182 THE STRAWBERRY IN NORTH AMERICA 



water. It is valued more for its vegetable acids, combined 

 with sugar and water, than for the very small amount 

 of nutrients it contains. The Horticultural Depart- 

 ment of the Ohio State University, averaging many 

 analyses, found that strawberries contain 8 per cent of 

 carbohydrates, three- tenths of 1 per cent of proteids and 

 but a trace of fats. W. R. Lazenby points out that since 

 the minimum daily ration of nutrients for an average per- 

 son is about 17.8 ounces of carbohydrates, 4.2 ounces of 

 proteids and two ounces of fats, he would have to eat 

 eighty-eight pounds of strawberries daily in order to secure 

 enough proteids to be properly nourished.-^ This is a 

 gastronomic feat that few would care to attempt. 



The low food value of strawberries is shown in the fol- 

 lowing analyses by G. W. Shaw : ^ 



Table I. Food Value of the Strawberry 



Fresh prunes (Ore- 

 gon Italians) 



Cherries (Oregon) 



Potatoes . . . 



String Beans . . 



Strawberries (Ore- 

 gon) . . . . 



Wateb 



77.07 

 81.30 

 78.30 

 89.20 



88.57 



Dry 



Matter 



22.03 

 18.70 

 21.70 

 10.80 



11.43 



Protein 



1.09 



.90 



2.20 



2.30 



.86 



Nitrogen 

 Free Ex- 

 tract, Fat 

 AND Fiber 



20.56 



17.30 



17.50 



7.70 



9.41 



Ash 



.86 



.50 



1.00 



.80 



.41 



In 1892, W. E. Stone, of the Tennessee Experiment Sta- 

 tion, analyzed tw^enty varieties of strawberries.^ He found 



1 Trans. Mass. Hort. Soc, 1910, p. 92. 



2 Bui. 62, Ore. Exp. Sta. (1900), pp. 6-8. 



3 Bui. 4, Vol. II, Tenn. Exp. Station (1892), p. 71. 



