TTH LC R URAL NEW-YORKER 
March 0, 
370 
j :: Potatoes as Food and Remedy 
“// the consumption of potatoes in this 
country could he quadrupled, the result 
would undoubtedly he the saving of many 
thousands of lives annually and an in¬ 
calculable amount of suffering from dis¬ 
ease.” 
IIIS is taken from an article by Dr. 
J. H. Kellogg in “The Potato,” by 
Grubb and Guilford. At the Battle 
Creek sanitarium 1.000 patients consume 
7.000 bushels of potatoes each year while 
the average consumption for the country 
at large is between three and four 
bushels. 
Most people obtain values by compari¬ 
son. They have something which serves 
ns a standard and in estimating the value 
of other things they compare them with 
what they know and understand. Judged 
in this way Dr. Kellogg gives the follow¬ 
ing table to show how one pound of baked 
potato compares in nutritive value with 
other foods. One pound of good potato 
properly baked would equal: 1 y 2 pound 
boiled potato; 5% ounces boiled beef; 1 
pound chicken; iy> pound codfish; 4*4 
pints beef juice; 1 *4 pint milk; 1 pound 
bananas; 4 pounds boiled cabbage ; 3 pints 
skim-milk; S eggs; fi ounces baked beans; 
7 ounces bread; 1 % pint oatmeal mush; 1 
pint boiled rice; 1 pound green peas; 5 
pounds tomatoes. 
Thus it appears that the potato is a 
nourishing food when properly cooked 
and eaten with other foods which “bal¬ 
ance” it properly. We must remember 
that it is a starchy food deficient in fats 
and proteins or muscle makers. Tt seems 
that the starch of the potato is more 
easily digested and appropriated than 
that of wheat. In fact it is said that in 
Germany potato gruel made from potato 
meal or from the pulp of baked potatoes 
is considered excellent for feeding in¬ 
valids and children. Some physicians ad¬ 
vise against potato as a food because they 
think it is indigestible, or inclined to 
make too much fat. As a matter of fact 
the potato is an easily digestible food¬ 
stuff and far more nutritious than has 
been generally supposed. 
It should be eaten with butter or cream 
if possible, to obtain the fats which are 
lacking in potato. The protein can be 
obtained in meat, fish, cheese, beans or 
peas. We must remember that potatoes 
alone will not give a full “balanced ra¬ 
tion” but they will take the place of 
other and more expensive starchy foods. 
Perhaps, however, it is fair to say that 
the great value of the potato consists in 
its service as a food remedy. Dr. Kel¬ 
logg says that the free and proper use 
of potato will help in cases of rheuma¬ 
tism and gout, kidney trouble, harden¬ 
ing of the arteries, or other diseases 
caused, or made worse, by acid conditions 
of the blood. It is also useful in cases of 
“biliousness.” This important “remedy” 
value is due to the salts which the potato 
contains. These salts are mostly potash 
—the potato ranking high among vegeta¬ 
bles in the amount of that substance 
which its analysis shows. Those who 
have suffered from gravel or other kidney 
or uric acid troubles realize that the 
medicine they are expected to take con¬ 
tains potash. They do not. however, usu¬ 
ally realize that their pain and trouble 
comes from improper diet—usually from 
eating large quantities of meat or other 
high protein foods and not enough pota¬ 
to. Meats tend to acidify the blood and 
cereals have something of the same ten* 
dency. The bulky potato with its easily 
digested starch and its alkaline salts has 
a tendency to overcome this acid condi¬ 
tion and thus prevent, or modify, what 
are known as uric acid diseases. 
Dr. Kellogg points to the Irish as a 
nation of sturdy, long-lived men and 
women. Potatoes, buttermilk and oat¬ 
meal have made them so. The Germans 
and other European peoples who consume 
potatoes freely arc all strong and vigor¬ 
ous. Most farmers eat potatoes freely 
and when these are combined properly 
with fats and proteins the effect is ex¬ 
cellent. It is quite remarkable how in¬ 
telligent people select food articles to 
go with potatoes in order to give 
a “balance.” The New England codfish, 
cow peas in the South, baked beans, lean 
meat or butter all help to make a “bal¬ 
anced ration.” We have found potatoes 
with butter and milk an excellent food 
for children. In fact this worthy vege¬ 
table should be used far more than it 
now is by the American people. City peo¬ 
ple in particular should eat more potato 
and every effort should be made to ad¬ 
vertise its value as a food and “remedy.” 
A 3,000-egg Hen. 
OMETIIING like 25 people located in 
all parts of the Eastern States have 
sent us the following newspaper clipping: 
“HEN LAYS 3,000 EGGS 
Fowl Wins Industry Record for Four¬ 
teen Years’ Work. 
“Caldwell, N. J., Jan. 27.—Miss Elsie 
Dobbins, of this town, is the owner of 
a hen which she believes holds the world’s 
championship for industry. The hen is 
fourteen years old, and yesterday laid its 
three thousandth egg. 
“An exact record of every egg has been 
kept. Old Reliable is the name of the 
hard working fowl.” 
Their comments vary all the way from 
a mild question as to whether such a 
hen record is possible, to the positive 
statement that this is a fake unvarnished, 
clear and massive. Tiie R. N.-Y. knows 
something about newspaper statements, 
as it has been responsible for a number 
of them. Printer’s ink is like India rub¬ 
ber, it can be made to stretch and cover 
a wide territory of facts, and so before 
either denouncing or endorsing such a 
statement we began investigating. First 
we appealed to a large number of sub¬ 
scribers who live in New Jersey near 
to the home of this wonderful hen. We 
asked them if there was any such hen, 
any such woman and whether they knew 
anything about these facts. It soon be¬ 
came evident that Miss Elsie Dobbins does 
live in New Jersey, and that she has a 
black Minorca hen named Old Reliable. 
As to the hen’s record, we had various re¬ 
ports from neighbors and friends. Most 
of them agreed that no exact record has 
ever been kept but the hen was certainly 
a good layer, and that her owner knows 
this hen will be 15 years old in April 
next. An appeal to .uiss Dobbins herself 
has produced the following letter, which 
is probably as fair statement of the fact 
as we can get. 
I cannot definitely prove that she has 
laid exactly 3,000 eggs. She is the last 
Minorca hen that we have. White Wyan- 
dottes having taken their place a few 
years ago. We kept the Black Minorca, 
however, because of her excellent laying 
qualities. With the exception of this 
year she has always been the first hen to 
lay in the Fall and continuing long after 
the others had stopped, being an excep¬ 
tionally good Summer layer and never 
wanting to sit. So although I have no 
record to show for it father has always 
rated her as a 200-egg a year bird and 
this would make the total near the 3,000 
of the newspaper report. 
ELSIE T. DOBBINS. 
Miss Dobbins states that she has no 
record to show that this bird has actual¬ 
ly laid the 3,000 eggs. The only evidence 
to prove this record is the statement 
that Old Reliable has always been 
rated as a 200-egg hen. This proof 
would hardly be accepted in hen circles. 
Having entered several pens of birds at 
an egg contest where the hens were treat¬ 
ed in cold-blooded fashion and rated only 
as they laid eggs, we know that the hen 
that will lay 140 eggs during her pullet 
year, is a good hen. She will probably 
lay more eggs in this first year than she 
will in succeeding years, and unless she 
is driven on by some very much strong 
er ambition than the average hen, she 
will naturally after five or six years 
spend more time at the feed bin. than 
on the trap nest. Our conclusion, there¬ 
fore, is that Old Reliable is a good hen ; 
certainly a veteran. She deserves to be 
kept as long as she would live, and then 
should never be eaten, certainly not as 
a Spring chicken or as a squab. She 
should be stuffed, and mounted as a 
monument to old age. energy and adver¬ 
tising capacity. We do not believe she 
has ever laid 3,000 eggs. Some of our 
statements about hens in the past have 
got us into great trouble with the fan¬ 
ciers and others, and the friends of Old 
Reliable may come hot-footed to express 
their opinion about us; but we stand by 
our belief that no living hen 14 years old 
ever laid 200 eggs during the 12 months 
before she was ISO months old. 
Old Reliable is all right in her way. 
but we have our sincere doubts about he: 
being a walking omelet. 
“I REALLY dislike to talk to her; she 
has such a habit of finishing one’s sen¬ 
tences for one. You know the kind?' 
“Yes; they listen faster than you can 
talk to them.”—Boston Transcript. 
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