Colored Plates.Page.
[1.]Beef Tenderloin,Facing15
[2.]Beef Sirloin,„15
[3.]Beef Ribs—Regular Cut,„15
[4.]Beef Ribs—Spencer Cut,„15
[5.]Sirloin Butts,„15
[6.]Beef Rib,„15
[7.]Beef Loin,„15
[8.]Drying Figs: Smyrna, Smyrna Section, Adriatic, Adriatic Section,„349
[9.]Olives: Mission, Sevillano,„402
[10.]Jordan Almond,„414
[11.]Peanut (Arachide),„420
Fig.
[1.]Cuts of Beef,16
[2.]Commercial Cuts of Beef,17
[3.]Diagram of Cuts of Veal,18
[4.]Diagram of Cuts of Lamb and Mutton,19
[5.]Diagram of Cuts of Pork,19
[6.]Commercial Cuts of Pork,20
[7.]Graphic Chart Representing the Comparative Influences of Foods and Preservatives,39
[8.]Lard Crystals,67
[9.]Beef Fat Crystals,67
[10.]Kettle for Rendering Lard,72
[11.]Apparatus for Test of Adulteration of Lard,74
[12.]Chicken House, Rhode Island Experiment Station,96
[13.]Cow Stables, Mapletown Farm, Sumner, Washington,170
[14.]Apparatus for Cooling Milk,172
[15.]Improvised Wisconsin Curd Test,177
[16.]Milk; Broken Curd in Whey; Matted Curd,177
[17.]Curd from a Good Milk,178
[18.]Curd from a Tainted Milk,178
[19.]Curd from Foul Milk,178
[20.]Power Churn, Ready for Use,183
[21.]Power Churn, Open,184
[22.]Barley Starch,218
[23.]Buckwheat Starch,222
[24.]Section of Raw Popcorn,224
[25.]Section of Popcorn in First Stage of Popping, Showing Partially Expanded Starch Grains and Ruptured Cell Walls,225
[26.]Section of Fully Popped Popcorn,226
[27.]Indian Corn Starch,229
[28.]Starch Grains of Indian Corn, under Polarized Light,230
[29.]Oat Starch,235
[30.]Rice Starch,237
[31.]Rye Starch,238
[32.]Wheat Starch,242
[33.]Wheat Starch under Polarized Light,243
[34.]Kedzie’s Farinometer Showing the Parts,246
[35.]Kedzie’s Farinometer in Use,247
[36.]Comparative Appearance of Breads of Different Kinds,259
[37.]A Field of Durum Wheat,261
[38.]Drought-resistant Macaroni Wheats (Heads and Grains),262
[39.]Potato Starch,291
[40.]Potato Starch under Polarized Light,291
[41.]Rasping Cylinder for Making Starch,297
[42.]Shaking Table for Separating the Starch from the Pulped Potato,297
[43.]The Potato Rasping Cylinder Arranged for Work,298
[44.]View of Indian Corn Canning Factory, Showing Accumulation of Husks and Cobs,308
[45.]Maranta (Arrowroot) Starch,318
[46.]A Cassava Field in Georgia,319
[47.]Cassava Starch,321
[48.]Scuppernong Grape Vine, Roanoke Island,338
[49.]Vineyard Near Fresno, California,339
[50.]Avocado Tree,346
[51.]Fig Tree Thirty Feet High Near Yuba, California,350
[52.]Jamaica Mango Tree,356
[53.]An Edge of a California Orange Grove,358
[54.]The Original Seedless Orange Tree,359
[55.]A Group of the Washington Navel Orange on the Tree,360
[56.]Covered Pineapple,361
[57.]Removing the Oil Cakes from a Cottonseed Press,400
[58.]Pecan Tree, 30 Years Old, Morgan City, La.,422
[59.]Five Forms of Choice, Thin-shelled Pecans. Also Wild Nut Showing Difference in Size,423
[60.]Full Grown Pecan Tree,425
[61.]Common Mushroom, Agaricus campestris,440
[62.]Edible Mushrooms (Agaricus arvensis Schaeff.),441
[63.]Shaggy Mushroom, Coprinus comatus,442
[64.]Fairy Ring Formed by Marasmius oreades, an Edible Mushroom,444
[65.]Puff-ball, Lycoperdon cyathiforme, Top View,445
[66.]Amanita (Full Grown),446
[67.]Fly Amanita Buttons (Amanita muscaria),447
[68.]Correct Position of a Mature Beet in the Soil,458
[69.]Map Showing Temperature Zone in Which the Sugar Beet Attains Its Greatest Perfection,459
[70.]A Field of Beets Ready for Harvesting,460
[71.]Beets Ready for Transportation to Factory,461
[72.]Diffusion Battery,462
[73.]Multiple-effect Evaporating Apparatus,463
[74.]Vacuum Strike Pan,464
[75.]Sugar Cane Field Ready for Harvest,465
[76.]Cane Field Partly Harvested,466
[77.]Tapping the Maple Trees,468
[78.]Transporting the Sap to the Sugar House,468
[70.]Boiling the Maple Sap,469
[80.]Small Primitive Mill for Extracting Juice from Sugar Cane for Sirup Making,473
[81.]Mill and Evaporating Apparatus for Sirup Making in Georgia,474
[82.]Relative Length of Canes Used for Sirup Making,475
[83.]Swarm of Bees on Bough of Tree,487
[84.]Artificial Bee Hives under Shade of Grape Vine,488
[85.]A Frame Containing 24 Boxes of Honey,489
[86.]Showing Box of Honey Partially Capped,490

INTRODUCTION.

The growing importance to manufacturers, dealers, and consumers of a knowledge of food products has led to the preparation of the following manual.

Unfortunately, many misleading statements respecting the composition of foods, their nutritive value, and their relation to health and digestion have been published and received with more or less credence by the public. Claims of superior excellence, which are entirely baseless, are constantly made for certain food products in order to call the attention of the public more directly to their value and, unfortunately, at times to mislead the public with respect to their true worth.

It is not uncommon to see foods advertised as of exceptional quality, either as a whole or for certain purposes. Many of the preparations of this kind are of undoubted excellence, but fail to reach the superior standard or perform the particular function which is attributed to them. Particularly has it been noticed that foods are offered for specific purposes or the nourishment of certain parts of the body, especially of the brain and nerves. We are all familiar with the advertisements of foods to feed the brain, or feed the nerves, or feed the skin. It is hardly necessary to call attention to the absurdity of claims of this kind. One part of the body cannot be nourished if the other parts are neglected, and the true principle of nutrition requires a uniform and equal development and nourishment of all the tissues. It is true that many of the tissues have predominant constituents. For instance in the bones are found large quantities of phosphate of calcium and in the muscles nitrogenous tissues dominate. In the brain and nerves there are considerable quantities of organic phosphorus. All of these bodies, however, are contained in normal food properly balanced.

It would be contrary to the principles of physiology to attempt to feed the bones by consuming a large excess of phosphorus in the food or the muscles by confining the food to a purely nitrogenous component. Such attempts, instead of nourishing the tissues indicated, will so unbalance the rations as to disarrange the whole metabolic process, and thus injure and weaken the very tissues they are designed to support.

It seems, therefore, advisable to prepare a manual which may be used in conjunction with works on dietetics and on physiology and hygiene and yet of a character not especially designed for the expert.

The American public is now so well educated that any average citizen is fully capable of understanding scientific problems if presented to him in a non-technical garb.

It is, therefore, not difficult to see that the great army of manufacturers and dealers in food products, as well as the still greater army of consumers, are able to receive and to utilize information concerning food products which is of common interest to all. A dissemination of knowledge of this kind will guide the manufacturer in his legitimate business and protect the public against deceptions such as those mentioned above.

In the evolution of society, economy and efficiency indicate that specializations should be made as completely as possible. For this reason it is advisable that foods of a certain character be manufactured and prepared for consumption on a large scale, so that due economy and purity may be secured. On the other hand there are many other kinds of foods which, by reason of their properties, cannot be prepared on a large scale but must be produced near or at the place of consumption. Milk is a type of this class of foods. It is altogether probable, therefore, that the consumption of manufactured foods will not decrease but increase even more rapidly than the number of our population.