90 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



water has reduced the actual rations which have been given liim l)y 

 Commissioner Wright and, in some cases, he finds that the food 

 consumed or wasted yields 7800 mechanical equivalents of heat 

 per man. 



The dietaries of a large number of mechanics, operatives, and 

 working people in Massachusetts, gathered by Col. Wright, 

 coincide closel}' with other figures and proportions of food con- 

 sumption which I obtained in Massachusetts and Maryland. 

 (The proportion of animal food, and its proportionate cost, are 

 even greater here than in some rather startling statistics which 

 I shall. give 3'ou presently.) 



Average weight of food per person. . lbs. 



Meat and fish 89 



Milk, butter, cheese, and eggs . . .1.29 



Animal food 2.18 



Vegetable food 3.02 



5.20 



Cost of meats (average) 11 cts. 



INlilk, butter, cheese, and eggs .... G 



Animal food . . . . . . . 17 



Vegetable food ...... 8 



Nutrients, by weight. lbs. 



Protein ........ -"^S 



Fat 41 



Carbo-hydrates . . . . • .1.17 



25 cts. 



1.86 



The excess or waste is almost wholly in the fat, of which .13 lbs. 

 or less than one-third the average consumption noted would suflice 

 according to Voit's standard ; which, as compared with Playfair's 

 and those of two other authorities, is the highest of all. 



The " calories" or equivalents of heat in the several standard 

 dietaries of Voit and others range from 3031 to 3159. 



The corresponding units in our Massachusetts dietaries aver- 

 age 4410 ; or about GOO above the standard of the German soldier 

 when engaged in a forced march or in the most severe work of war. 

 We may be thankful for llie possibility of this abundance if it 

 does us any good ; luit let us [)rate no more al)uMt the "greasy" 

 German when we fat three times as much fat ourselves. 



