FARMERS' MONTHLY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY 



HOME MAKING 



Xiitrition in a Xiit»liell 



Continued from page 1, column 1 



ulated by food. Supply the body with 

 fuel to spend on its activities, to do its 

 work and keep it warm. 



It stands to reason, therefore, that 

 mothers who habitually keep their tissues 

 in repair, their own activities well ref- 

 lated, and meet their energy needs ade- 

 quately are the ones whose babies stand 

 by far the best chance of being physically 

 sound. 



A single illustration will show how im- 

 portant this is. By the time a baby is 

 born its first teeth and some of the sec- 

 ond teeth are developed to the point 

 where the enamel is on them. The foun- 

 dation for good teeth, therefore, as for 

 other tissues, is laid before the child is 

 born. If the mothers' diet has been poor, 

 her tissues are called upon to help out in 

 baby building. A very poor arrangement, 

 indeed, for both mother and babies, since 

 it may leave a depleted mother and a 

 poorly nourished baby. 



Diet For First Year 



The next problem, the diet of the baby 

 for the first year of its life, is only 

 second in importance to the food from 

 which his mother built him. 



When mothers and health specialists 

 realize some of the less well understood 

 values of human milk for human babies 

 it may be that most mothers may return 

 to nature's way of nourishing the baby. 



It certainly seems now as if the moth- 

 er's milk helps to build up in the child 

 those internal defences which are of such 

 importance later on in life in helping him 

 to resist disease. No artificial food com- 

 bination not known can replace mother's 

 milk in this respect at least. 



During the early months of a baby's 

 life, and while it is open minded, whether 

 or not it is breast or bottle fed, it should 

 have gradually increasing experiences 

 with many food flavors. 



By the time it is a year old it should 

 have been introduced — carefully, to be 

 sure — to a diet which includes not only 

 milk but in proper form and in small 

 amounts of considerable variety of vege- 

 tables and fruits, cereals, eggs and cod 

 liver oil. This accustomedness to new 

 foods gives the best possible foundation 

 upon which to build a later structure of 

 good food habits as the child grows and 

 comes more and more to make his choice 

 of what he is to eat. 



With a mother and father to guide him, 

 who know what food children need and 

 who feel its importance deeply and sin- 

 cerely enough to regulate their own con- 

 duct by this knowledge, the child will es- 

 tablish food habits that are correct and 

 will learn to select his food in accordance 

 with them. 



But the "tale is yet to run." Let us 

 suppose the child correctly fed from the 



beginning has at last grown up and has 

 developed into a vigorous, healthy, dura- 

 ble adult human being. The fact that he 

 can "eat anything" and "does eat any- 

 thing" does not mean that he may be less 

 particular in his choice of diet than you 

 or I. To protect the beautiful structure 

 which has been built up for him ; to keep 

 his tissues sound and active and healthy, 

 he must continue to feed them correctly. 

 Summarizing, if we wish to have food do 

 its best for us we must begin early and 

 select parents who give us their most ac- 

 tive co-operation, first, in feeding us, then 

 in forming our own habits. When we 

 take over the responsibility of choosing 

 our own diet, we must exercise the same 

 care which we have asked our parents to 

 exercise for us. 



Summary 



There is evidence that if we wish "to do 

 ourselves well" we will plan for some- 

 thing like a quart of milk a day until we 

 are 21 or so, or if we happen to be girls 

 until after he have weaned our last baby. 

 After 21 or after babies are weaned, a 

 pint should do the job. From the time 

 we are two or three months old until we 

 die we shall ask for two vegetables a day. 



To be sure, we begin them in infancy 

 as vegetable soup. We shall cry for or- 

 ange juice at three weeks or so and grad- 

 ually increase our repertoire of fruits. 

 When we are six months old we shall 

 smile on a daily half teaspoon of egg 

 yolk, and from the time we are old 

 enough to have a whole egg a day, we 

 shall take it whenever finances permit. 

 We shall choose our breads and break- 

 fast foods from those made from less 

 highly milled varieties of grain. 



We shall begin with a half teaspoonful 

 of cod liver oil when we are a few weeks 

 old, and we shall take it, as babies, as 

 boys and girls, or as men and women, 

 whenever we cannot get free service from 

 sunshine. These are the things we must 

 do in youth to make us grow up in the 

 way we should grow, and they are the 

 things we must do when we are grown 

 up to keep us young in body and in spirit. 

 — Flora Rose. 

 Edited by Martha Van Rensselaer. 



Here are some interesting figures. 382 

 women and girls have been in millinery 

 classes this fall and winter. They have 

 in turn taught 248 women who could not 

 come to the meetings. These 630 people 

 have made 1,004 hats. These hats aver- 

 aged sixty cents a piece and are worth 

 five dollars, making a saving of about 

 $4,400. We know there have been many 

 more hats made, because we see them on 

 the street every day, but we have no way 

 of checking up on such a large spread of 

 influence. 



FOOD QUESTION COLUMN 



"What is meant by the expression, 'soft 

 wheat flour'?" 



Soft wheat flour is made from wheat 

 that is relatively low in gluten and high 

 in strach. Soft wheat flour is whiter and 

 has a more velvety texture than flour 

 made from hard wheats which are rich in 

 gluten. Soft wheat flour is especially de- 

 sirable for making cake and pastry. 

 Many good cooks prefer it also for quick 

 breads, such as muffins and biscuits. 



"Should I throw away the liquid from 

 canned vegetables in either glass or tin 

 cans?" 



Never throw away the liquid from any 

 vegetables, whether canned in glass or 

 tin. It contains valuable minerals and 

 vitamines, and these are lost when the 

 liquid is not used. It may be used in a 

 sauce served with the vegetables, in 

 soups, or in gravy. If you must depend 

 quite largely upon canned goods, during 

 the winter, it is important that you save 

 all the vitamins and minerals. 



"What causes cauliflower and cabbage 

 to turn dark when cooked?" 



The dark color is due to a decomposi- 

 tion of the vegetable. A chemical change 

 actually takes place when these vegeta- 

 bles are cooked for too long a time. This 

 makes them hard to digest and so gives 

 them a bad reputation among many peo- 

 ple. Cabbage and cauliflower should 

 both be cooked for a short time with the 

 cover off. Cabbage shredded should be 

 cooked for ten or fifteen minutes in just 

 enough water to cover. If the cabbage 

 is left in large pieces, it may take twenty 

 minutes after the water begins to boil. 

 Cauliflower will take about twenty min- 

 utes. If these .strong vegetables are 

 cooked with the cover off, there will be 

 very little odor in the house, and they 

 will be more easily digested. 



"Is there danger in giving iodine salt 

 to children?" 



In the goitre belts iodine has been given 

 to school children in the drinking water, 

 with great success as a goitre preventive. 

 In the last two or three years iodized salt 

 has been found to be effective also. Altho 

 there is still a great deal to be learned 

 about the effect of iodine upon goitre pre- 

 vention, it is agreed by most authorities 

 that iodine in drinking water in proper 

 proportions authorized by the Board of 

 Health, or given as iodized salt, is most 

 helpful in preventing goitre in children. 

 Warnings have been issued, however, 

 against the wholesale use of iodized salt 

 by adults. 



May E. Foley, M. A. C. 



About fifteen Ware women met at Mrs. 

 Henry Fisherdick's home in Ware and 

 under the leadership of Mrs. Fisherdick 

 and Mrs. Winslow made felt hats. 



