BEST FOODS METHODS OF PKEPAKIKG. 127 



"The amount of nutriment in the juicy fruits," says 

 Dr. Nichols, " is not large, but it is excellent in quality ; 

 and the juices of grapes, peaches, oranges, pears, straw- 

 berries, currants, cherries, raspberries, and cranberries 

 have a most benign and purifying effect upon the system." 

 The more pulpy fruits, such as apples, bananas, figs, 

 dates, plums, etc., are not only very nutritious, but 

 exceedingly healthful. "A dish of stewed prunes or 

 apples, or a few figs, eaten daily, is a sure cure for 

 constipation. Plums are certainly better than pills ! 

 And even when fruit is costly, it is less costly than 

 physic. There is no telling the beneficial influence of 

 the annual orange crop in mid-winter upon the health 

 of the large cities of the world." 



In an article on "Food Cures," Dr. Hall prescribes 

 Watermelons for painful and feverish "summer com- 

 plaints," and for fevers of all sorts ; the fresh juice of 

 Apples for nervous dyspepsia, and the free use of raw, 

 ripe, and perfectly sound fruit for both constipation and 

 the opposite condition ; for sluggish livers, and for list- 

 less appetites. 



So because fruit is so beneficial, as well as delicious, 

 every house-keeper should adopt all possible means for 

 maintaining a good variety for the table the year round. 

 Aside from Good Bread, there is no item in Nature's 

 "bill of fare" that will so bounteously reward one's 

 labors to obtain it. 



A good variety of Apples especially of the late-keep- 

 ing sorts with a barrel of Cranberries (that sound, clean, 

 brave-keeping fruit, that is such a blessing to spring-time 

 tables !) will go far in supplying the family with whole- 

 some fruit, and, with a few cans or jugs of peaches, 

 pears, plums, and currants, and the different sorts of 

 berries particularly red and black raspberries, which 

 keep their flavor so perfectly the months between Decem- 

 ber and the time of fresh fruit will be bountifully bridged 



