112 STATE PJMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



edge. Shall he have it? Or shall others eat it for him aud tell 

 him how good it tastes ? 



If the child learns he must learn as all learners have learned, 

 from Adam up. The history of the individual must be the con- 

 centrated history of the race. 



GOOD FOOD FE03I THE GARDEX. 

 By Miss Axxa Barrows, Bo.stou. 



This subject does not belong directly to the work of the pomo- 

 logical society, but as we look at it we may see the connection. 

 Probably the foods of primitive people were nuts or fruits already 

 provided by nature and requiring little or no cooking. The earli- 

 est experiments in actual cooking were probably broiled meats ; 

 the cookery of fruits and vegetables indicates a higher degree of 

 civilization. A criticism made by students of foods in other coun- 

 tries is that meat forms too large a proportion of the food of the 

 American people ; we have not yet learned how to cook and eat 

 vegetables. All the efforts expended in horticulture and garden- 

 ing are useless unless the fruits and vegetables' produced are 

 treated properly in the kitchen, therefore it is desirable that this 

 society should consider the question of cookery. 



Before we can cook vegetables intelligently we must understand 

 their composition and to-night I have chosen a few that might be 

 called typical vegetables. We will begin with the potato and I am 

 sorry to say that in many houses the knowledge of vegetables 

 apparently begins and ends with the potato, for we use it when we 

 might better substitute other vegetables. It is a question whether 

 we shall remove the skins before or after cooking. There is a loss 

 of mineral substances and some of the solider portions which lie 

 next the skin, but for many purposes it is a convenience to the 

 cook to have the potatoes pared before they are boiled, and this is 

 always desirable when the potatoes ai'e imperfect. When we 

 depend on the potato for nourishment we do well to cook it in its 

 skin, but if we have other green vegetables like celer^^, lettuce or 

 cabbage to give us the required mineral substances, what we lose 

 in this way is often made up by the gain in the after preparation. 

 Since these potatoes are pared and cut they must be covered with 



