3o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
“THE BALANCED RATION.” 
THK 8CIKNCE OF FEEDING STOCK. 
Part XII. 
“A Square Meal.” 
We now understand a few of the ele¬ 
mentary principles of the scientific feed¬ 
ing of farm animals. What we have had 
is only the primer—a mere start to enable 
one to go on and study fairly into the 
subject. A life-time is all too short in 
which to learn the wonderful secrets of 
animal nutrition, and apply them to 
practical use. What we have gone over 
is but a crude beginning. By and by we 
shall review the subject and, perhaps, 
learn some new things about it. 
Now before we leave it for a time we 
wish to make a brief application of what 
we know about feeding, to human diet. 
Human digestion is much the same as that 
of the hog or cow. The same necessity 
for muscle-makers, fat-formers and pure 
fat, holds good, as well as the necessity 
for a “ balance” between these materials 
and the need of eating digestible food. 
The making of a “balanced ration” for 
a man is a far harder job than that of 
estimating a mixture of hay and grain 
for a cow, because the range of human 
food is much greater than that of ani¬ 
mals. There are dozens of things to 
select from, and the tastes and dislikes 
of different people are so pronounced 
that no one mixture of foods could be 
made up that would satisfy all the mem¬ 
bers of even one family. At the same 
time, it is important both from the 
standpoint of health and economy, to 
25 times as much as with a pound of 
wood. Now in the same way there is 
latent energy in food needing the pr > 
cesses of digestion and the wonderful 
operations goingon in the blood to make 
it active, and to enable us to keep warm, 
to move the powerful force pump of the 
heart, move our muscles, lift great 
weights and, in fact, do all our work. 
You can see that there must be some 
measure of this energy in food, and this 
measure is the amount of lifting force 
equal weights of the food can produce. 
This measure is given in caltjriets as 
length would be given in inches, or 
weight in ounces. A calorie represents 
the amount of heat needed to raise the 
temperature of one gram of water one 
degree. So that when you read below 
that a pound of potatoes have a potential 
energy of 375 calories, and a pound of 
pork 3,510 calories, you will know that 
these figures represent the relative 
abilities of these two foods to supply 
heat and force, just exactly as we would 
measure the lifting capacity of the 
energy in a portion each of coal or 
wood. We wish you to understand just 
what this “ potential energy” means, for 
it is one of the most important things to 
consider in a “ balanced ration” for 
humans. Now here is the table : 
COMPOSITION OF EDIBLE PORTIONS OF FOOD 
FER CENT OF ONE POUND. 
Energy in 
Animal 
Muscle- 
Fat- 
Pure one pound 
food. 
makers. 
formers. 
Fat. 
calories. 
Sirloin steak... 
..18.5 
20.5 
1210 
Rib beef. 
...12.2 
27.9 
1405 
Veal shoulder. . 
...20.2 
9.8 
790 
Leg of mutton.. 
...18.3 
19.0 
1140 
Smoked ham... 
...16.7 
39.1 
1960 
Salt pork. 
... 0.9 
82.8 
3510 
Chicken. 
...24.4 
2.0 
540 
Turkey. 
... 23.9 
8.7 
810 
Eggs . 
...14.9 
10.5 
721 
Milk. 
... 3.6 
4.7 
3.6 
325 
Butter. 
... 1.0 
0.5 
85.0 
3615 
Full cheese. 
...28.3 
1.8 
35.5 
2070 
Corned beef... 
...16.7 
5.1 
525 
Canned salmon 
...14.3 
8.8 
635 
Salt codfish. 
...16.0 
0.4 
315 
Salt mackerel. 
...14.7 
15.1 
910 
Fresh codfish.. 
...10.6 
0.2 
205 
is, does it supply the digestible nutri¬ 
ment and force that your body needs to 
grow, to repair wastes aDd to perform 
its needed work, or are you poorly 
nourished and at the same time over¬ 
working the digestive system with a 
great excess of heating and fat produc¬ 
ing food ? Let us first think about that 
and then ask, do we buy our actual food 
as cheaply as we might ? In other words, 
can we buy more real nutriment with 
the same money by purchasing or produc¬ 
ing different articles of food ? These 
things are certainly worth considering, 
and obviously the only way to answer is 
to know how much muscle-makers, fat- 
formers and pure fat we are eating, and 
how much of each we can buy with our 
money. We see at once how difficult 
this problem is when we realize how 
different persons vary in appetite and 
taste. With a cow, we can make up a 
mess and put it before her and thus 
make an end of it. That can't be done 
with free human beings, though convicts 
and inmates of public institutions are 
often fed somewhat in this way and kept 
in excellent health. With most of us, 
the best way will be to consider what we 
are now eating and attempt slowly to 
remedy the defects in the “ration.” 
What is the “ balance ” for human be¬ 
ings ? Many very interesting experi¬ 
ments have been made in Europe and in 
this country to learn in a general way 
how much food a well grown man should 
eat. In these experiments, all the food 
consumed by entire families was care¬ 
fully weighed, and its chemical composi¬ 
tion was known. In fact, these experi¬ 
ments were made in exactly the same 
way as were those for determining the 
“ standard ration ” for cattle. As a re¬ 
sult of many European experiments, the 
following table was prepared by a Ger¬ 
man school of physiologists. It is, per¬ 
haps, as much of a “ standard ” as the 
cattle ration we have based our fig¬ 
There you have to a fraction of a gram 
what that family consumed in that cold 
month. The women were estimated at 
four-fifths of the eating capacity of a man, 
so that the 325 pounds of food represent 
274 meals for a full man or nearly one 
pound and 13 ounces per meal. To avoid 
long details of figuring, one day’s ration 
for a man on the basis of that family’s 
food was as follows : 
ONE DAY’S ACTUAL FOOD. 
Muscle- 
Pure 
Fat- 
Potential 
makers, 
fat, 
formers, 
energy, 
grams. 
grams. 
grams. 
calories. 
Animal.... 
. 59 
131 
13 
1510 
Vegetable.. 
.40 
8 
385 
1825 
Total... 
.99 
139 
398 
3335 
If we apply the same rule as before, 
we find the “nutritive ratio” of this food 
to be over 1 to 7 %, very much more fat 
than seems necessary. The same family 
with one woman away and a year-old 
child in her place, consumed in the 
middle of summer, 51,489 grams (113% 
pounds) of animal food and (53,920 grams 
(140% pounds) of vegetable food. Fig¬ 
ured out in the same way, this gave 129 
grams of muscle-makers, 145 of pure fat 
and 472 of fat-formers, or a nutritive 
ratio of a little over 1 to (3%—less food 
than in winter as might be expected. To 
carry the idea out still further, we give 
below 10 similar statements. In these 
cases, the regular food ordinarily used 
was carefully weighed and analyzed for 
one month, as in the case detailed above: 
FOOD ACTUALLY CONSUMED PER DAY. 
Muscle- Pure Fat- Potential, 
makers, fat, formers, energy, 
grams, grams, grams, calories. 
Boarding house- 
.103 
152 
401 
3490 
Chemist’s family... 
.118 
103 
430 
3210 
Jewelers family... 
. 83 
117 
478 
3390 
Blacksmith’s familylOO 
171 
401 
3640 
Machinist’s family. 
. 99 
156 
421 
3580 
Mason’s family. 
.111 
143 
362 
3270 
Carpenter’s family. 105 
135 
362 
3185 
Farmer’s family.... 
.114 
142 
435 
3570 
Student’s club.. 
. 92 
141 
343 
3110 
Average of many.. 
.105 
140 
405 
3395 
This average gives a nutritive ratio of over 1 
to 7. 
know what we are eating. Many of the 
ills of middle and later life may be 
traced to improper diet—that is, to forc¬ 
ing into the system year after year an 
“unbalanced ration” in which there has 
been an excess of either muscle-makers 
or fats. The efforts to dispose of this 
excess have injured the digestive powers 
so that after middle age, life becomes 
full of pain and sickness because the 
digestive organs are crippled just as the 
back and shoulders are bent and weak¬ 
ened by overwork. It may be easily 
shown from the standpoint of economy 
how it is possible to obtain more nourish¬ 
ment for a dollar in some foods than in 
others, when we know the comparative 
analyses of these foods. 
First we call your attention to the fol¬ 
lowing table showing the composition of 
many food articles. Prof. W. O. At¬ 
water, of the Storrs (Conn.) Experiment 
Station, has done very valuable work in 
this line, and most of the facts here 
given are condensed from his bulletins. 
You will notice that the table is arranged 
about the same as the tables of stock 
food, except that we have a column 
headed “potential energy.” That means 
a comparative statement of the force or 
heat producing power in equal weights of 
different foods. We laid much stress on 
the fact that the delicate and powerful 
machinery of the body is kept moving by 
the heat derived from a slow burning of 
the food inside the body. That burning 
represents the heat or force-producing 
power of various foods. Suppose we had 
a pound each of wood, coal and kerosene 
oil, and we wished to make up a fair 
measure of the amount of heat each 
pound would produce. The wood might 
represent 1, the coal 5, and the oil 25; 
if put in that way we would always 
understand that, weight for weight, oil 
will produce 25 times as much heat as 
wood. How would we measure that 
heat? By the amount of power or 
force it will produce. That force rests 
in the fuel until combustion sets free 
the heat ; this applied to water makes 
steam, and that properly directed turns 
machinery and does our work. There¬ 
fore, we can safely say that a pound of 
oil will furnish the power needed to lift 
Oysters. 
. 6.0 
3.7 
1.2 
230 
Vegetables and 
fruits. 
Crackers. 
..10.7 
68.7 
9.9 
1895 
White bread. 
.. 8.8 
56.3 
1.7 
1280 
Corn meal. 
.. 9.2 
70.6 
3.8 
1645 
Oatmeal. 
..15.1 
68.2 
7.1 
1850 
“ Graham”. 
..11.7 
71.7 
1.7 
1625 
Rice. 
.. 7.4 
79.4 
0.4 
1630 
Peas. 
..26.7 
56.4 
1.7 
1565 
Beans. 
..23.1 
59.2 
2.0 
1615 
Potatoes. 
.. 2.1 
17.9 
0.1 
375 
Sweet Potatoes.. 
.. 1.5 
26.0 
0.4 
530 
Onions. 
.. 1.4 
10.1 
0.3 
225 
String beans.... 
.. 2.2 
9.4 
0.4 
235 
Green peas. 
.. 4.4 
16.0 
0.6 
405 
Green corn. 
.. 2.8 
13.2 
1.1 
345 
Tomatoes. 
.. 0.8 
2.5 
0.4 
80 
Cabbage. 
.. 2.1 
5.5 
0.3 
155 
.Sugar. 
. 
97.8 
0.4 
1820 
Apples. 
.. 0.2 
15.9 
315 
There is food for many an hour’s re¬ 
flection. It would be a singular man 
who could not be satisfied with a bill of 
fare selected from that list, and we think 
most of us could make up a pretty fair 
“balance” from what we already know. 
Notice how few of the animal foods sup¬ 
ply fat-formers or slow fuel in large 
amounts. Many of them are very rich in 
pure fat and, knowing as we do that this 
is to fat-formers about as kerosene oil is 
to petroleum, we can understand why 
large quantities of fat meat often pro¬ 
duce an uncomfortable heat and slug¬ 
gishness in the system. It is like throw¬ 
ing oil into a fire—giving a quick, fierce 
blaze, but not the prolonged heat of 
wood or coal. The fat-formers are 
mostly in the vegetable foods, and a 
little thought will show us why it is 
such a good plan to mix the vegetable 
and animal foods together. Notice that 
beans and peas actually supply more 
food, pound for pound, than chicken or 
turkey meat. See what a fizzle the to¬ 
mato is as a food product, and how help¬ 
ful such vegetables as sweet corn, string 
beans and green peas may be made ! We 
could give the analyses of 100 more 
articles of food if desired, but these 
ought to answer for illustration. 
The mere statement as to the com¬ 
position of these foods tells some stories 
that we can ha’" My believe, but we must 
remember that with the human ration 
far more than with those for cattle, 
digestibility, taste, method of cooking, 
and home productions upset all purely 
chemical or theoretical rules. In a gen¬ 
eral way, we wish to ask two questions 
about the food you eat day after day. 
Is it as healthful as it should be ? That 
ures on : 
FOOD NEEDED PER DAY. 
Poten- 
Muscle- 
Fat- 
Pure 
tial 
makers, 
formers, 
fat, 
energy, 
Persons. 
grams. 
grams. 
gr’s. 
calories. 
Little children... 
.. . 28 
37 
75 
767 
Children 6 to 15. 
.... 75 
43 
325 
2041 
Woman at ordinary 
2426 
work. 
.... 92 
44 
400 
Man at moderate 
work. 
.... 118 
56 
500 
3055 
One hundred grams are equal to 3% 
ounces, or one ounce equals 28.35 grams. 
To bring this nearer to what we have 
been studying, we would find the “nutri¬ 
tive ratio” of that man’s food in this way: 
The pure fat is equal to 2% times its 
weight of fat-formers ; 56 x 2% = 140. 
This added to 500 gives 640, or about 5.4 
times as much as the muscle-makers. 
Figured in the same way, the ratio for 
the woman is slightly less than 1 to 5%, 
for the child 1 to 5.75, and so on. 
Prof. Atwater has tested the amount 
of food consumed in many American 
families. We have space here to review 
but one, which concerns the food eaten 
in the family of the agriculturist of the 
Storrs Station. Probably this comes as 
near to the results in the average farm¬ 
er’s family as we are likely to get. Re¬ 
member what a gram is. The family 
consisted of a man 32 years old, and two 
women of nearly like age. In 30 winter 
days, this family consumed 65,250 grams, 
or about 143 pounds of animal food, and 
82,690 grams (182 pounds) of vegetable 
food. To enable you to compare this 
food supply with your own, we give the 
full list as follows : 
FOOD CONSUMED IN ONE MONTH. 
ANIMAL FOOD. 
Grams. 
Milk. 
.... 23760 
Beef. 
... 21630 
Butter. 
.... 4650 
Mutton. 
.. . 3290 
Cream. 
.... 500 
Pork. 
... 4760 
Eggs. 
.... 1930 
Fish. 
... 4730 
VEGETABLE FOOD. 
Grams. 
Molasses. 
.... 2040 
Wheat flour ... 
... 17720 
Honey. 
680 
Corn meal. 
... 1770 
Beans. 
370 
Oatmeal. 
960 
Potatoes. 
.... 26070 
Wheat germs. 
.... 1590 
Parsnips. 
... . 3250 
Rice and maca- 
Squash. 
.... 4900 
540 
410 
Crackers. 
... 1560 
Turnips. 
.... 1900 
Graham crackers 450 
Apples. 
... . 7710 
Sugar. 
.... 10770 
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