a firm jelly can readily have nice, firm, fine flavored jelly 

 by combining peaches and sour apples. Farmers Bulletin No. 203, 

 which treats of canned fruit, preserves and jellies, may be had for the 

 asking and will aid inexperienced housekeepers much in feeling 

 sure of results in that, to many, uncertain task of making jelly. 



Bananas are almost universally relished by children, hence pupils 

 would be interested and probably benefited by learning that if they 

 ate unripe bananas they might expect much the same results as if 

 they had eaten raw potatoes, since these each contain starch. Un- 

 ripe bananas when dried yield a powder or meal rich in starch. When 

 this fruit is fully matured so much of the starch has been changed 

 to sugar that ripe bananas dried show a sugar content very similar 

 to that of dried figs. 



In our grandmother's day girls learned to judge of the quality 

 and use of different food materials by the knowledge which they 

 gained in handling them when canning, preserving, making jellies 

 and marmalades, as well as when preparing different dishes for the 

 table. Little by little such work has been given up, until now few, if 

 anv, home manufactories exist in this country. People on farms, in 



