( .)2 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



garden vegetables, is almost wholly absent in ripe fruit, being con- 

 verted into sugar during the process of ripening. 

 8. A very small percentage of ash or mineral salts. 

 The substances named above with the possible exception of 

 cellulose are all essential constituents of an ideal or well-rounded 

 diet. 



The proportion of the more important nutrients, however, are 

 so small that much of our fruit has little direct nutritive value. 

 Suppose we take the three principal groups, viz: carbohydrates, 

 proteids, and fats, which together may justly be called the grand 

 tripod of nutritive substances, and see what some of our represen- 

 tative fruits will furnish. The Horticultural Department of the 

 State University has made quite a number of analyses of the straw- 

 berry, and of the substances just named the average results are as 

 follows : 



Carbohydrates 8.0 per cent. 



Proteids 0.3 per cent. 



Fats a mere trace, practically nothing. 

 It has been estimated by students of dietaries that the minimum 

 daily ration of nutrients for a man of average weight performing 

 an average day's work is: 



Carbohydrates 500 grams or 17.8 ounces. 



Proteids 118 grams or 4.2 ounces. 



Fats 56 grams or 2.0 ounces. 



Taking the analyses of the strawberry, a simple calculation will 

 show that a person would have to consume 200 ounces or 13 pounds 

 of this fruit daily in order to obtain the requisite amount of carbo- 

 hydrates from this source. To secure the proteids a daily con- 

 sumption of 1,400 ounces or 88 pounds would be required. This 

 would be a task that even those who have the most ardent taste 

 and liking for this fruit could scarcely be prevailed upon to 

 attempt. Even though he should eat the amount named he would 

 still be deficient in approximately all the required fats. 



Take another illustration: The nutrients contained in the apple 

 according to the analyses that we have made are as follows: 



Carbohydrates (including cellulose) 10 per cent. 



Proteids 2.5 per cent. 



Fats 0.2 per cent. 



