10 BULLETIN 123, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



time to prepare. The former do not realize that the most satisfactory- 

 salads are usually the simplest; and the latter forget that fresh cu- 

 cumbers served with oil and vinegar, or the " greens " left over from 

 dinner and served cold with vinegar at supper, are just as truly salads 

 as elaborate combinations of all sorts of fruit and nuts and mayon- 

 naise dressing. Moreover, the fact that small quantities of different 

 materials can be easily combined to make an attractive salad, shows 

 that it is often an economical and sensible dish. 



Returning to the vegetables which can be used raw in salads, that 

 is, the salad plants, they are valuable because their freshness and 

 attractive appearance arouse an appetite for the more substantial 

 materials served with them. Moreover, in this shape the body gets 

 all the iron, calcium, and other mineral constituents present, and also 

 vitamins, as certain substances are termed which are needed in at 

 least small amounts for normal growth and health, and which 

 may be partly lost or perhaps rendered less useful by cooking. 

 Hence the desire for such foods should be considered to represent a 

 real need, and raw salad plants and fruits should be supplied freely. 

 " Spring bitters," which the housewives of earlier days thought 

 necessary, are more palatable when obtained from salads than from 

 medicine bottles. Aside from any question of medicinal value, such 

 plants help to make the diet attractive and give a relish to food, 

 particularly in the spring, when one is weary of the limited variety 

 of the winter table. 



The distinctive salad plants are very succulent; that is, they con- 

 sist very largely of water. This is the chief reason why they are 

 especially refreshing in warm weather and give a pleasant contrast 

 to the heavier dishes of a heavy meal. They also serve to prevent 

 too great concentration of food, and thus aid in the digestive process. 



It is a very common custom to combine fat with salad plants, fresh 

 or cooked. Fat is a compact food and, weight for weight, is about 

 two and a quarter times as valuable as protein or carbohydrate for 

 fuel in the human body. A tablespoonful of oil would go farther 

 toward supplying energy for keeping the human machinery running 

 than a large head of lettuce. The world over people have instinc- 

 tively added a condensed dressing consisting mainly of fat (oil, 

 bacon fat, or cream) to the salad plants bulky with cellular tissue 

 and water, and have eaten such salads with meat and bread which 

 supply protein and carbohydrates. 



The use of salad plants and salads as decorations on the dining 

 table deserves consideration. 



Green salad plants grow near the earth and so are likely to be 

 soiled with dirt which may often be accompanied by bacteria and 

 other living things, which cause disease. They should always be 

 made clean before use. Water cleanses to some extent, but only 



