396 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



USEFUL KNOWLEDGE RESPECTING 

 THE VEGETABLE FOOD OF MAN. 



During the early part of the winter of 1857, 

 the Rev. 11. Wood, of Lowell, Mass., addressed 

 the distinguished Dr. S. L. Dana, requesting in- 

 formation relating to the cheapest and best kinds 

 of food. The answer of Dr. Dana has been pub- 

 lished in the Medical World ; it is scientific — as 

 might be expected, coming from such high chem- 

 ical and physiological authority ; and it also con- 

 tains much useful information, little known to 

 the community in general. We will endeavor to 

 present the substance of its most important 

 points, because we believe such knowledge should 

 be circulated through every corner of the world, 

 concerning, as it does, the welfare of every human 

 being. 



It has been laid down as a law of physiological 

 chemistry that all food s*^rves two distinct pur- 

 p'oses ; one part, for building the body, forms the 

 blood out of which come all the animal tissues ; 

 the other part forms fat, and furnishes the fuel by 

 which the animal heat is kept up through the 

 process of breathing. Food contains flesh, blood, 

 and tissue formers in proportion to their amount 

 of nitrogen. When chemistry, therefore, de ter- 

 mines the amount of nitrogen in any kind of 

 food, it expresses the relative value of that food 

 for these purposes. The starch, gum, fat, sugar, 

 and water, and occasionally a portion of woody 

 fiber of grain, rarely minister to the wants of 

 nutrition. These substances are the fuel formers, 

 out of which fat may be formed, which is as es- 

 sential as blood. Ten parts of fat are equal to 

 twenty-four parts of starch, grape, and milk sugar 

 in heating power. 



Life cannot long be maintained by any food 

 that fulfils only one part of the process of nutri- 

 tion. A man fed only on that food which forms 

 blood and tissue soon dies of starvation, and so 

 does the man that is only fed on fuel-forming 

 food ; and if a man is deprived of certain salts, 

 such as common salt, compounds of sulphur, 

 phosphorus, potash, soda, lime, magnesia, and 

 iron, he cannot long survive. And even if fed 

 on all these three classes of substances, he will 

 die of starvation, unless allowed a certain pro- 

 portion of ready formed fat, in addition to the 

 i'at that may be formed out of the other elements 

 of his food. 



Nature has taught us the type of our food, viz., 

 milk. It contains the essentials of four great 

 ■'roups of substances on which nutrition in its 

 widest sense depends. The elements of milk are 

 Ist. Cm?tZ, which is a blood former ; it contains 

 all the nitrogen and all the sulphur. 2d, Butler, 

 which is fat. 3d, Sugar, which is a fuel former 

 or heater. 4th, Salts — soluble and insoluble — the 

 earth of bones, potash, soda, and phosporic acid. 



Such are the substances which Nature has pre- 

 pared for our first food — a mixture of four groups 

 of substances. To suit human wants, according 

 to its age, we should imitate this best natural 

 mixture of these substances designed as the food 

 of man. 



In vegetable and animal food there are sub- 

 stances representing those contained in milk. 

 Dr. Dana merely alludes to those of fish and flesh, 

 and states (which is somcihing new to most per- 

 sons) that the flesh of ii-h contains the same 



amount of nutrient matter, as the fltsh of oxen. 

 Albumen forms gristle, sinews, membrane, mus- 

 cle, nails, and is found in the nerve tul)es. Fat 

 is a lubricant, assists to form cells, and it forms 

 part and parcel of all the chemical changes which 

 the body undergoes, and is required for more 

 purposes than merely heating the body. Sugar 

 never forms part of the animal tissues, but it per- 

 forms an important office in the changes of all 

 these tissues. It forms lactic acid, and contrib- 

 utes largely to the formation of fat. 



The waste of anything essential to life, and all 

 its healthy functions must be supplied by a like 

 substance. Food, therefore, is nutritious just in 

 proportion as it contains the elements, properly 

 mixed, which go to sustain the body and supply 

 its waste. What is the best and cheapest food 

 for this purpose ? This is a great question, and 

 one respecting which much reliable information 

 has been wanting. 



Wheat, Indian corn, rye, rice, and buckwheat, 

 are the principal grains used in our country for 

 food. Wheat holds the highest place in the mar- 

 ket, and its finest flour — that which is deprived 

 of most bran — is the dearest and the most ad- 

 mired. This cherished flour — the costliest — is 

 actually the least valuable for food. The fat and 

 salts of wheat reside chiefly in the bran, and the 

 flour deprived of those, does not contain well- 

 mixed nutrient matter. 



Dr. Dana places Indian corn and rye above 

 wheat for our food, and he sur; rises us by giving 

 oatmeal the highest place of all — it contains the 

 greatest amount of albumen, its starch is equal to 

 that of fine wheat flour, and its fat exceeds that 

 of any other cereal grain. Buckwheat and rice 

 are poor articles of food ; one pound of beans is 

 equal to three and a half of rice or potatoes. 

 Cabbage contains a great amount of albumen, 

 but no fat, sugar or salts, but it is excellent for 

 mixing with other substances, such as potatoes, 

 which contain these. Oatmeal cake, bean and 

 pea soup, baked beans, Indian meal pudding 

 sweetened with molasses, are the vegetable food 

 which he esteems to be the best and cheapest for 

 common and general use. — Scientific xhncrican. 



TOMATOES— SUPPOKTING AND SHOET- 

 ENING IN. 



Few gardens are now found unsupplied with 

 tomatoes, but very few persons take pains to cul- 

 tivate them. The vines are usually left to strag- 

 gle ad libitum. This is both bad economy and 

 bad taste. If tomatoes are planted in rows, a 

 convenient plan is to put up stakes on both sides 

 of each row, and nail on horizontal strips or slats 

 to keep the vines perpendicular. They may be 

 carried up to the height of three to five feet. By 

 this means the vines will show much better, es- 

 pecially when covered with ripened fruit cluster- 

 ing thickly upon the sides. The fruit itself will 

 be much superior to that matured on the ground 

 and in the shade. Strong twine or wires may be 

 substituted for the horizontal slats. A cheaper 

 process of sujjporting tomatoes is to bush them, 

 in the same manner that beans or peas are treat- 

 ed. Our own tomatoes are planted around the 

 border ofi the garden, and trained upon the fence, 

 the vines being upheld by strips of leather, dou- 



