FEBRUARY 15. 1914 



149 



merely the result of division of calories or 

 food value of each food by its cost in cents. 

 Take sugar for instance: 1860 caloi'ies di- 

 vided by 5, cost in eenls of one pound, gives 

 372 as the number of calories, or units of 

 heat value, for each cent expended. The 

 last column was headed " Value i^er cent." 

 If it had been expressed " Value for each 

 cent " it would have been clearer. 



Another point not usually considered by 

 students of nutrition is the matter of bal- 

 ance of mineral acids and bases. It is now 

 quite well agreed that an acid (inorganic 

 acid) condition is obnoxious in the nutrition 

 of both animals and plants, and to be avoid- 

 ed so far as possible. Acid soils are neutral- 

 ized or sweetened by applications of lime, 

 and stomachs are sweetened by doses of 

 soda and magnesia. With knowledge and 

 care in eating, this acidity may easily be 

 avoided, many desirable foods being highly 

 alkaline, as may be seen by the table below. 



A preponderance of mineral acids over 

 bases in the diet may result in malnutrition 

 and underdevelopment of the bones, and 

 therefore of the stature and size of tlie 

 growing child or animal. Rheumatism, dia- 

 betes, fevers, rickets, and acidosis also are 

 results of an excess of mineral acids in the 



food, as compared with mineral bases. It 

 should be carefully obser-ved that it is min- 

 eral (inorganic) not organic acidity that is 

 so injurious, the latter rarely proving ob- 

 noxious. An oddity occurs in not a few of 

 our fruits and vegetables, they being highly 

 acid organically, and still more highly alka- 

 line inorganically. Rhubarb is an example, 

 about the highest in organic acidity, and 

 nearly the highest in inorganic alkalinity. 

 It may be stated that all meats and cereals 

 are acid inorganically, while all fruits and 

 vegetables are alkaline. White bread has 

 over four times as much excess inorganic 

 acid as oatmeal. All who eat meats and 

 cereals should also eat liberalh' of vegeta- 

 bles and fruits. 



MINERAL ACIDS AND BASES OF VEGETABLE AND ANI- 

 MAL KOODS. 



I Mineral | Mineral ! Excess | Excess 

 I Bases | Acids | Base | Acid 



Packer, Ct. 



PRACTICALLY NO MUSTARD GROWN IN THE UNITED STATES 



BY GEO. J. FRENCH 



We have had the pleasure of reading the 

 letter from J. H. Calkins (p. 38, Jan. 1) in 

 which he inquires whether mustard is gi'own 

 in the United States in a commercial way. 

 What is ordinarily called mustard seed, in 

 our fields, is not mustard seed, but is either 

 wild rape seed or charlock. The only place 

 in the United States where mustard is gjown 

 commercially is in the Lompoc Valley in 

 California, and very little is grown there. 



The best mustard seed in the world comes 

 from England. There is some grown in 

 Holland, a great deal is grown in Russia, 

 and there are shipments from Italy and 

 Austria; in fact, the seed is cultivated all 

 over the world, particularly in the East, for 

 its oil, which is used as an article of food, 

 the expressed oil of mustard being bland 

 and mild — a delicious salad and cooking oil. 

 The strength, so called, of the mustard, is 

 contained in another oil, which can be taken 

 from the seed only by distillation. 



The best mustard flour is not simply 

 ground mustard seed, but is the extracted 



flour of various mustard seeds, blended to 

 produce the greatest result in the volatile 

 principle of mustard, which is required in 

 the perfect mustard flour. 



We note that Mr. Calkins wants to get in 

 communication with the growers — but there 

 is no one who gi'ows mustard flour; there 

 is one kind of seed grown in the United 

 States, as per the above. 



We think in these times of the high cost 

 of living, that Mr. Calkins' ambition to get 

 close to the first cost is a most commendable 

 one. Gleanings in Bee Culture has awak- 

 ened a fondness for honey in my own imme- 

 diate family, and we have bought honey and 

 had honey given to us, and this spring we 

 are going to get closer to the source of sup- 

 ply, just as Mr. Calkins wishes to do — we 

 ore going to keep a hive of bees ourselves. 



Rochester, N. Y. 



[As our correspondent is president of the 

 R. T. French Company, makers of mustard 

 bran, etc., we are sure that he knows where- 

 of he speaks. — Ed.] 



