58 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



From the ahove table we are impressed by several facts. 

 First, by the high percentage of waste matter in many forms 

 of onr common foods, there being nearly 13 per cent bone 

 and gristle, actual waste, in porter house steak. Then that 

 the bone-free portion is composed of more than one-half 

 water, and that, of the dry matter, another portion is not di- 

 gestible, giving only 38.5 per cent digestible nutrients in 

 porter house steak, with a nutritive ratio of 1:2.1. Let us 

 study these foodstuffs at their ordinary market prices, and 

 see what the actual digestible food nutrients cost per pound, 

 comparing them against others of similar character. 



Table 4. — Showing Cost of Digestible Nutrients per pound in 

 Various Food Stuffs. 



Kind op Food. 



Nutritive 

 Ratio. 



Ordinary 

 Price. 



Cost per Pound 

 Digestible 

 Dry Matter. 



Porter house steak, 

 Round steak, . 

 Hamburg steak. 

 Eggs (1 dozen = 1^ 

 Skim milk, 



ixiunds), 



Plain milk, 

 flam, 



Certified milk, 

 Clean milk, 



Cream, 

 Bacon, . 



1:2.1 

 1:1.5 

 1:1.5 

 1:1.7 

 1:1. S 



1:4.3 

 1:4.2 

 1:4.3 

 1:4.3 



1:18.0 

 1:15.0 



30 cents pound. 

 20 cents pound. 

 20 cents pound. 

 36 cents dozen. 

 2i cents quart. 



7 cents quart. 

 25 cents pound. 

 15 cents quart. 

 12 cents (juart. 



40 cents quart. 

 25 cents pound. 



$0 80 



04 



00 



1 03 



14 



28 

 05 

 CO 



48 



80 

 .35 



The above table is striking in that it shows us that skim 

 milk, with a nutritive ratio comparable with that of porter 

 house steak, when sold at 2l/> cents a quart, or II4 cents 

 per pound, does not cost one-fifth as much per pound of 

 actual food as does porter house steak, and that eggs at 30 

 cents a dozen (1 dozen eggs equaling ll/> pounds), because 

 of the waste of shell, and the very high water content of the 

 contents of the shell, costs us a little more than $1 per pound 

 of digestible dry matter, as against 14 cents in the case of 

 skim milk. Even Hamburg steak, that most humble of all 



