Ne? STORRS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 
United States. The supervision of the investigations thus provided for, has 
been assigned to the Office of Experiment Stations, and Professor Atwater has 
’ 
been appointed special agent in charge.’ 
The appropriation for the investigation upon foods referred 
to above was for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1896, in- 
creased by Congress to $15,000. The work.is distributed in 
different parts of the country. All of the food investigations 
of the Station are being conducted in cooperation with 
the Department of Agriculture, by which a considerable 
share of the expense is paid. By such cooperation a much 
larger amount of research is being carried on by the Station 
than the State appropriation provides for, and at the same 
time the contribution by this State to the enterprise is made 
much more fully available to the country at large. 
THE NEED FOR FOOD INVESTIGATIONS. 
The need of effort to improve the food economy of the 
laboring classes, and especially that of people with very small . 
incomes, is greater than appears on the surface. Statistics 
show that half or more than half of the earnings of wage- 
workers in general is expended for food, and that as the income 
is diminished the proportion which must be used for food is in- 
creased. Not only does food make the chief item of expendi- — 
ture, but people know less of the ratio of the nutritive value of 
their food to its cost than they do of the relation between cost 
and real value of any other of the prime necessities of life. It is 
_easy for a man to judge whether the price of rent of a tenement 
is reasonable, for the advantages and disadvantages are plainly 
seen. It is easy to tell whether a coat is worth its cost, for the 
eye judges its appearance and experience tells how the cloth 
will wear. Regarding the economy of food, however, very 
few people have any clear idea. Even the most intelligent 
have little notion of the kinds and amounts of actual nutriment 
in the different kinds of food they buy. ‘They know very little 
as to the combinations which are best fitted for their nourish- 
ment, and have still less information as to the ratio between 
value and cost. ‘Three things, however, are reasonably certain: 
fFirst—Improvement is possible. Better kinds and combi- 
nations of food are within reach of the people. Wiser selection, 
more economical buying and better cooking are feasible. 

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