GOOD FOOD FROM THE GARDEN. 81 



Allowing for occasional idiosyncrasies, people can eat anything, 

 and habits in this direction are easily formed. We learn to like 

 olives and mushrooms because the taste for them is a proper one ; 

 in the same way we may enjoy a variety of vegetables. 



At the present day we are beginning to realize that a knowl- 

 edge of the composition of each food is essential to its wise selec- 

 tion and preparation. Vegetables and fruits afford all the five 

 necessary food principles, but the proportions are hardly satisfac- 

 tory for a perfect diet. Fats and proteids need reenforcement, 

 and this is accomplished by the use of butter, oil, eggs, and 

 meats. 



To generalize in describing the foods which come from our 

 gardens, they contain water, starch, sugar, gum, pectin, fats, 

 proteids, and mineral matters. The great amount of water — from 

 seventy-five to ninety-five per cent — serves to supply in pleasant 

 form our most essential food. The lack of water in the average 

 diet has been called our " gravest dietetic error." 



The carbohydrates — starch, sugar, and the like — are the most 

 important solids in vegetables. The potato contains more starch 

 than any other moist vegetable, and according to late government 

 experiments this is more easily digested than many other starches. 

 Sugar is too often lost by throwing away the water in which 

 vegetables are cooked. Dextrin and dextrose are formed from 

 starch in the maturing of fruits, and probably in some processes 

 of cooking vegetables. Pectin, pectose, and gum are substances 

 as yet little understood. Fats in our ordinary garden vegetables 

 are in too minute quantities to be reckoned. The proteids are 

 complex substances and are most prominent in the pulse family. 

 They are less digestible than animal proteids ; even a third may 

 pass through the system undigested. 



The mineral matters are valuable forms of phosphates, iron, 

 and potash, in keeping the blood pure. 



It is interesting to note the different parts of plants which are 

 used for food — the roots, stems, leaves, and seeds. The latter 

 are used mainly in the dry form, and absorb much water in prep- 

 aration. This must be remembered when studying analyses of 

 dried legumes and cereals. 



The cellular structure of vegetables, which constitutes nearly 

 half their bulk, is the chief barrier to their use and the great 

 ■obstacle to be overcome b}^ cookery. This material is closely 



