JULY 1, 1913 



475 



Health Notes 



POSTUM CEREAL^ WHEAT COFFEE, AND SOME 

 OTHER THINGS. 



Years ago I became satisfied that coffee 

 was injurious. I tested it repeatedly on 

 myself, and watched its effects upon others ; 

 and when I noticed how the habit seemed 

 to be growing, and saw statistics in regard 

 to the amount of monej' paid for coffee, not 

 onl}^ thi'oughout the United States but per- 

 haps almost all over the world, and often- 

 times paid by poor people who had hard 

 work to make ends meet, it seemed to me 

 a very sad condition of affairs. As the years 

 passed, and I saw the habit of drinking 

 coffee growing instead of lessening, I won- 

 dered if any thing could be done to stop it. 

 Now, in view of the above it seemed almost 

 funny — yes, I might almost say a big joke 

 — to find a man who has gotten rich — yes, 

 become a millionaire, and, for all I know, 

 a multi-millionaire — protesting and teach- 

 ing and preaelung about the harmfulness of 

 coffee ! I remember Post when he first 

 started out with his postum cereal and 

 grapenuts. In fact, I was one of the first 

 to get his substitute for coffee and give it a 

 pretty good test to see how much truth there 

 was in his claims; and I have smiled and 

 felt hajDpy as the years liave gone by to 

 see what a tremendous business he has been 

 building up in getting people to give up 

 thing's that are hurtful and harmful. Very 

 likely there is some exaggeration in the let- 

 ters he has published; but notwithstanding 

 I believe that Post has been one of the great 

 reformers of the age; in fact, he has been 

 doing a great missionary work in his own 

 way, and getting big pay for it. 



You might imagine from what I have 

 said above that Post has given me " big 

 pay " for writing up his products, and you 

 might expect that a big glaring advertise- 

 ment' might come out in Gleanings very 

 soon. I want to tell you, my good friends, 

 that Post, for some reason or other, has 

 never seen fit to patronize Gleanings by 

 giving us even a single line of his advertis- 

 ing. PerhajDS if somebody should call his 

 attention to the above he might send us a 

 " good slice " of his advertising business — 

 that is, if he didn't read further and see 

 what I am now going to say. Notwith- 

 standing I honestly believe all the above is 

 true, at the same time I want to call the 

 attention of our readers to the fact that it 

 is a tremendous waste of money to buy pos- 

 tum cereal instead of making the w^ieat 

 coffee that our good friend Terry has ad- 

 vised and directed how to do so many times 

 in the two or three years that have passed. 



Grapeimls has proved a very good and 

 agreeable food in our home. We have used 

 it more or less ever since Post gave it to 

 the world. I think he has done good with 

 the grapenuts as well as the postum cereal, 

 even if he has had big pay for his mission- 

 ary efforts. If he would only come down on 

 his prices to half, or a good deal less than 

 half, he might still make money and do 

 good. I think I am safe in saying this, for 

 I believe tliat Terrj-'s wheat coffee is every 

 bit as wholesome and good as the postum 

 cereal. I am all the while getting so many 

 letters in regard to wheat coffee, and so 

 many inquiries, I think I can tell you best 

 all I know about it by giving an extract 

 from a recent number of The Practical 

 Farmer. Here it is : 



A CHEAP, WHOLESOME BREAKFAST DRINK. 



Our women readers can save quite a little money 

 by following advice given here. And that means 

 more money for other comforts. There is a continual 

 call for directions for making our wheat " coffee." 

 So we give them again. I have just roasted enough 

 at one time to last several months. I use plump re- 

 cleaned wheat, same as we grind for graham flour. 

 Make a hot fire in the cook stove or range. Roast in 

 iron di-ipping-pans, the wheat about one inch deep. 

 Fill the oven full. When the wheat gets dry and hot 

 you will need to stir it with a large iron spoon once 

 a minute, more or less, to prevent its burning. It 

 .should be roasted very brown, but not burned any, 

 if you can possibly avoid it. Smoke indicates that it 

 is burning. I bought e.xtra dripping-pans so I could 

 roast considerable at once. They cost but little. One 

 should put an even number of pints of wheat in each 

 pan, say two or three, no fractions, for convenience 

 when adding molasses. When the wheat is thorough- 

 ly roasted add 3 tablespoonfuls of New Orleans mo- 

 lasses to each quart of wheat. Then roast 10 or 15 

 minutes longer, but with less fire, as it burns easier 

 after the molasses is put in. When done, empty each 

 dripping-pan into a large pan that will hold all you 

 have. Stir and mash with a large spoon to prevent 

 its caking as it cools. One is not likely to get every 

 panful roasted the same, and this mixing makes the 

 quality even. We used to put in butter to prevent 

 its sticking together; but this stirring as it cools 

 answers as well, and the wheat keeps better. When 

 cold, seal up in glass fruit-.iars and store where it is 

 dark and cool. Grind each morning fresh, and boil 

 about 20 minutes. Two teaspoonfuls make four cups 

 as strong as we like. You will soon like it as well 

 as any coffee, and it is free from poison. Let the 

 children have it. If it is not as dark-colored as cof- 

 fee, and good flavor, you did not roast it enough. 

 Of course, you can buy a cereal drink in paper boxes 

 at a cost of 10 to 20 cents a pound, but we do not 

 think any of them as good as ours, which costs about 

 3 cents. We do not tire of it, year after year. I 

 really like it as well as cereal coffee — quite a little 

 money saved. 



Now, after you have read the above I 

 want to tell you that our next-door neigh- 

 bor, a Mr. Ault, who has just come from 

 Colorado and settled down here in Florida 

 (a beekeeper, too, of no small experience), 

 has brought along with him some very nice 



