HUM!'" iiliiiiiiiiiiiiiii I'ijl m iiiflffiiiiiiiiniM iBOuniflUfyiHimuiiiiniiiiiif iiiuiHiiwtiH ■ Class T/\3.53 Book (L M° l c i lop COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. THE STORY OF FOODS Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from The Library of Congress http://www.archive.org/details/storyoffoods01cris THE STORY OF FOODS By FORREST CRISSEY with an introduction by Douglas C. Ridgley, Professor of Geography, Illinois State Normal University RAND McNALLY & COMPANY Chicago New York Copyright, 191 7, by Forrest Crissey <\ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thanks are due to the Saturday Evening Post for permission to use portions of certain copyrighted articles originally published in that journal. The author is especially indebted to the various bureaus and offices of the United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Commerce for cooperation in furnishing both data and critical assistance. In the United States Department of Agri- culture he is under particular obligation to Leon M. Estabrook, Nat C. Murray, and George K. Holmes, of the Bureau of Crop Estimates, to Dr. M. E. Pennington, Chief of the Food Research Laboratories and to Dr. O. E. Baker, Agriculturist. Much invaluable assistance has been given by Dr. E. E. Pratt, Chief of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, and Dr. Hugh M. Smith, Commissioner of Fish- eries. George F. Mitchell, Supervising Tea Expert of tne United States Treasury Department, has placed the author under great obligations by his unstinted cooperation. From William Harper Dean, of The Country Gentleman, Dr. Mary E. Pennington, Norris H. Reed, B. W. Snow, W. F. French, Harry Snowden Stabler, and Adolph Kruhm has come assistance in kind and quantity amounting to collaboration. The authorities which the author has consulted, with especial benefit, are the Grocers' Encyclopedia, edited by Artemas Ward, and The Story of Wheat by William C. Edgar. To name all those actively connected with the commerce of foods to whom the author is indebted for information is impossible. OCT 17 1917 A477080 THE CONTENTS PAGE The Introduction 7 CHAPTER I. The World's Greatest Need ...... 9 II. The Journeys of Foods 17 III. Wheat 36 IV. Other Grains 60 V. Breakfast Foods 78 VI. Fruits 87 VII: Vegetables and Their Seeds 125 VIII. Milk and Butter 146 IX. Cheese 164 X. Honey 187 XL Poultry 194 XII. Meats ,201 XIII. The World's Commerce in Meats . . . .228 XIV. Vegetable Oils 238 XV. Free Food from Many Waters 247 XVI. Fish from Home and Foreign Waters . . . 259 XVII. The Handling of Fresh Fish 277 XVIII. The Story of the Salmon ■ . . .282 XIX. Oysters 299 XX. Canned Foods . 313 XXI. Dried Fruits . 341 XXII. Condensed Foods 358 XXIII. Coffee 366 XXIV. Tea— the World's Social Drink 378 XXV. Table Drinks 402 XXVI. Nuts 412 XXVII. Sugar 428 XXVIII. Spices 442 XXIX. Salt 457 XXX. Tempting Table Delicacies . . . . . .463 XXXI. What the Wholesaler Does 475 XXXII. What the Retailer ! Does .500 The Index 516 A LIST OF THE MAPS PAGE Ocean trade routes over which ships of commerce carry the world's food supplies 20 The wheat areas of the world, with chief lines of export ... 38 The great cereal-producing area of the United States, with wheat area shown by darker shading 62 The world's principal fruits and where they are grown ... 94 Dairy products of the United States, with rank of each state in value of cheese, butter, and condensed milk 148 The dairy trade of Europe. Exporting and importing areas of dairy products, with chief lines of export 176 The countries from which come the workers to the Stock Yards and Packingtown 204 The world's fishing grounds. Where the principal fish are caught, with chief lines of export 266 The world's chief tea, coffee, and cocoa exporting and importing countries 380 Spices and nuts. Where the ivorld gets its principal spices and nuts 446 THE INTRODUCTION The Story of Foods, whose author has for many years written on industrial, commercial, and agricultural topics for the millions of readers of the Saturday Eve- ning Post, is a vivid presentation of a subject of daily interest to every pupil and teacher in school, as well as to every other member of the household and the community. This graphic story deals especially with the human agencies concerned in the production, preparation, and distribution of foods. It tells many things concerning our ordinary foods about which we have often won- dered. We are given a glimpse into the large business enterprises engaged in making it possible for our grocer to furnish us with a wonderful variety of foods gathered from all parts of the world. The Story of Foods will be of distinct service to two groups of pupils: geography classes and domestic sci- ence classes. It will supplement the textbook at many places throughout the entire course in geography in the elementary school. It will supply domestic science classes with abundant information on the methods of handling foods as a commercial undertaking, as well as on their production, and thus give a comprehensive world view of foods and their geographical and indus- trial background. Mr. Crissey's book has an important function to perform in the school, but it also deserves a place as a working handbook in the home, for it holds a rich fund of practical information, interesting and instruc- tive to all who would understand how the daily table of the family of moderate means affords to-day a greater variety of foods than did the tables of kings and princes of centuries past. Douglas C. Ridgley Illinois State Normal University Normal, Illinois Kwotf THE STORY OF FOODS Chapter I THE WORLD'S GREATEST NEED "We eat to live." Food is the first demand of physical life. There are climates in which it is possible to live without clothing or shelter, but the necessity for nourishment is the same the world over. Neither man, beast, nor any other living thing can withstand this demand for more than a few days. For this reason the most important question we can ask about any country is: What does it yield to the world's food supply? The land that gives little or no food for the support of the human race is too barren to claim the interest of an intelligent man or woman, boy or girl. The search for gold and precious stones has been shrouded in romance, but this line of exploration is of little significance when compared with that which ransacks the most remote corners of the earth for foods with which to nourish mankind more generously, wholesomely, and pleasingly. The bill-of-fare and the map. It would be hard to suggest a more fascinating pastime than that of taking our daily bill-of-fare apart to learn where every element of it has come from, how far it has traveled, and by what strange and devious ways it has journeyed to reach our table. Apply this sug- gestion to every bit of food served in your home for one week and you will learn more real geography than 10 THE STORY OF FOODS in a month of memorizing meaningless statements which seem wholly removed from your personal Brown Bros. Loading railway cars with bananas brought out from a Costa Rica plantation. The banana, the most prolific fruit plant known, is grown over a large and increasing area in Costa Rica experience. Certainly the food you eat comes close to your daily life; and to trace to their sources the things that nourish you is to show only a reasonable degree of human curiosity. Altogether the most interesting way in which to get a grasp of the distant background of the foods that come to your plate and of the many remote and mysterious regions of the globe which contribute to your meal, is to spread a map of the world before you. Then with a penciled line connect the spot that stands for your home and that from which hails each article of food on your table. Now, if you would realize still more vividly the pains the food merchants have taken in order to set before you an THE WORLD'S GREATEST NEED 11 ever-increasing variety of tempting delicacies, get another world map on which are marked the ocean pathways (see page 20) traveled by ships of com- merce. Then trace on this map the trade routes over which each food element has been brought to this country. In this connection the term "tempting delicacies" is used deliberately, because, if you follow this inter- esting line of inquiry, you will soon learn that no other country in the world is capable of producing so generous a supply of the real food necessities as the United States. There is scarcely a single food in all that may be mentioned which is not produced in large quantities in this country. Or, to put the situation in the simplest terms possible, scarcely any food is furnished by other countries that we could not do without. But if the food merchants should suddenly stop drawing on the distant regions of the earth for our table supplies, we would be brought to a quick and keen realization of the service they are rendering the public. For we would miss a multi- tude of delicious things which make our meals not only more tempting but also a great deal more wholesome. We can never appreciate what the world-searching industry of the food merchants means to us unless we keep in mind the fact that we demand variety in our food as well as in our work and our play. Also narrow living is likely to mean unwholesome living, and the human stomach as well as the human mind abhors and rebels against monotony. There- fore, he who adds a new and agreeable food to the list from which we are able to choose our fare does us a distinct service. 12 THE STORY OF FOODS The foods of yesterday. It is almost impossible to realize how narrow and limited was the range of The twentieth-century market with its tremendous and varied supplies brings a keen realization of how extremely limited in variety were the "foods of yesterday" diet in the days of our grandfathers and great grand- fathers. But we need not go back to the pioneer days of this country to illustrate the meager variety of foods with which the average family larder was stocked. The day book of a retail grocer located in a midwestern town shows that the entire list of imported articles of food sold by him in the year 1862 was as follows: coffee, tea, figs, mustard, pepper, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, lemons, oranges, sago, prunes, raisins, and almonds. This day book also shows that the principal line of foods then handled by the country storekeeper would add to this list only eggs, molasses, dried apples, dried peaches, cranberries, potatoes, sugar, vinegar, saleratus, butter, cheese, crackers, lard, smoked THE WORLD'S GREATEST NEED 13 halibut, whitefish, dried herrings, rice, syrup, salt, cream of tartar, beans, rye coffee, peanuts, beef, veal, pork, lemon extract, onions, cabbage, turnips, and native nuts. Possibly this storekeeper kept other foods, but if so, his charge accounts for two years give no evidence of that fact. How strange a stock of goods confined to these items would appear in contrast with the wide range of articles required by the modern retail grocery! A man living in eastern New York declares that he remembers when a pound of loaf Courtesy of " Youth's Companion." Original by C. D. Hubbard The pioneer storekeeper's busy day. An interior scene of a grocery store in our great grandfather's days sugar lasted his family a year. As a schoolboy, his luncheon was " hasty pudding" — cornmeal mush — 14 THE STORY OF FOODS and milk. In his boyhood on a New York state farm his family lived almost entirely upon the products of their immediate neighborhood, the principal things purchased being tea, pepper, salt, and cinnamon. The foods of to-day. Contrast with this narrow and monotonous diet the range of delicacies now available to the American family of average means, and to the housekeeper who carefully considers her outlay for foods, while giving her family a generous variety of things good to eat. Possibly the best way to make you realize the wonderful expansion in the range of our food supply would be to repeat the statement of a large food jobber who recently said: "The cost book of the smaller inland grocery jobber to-day contains from 5,000 to 15,000 sep- arate and distinct items, while there are more than 40,000 items listed in the cost book of this house, which does a nation-wide business. A majority of articles in that list are brought in from foreign countries; and, measured in dollars, we do a larger volume of business in imported foodstuffs than we do in domestic goods. We are food explorers, ran- sacking the entire earth for the things with which to satisfy the cultivated appetite of the American consumer. The stock in the most ordinary country grocery store is brought from the four corners of the earth. "The only way in which to get a vivid and graphic realization of the economic service which the whole- saler in this line renders to the consumer is to try to imagine what would be the food situation in this country if every grocery jobbing house were sud- denly struck out of existence, together with all of their accumulations of food supplies. For all THE WORLD'S GREATEST NEED 15 practical purposes we should then be thrown back to the old, crude system of the earliest pioneer days, LlLl f' j* Contrast the stock of goods carried by a storekeeper of our grandfather's days with the amazing variety found in the stock of an inland country grocer of to-day when each community lived almost entirely on the narrow range of foods that could be produced locally. But such a situation would be wonderfully illumi- nating. It would reveal as nothing else could the position of the wholesaler of foodstuffs in the eco- nomic scheme of modern living. Also it would show most vividly how immense and complex is the fabric of modern food demands — a fabric woven of threads drawn from every part of the civilized and semi- civilized earth." In view of these facts, the statement that the study of geography from the standpoint of the din- ing table and the food store becomes a fascinating 16 THE STORY OF FOODS pastime, seems only too true. When you meet every kind of food that passes your lips with the question, " Where did it come from and what has been its history, its travels, and its demands upon the labor of mankind?" you are in a way to learn much about geography, government, and economics and to learn it with little conscious effort. Chapter II THE JOURNEYS OF FOODS From producer to consumer. There is scarcely any chapter in the history of foods more fascinating than an account of their travels. Probably the most graphic way of showing you the wonders of carrying foods is to take you on a "food journey." Only a little experience in following foods from their source to the consumer is necessary to prove it an interesting game, one abounding in surprises. From tea garden to tea table. First let us follow a shipment of tea from the tea gardens to the tea Hauling tea to the railway station in Ceylon table. While we are doing this, we shall see through how many hands this tea passes on its long journey. 17 IS THE STORY OF FOODS This will also give us a good idea of the great amount of work involved in preparing a cup of tea for us. Loading tea at the dock with the aid of a hand derrick The Ceylon natives who pick and carry tea in large baskets to the curing stations are the first people to handle it. After the tea is cured it is put into chests or boxes and carried in oxcarts to the railway station, whence it is borne by train to Colombo. Here it is again handled by other natives and placed in a warehouse, where it remains until a foreign buyer purchases it. More than likely this buyer will be an Englishman who will first care- fully test the tea. Next it is hauled to the dock and loaded into small boats with the aid of a hand derrick. Then by means of a steam winch, it is lifted from the small boats or "lighters" and lowered into the hold of a steamship. In this stage of its journey it is THE JOURNEYS OF FOODS 19 handled by sailors who have shipped under the English flag. In all probability, this steamer is built with especial reference to the needs of the tea trade, its hold being divided into many small rooms or com- partments in which the tea is stored. This arrange- ment reduces the breakage of chests and the damage from other causes. The steamship now carries the tea to Liverpool, England, where it is unloaded by the sailors and English stevedores or dock laborers. The tea is next inspected by an English government inspector, then hauled by motor truck or wagon to a large warehouse, where it is again handled by English laborers. The tea remains in this warehouse until sold. Perhaps an American importer inspects the shipment and buys a hundred chests of it. Then this special lot of Ceylon tea is again hauled by motor truck or wagon to the dock, loaded aboard a large steamer, and carried swiftly across the Atlantic Ocean. At New York, American dock workers unload it and it is transferred by a motor truck to a bonded ware- house. A bonded warehouse is a building belonging to the United States government, where merchandise subject to a federal revenue tax is kept until it is found to comply with our laws regulating its admit- tance, and the tax paid. After the tea has been tested by the government tea inspector, it is trans- ferred to the building of the American importer. There an electric elevator carries it to an upper floor, where it is probably packed in small boxes or tins and labeled by American girls. It is then placed in the storerooms until sold to retailers. A portion of the tea is sold to an out-of-town THE JOURNEYS OF FOODS 21 customer. The shipment is sent down to the base- ment, loaded on tiny freight cars, and carried under The basement shipping floor of a great A?nerican importing house ground by an electric engine to the freight depot of the railway which is to deliver it to the country customer. There it is shifted by freight handlers into a box car of mixed merchandise. The freight train of which this car is a part is hauled by a big steam locomotive to the town to which the tea is shipped. Here it is unloaded by the train men and left in the freight depot until called for by the truck man serving the grocery store that has purchased it. This delivery man carries it in his wagon to the retail grocery store, where the grocer or one of his clerks unpacks it and places it on his shelves. The tea has one more trip to make — a journey in the grocer's delivery wagon or motor to the home of the consumer. Of course the consumer buys 22 THE STORY OF FOODS only a small quantity of tea at one time, probably a one-pound can. Let us suppose that on the after- noon when the tea is delivered, the housewife has callers and asks them to have tea with her. If she has a tea wagon there is still another ride, although a short one, for the fragrant leaves from the far Orient — a trip on the dainty tea wagon from the kitchen into the room where the guests are waiting. So we find that, from the first journey the tea makes, in the big basket on the back of the Ceylon native, until it is served by the maid from the tea wagon, it is handled by many people and is carried in many vehicles. If you try in this way to trace from its source every food served on your table, you will soon learn what interesting travelers are the foods which come from the remote regions of the earth to your kitchen. You will also learn how large a part of the world's greatest systems of trans- portation is devoted to the carrying of foods. Carrying food in the United States. The quan- tity of food material carried by the railroads of the United States is so vast that it staggers the imagi- nation. In a single year more than 116,084,000 tons of foodstuffs were hauled over the railways of this country. Of this startling total more than 52,000,- 000 tons were grain. Of animal products almost 30,000,000 tons were transported by rail. This mighty burden may be separated into four classes: 15,000,000 tons of live stock, 2,500,000 tons of dressed meats, 2,500,000 tons of other packing- house products, and 9,000,000 tons of poultry, eggs, milk, fish, and game. In the same year our railroads carried more than 17,000,000 tons of fruits and vegetables and 9,000,000 tons of flour. THE JOURNEYS OF FOODS 23 If you wish to get a better understanding of the great task of carrying food, take your pencil and Humphries Photo Co. Hauling cabbage to market by wagon. Garden products for near-by cities are largely carried by wagon and motor truck reduce these tons to pounds. But you must not for- get that a considerable amount of the foodstuffs used or produced in this country are not shipped by rail at all, but carried by wagon, by truck, and by boat. Care in shipping foods. In railway and steam- ship advertisements we are constantly reminded of the comforts of travel provided for passengers. Few, however, realize that foods receive almost as good care as people in modern transportation. For example, many kinds of foods are shipped from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast in specially made express cars which are attached to passenger trains and run on fast-time schedules. The cost of building one of the " passenger express refrigerator" cars is offi- cially stated to be not far from forty-five hundred 24 THE STORY OF FOODS dollars. The California shipper who fills one of these cars with butter and ships it to New York or Icing a "passenger express refrigerator" car with an automatic chain ice conveyor Philadelphia does so at an express charge of about one thousand dollars. Butter, however, is an especially heavy food and therefore expensive to ship. The cost of shipping a car of this type filled with fruits or vegetables from the Pacific to the Atlantic usually runs from six hundred to eight hundred dollars for the trip by this fast service. Table grapes, cantaloupes, cherries, asparagus, and many vegetables are thus sent by the carload across the continent when they could not be successfully carried so long a distance under ordinary trans- portation conditions. Special cars for special foods. Almost every food has peculiarities which must be carefully provided THE JOURNEYS OF FOODS 25 for by those undertaking to transport it a long distance and deliver it at the end of the journey in good condition. Of many foods it may be said that if the temperature is too low they frost; if too high, they sweat. These extremes are carefully guarded against. Some fruits are more successfully carried when cooled by ventilation than by refrig- eration. This is especially true of the more delicate berries. The most important types of special food cars are those made for carrying fresh beef, cured meats, fruits and vegetables requiring ventilation, fruits and vegetables demanding refrigeration, bananas, fish and oysters, pickles, potatoes, dairy products, mineral waters, maize products, cottonseed oil, molasses, cattle, hogs and sheep, live poultry. Big Loading ventilator cars with fruit and vegetables from the great truck gardens of the South for the long journey to northern markets shippers have found it profitable to develop a dis- tinct type of car for every food named in this list. 26 THE STORY OF FOODS The banana and mineral water cars are especially frost proof; the fresh-meat car has racks for hanging Interior of a special fresh-meat car. In these cars the halves of beef are hung upon racks halves of beef; the cars for pickles, maize products, cottonseed oil, and molasses are tank cars. In a word, each car named has some distinct feature which especially fits it for the safe transportation of some special kind of food product. Taking care of small shipments. This work of perfecting the means of carrying foods to the highest point of efficiency does not stop with the building of special freight and express cars. Not all food shipments can be made in full car lots. This means that many devices have been invented to take care THE JOURNEYS OF FOODS 27 of small shipments. For instance, there is the "pony refrigerator" for the carrying of delicate fruits in ordinary express cars. This is lined with zinc and is much like a large house refrigerator. The earliest California cherries, for example, are quite generally shipped to the Atlantic seaboard in these cars. One of the simplest but most useful devices for the carrying of highly perishable foods in small quantities, thus far developed, is a patent box, made in many sizes, the especial feature of which is a shal- low tray of cheap tin, which fits into the top of the One of the simple devices for shipping small packages of perishable foods. The small baskets as well as the hamper are lined with green paraffin paper box after the foodstuff has been packed. This tray has a drain spout which runs outside to carry off the 28 THE STORY OF FOODS water from the ice with which the tray is filled. When the box has reached its destination the tray is thrown away. Preparing vegetables for shipment. Spinach, from California and Texas, affords a good example of the special preparation which many foods require before being sent on a long journey. When they come in from the fields, the loads of spinach look like heaps of wilted weeds. They are given a bath in tanks of ice-cold water. This not only loosens the dirt, which settles to the bottom of the tank, but it revives the plants to the point of crispness. Then the greens are packed in hampers with a small piece of ice in the center and chipped ice on the top. Finally, the hampers are placed in ventilator cars and the spinach seldom fails to arrive in a tempting condition. Almost every dining table has some food on it which has required special treatment or special carrying provision that it might make its journey from the place of its origin in a tempting and acceptable condition. Perhaps no better example of this can be cited than the banana. Shipping bananas. In Costa Rica, between Vera Cruz and Colon, is Puerto Limon, the capital of what might well be called the Banana Kingdom. From here about fourteen million bunches of bananas are shipped every year, going to all parts of the civilized world. All the bananas are cut or selected according to the length and character of the journey which they must make. In other words, it will not do for any bananas in a shipment to become over-ripe before their destination is reached, because one bad bunch will spoil hundreds of others in the cargo. THE JOURNEYS OF FOODS 29 One banana ship carries fifty thousand bunches of bananas in its hold. They are loaded by means of Courtesy of United Fruit Co. Loading a banana ship by means of a mechanical conveyor. The fruit, carefully selected according to the length of its journey, will be placed in rooms cooled by fans and refrigeration pipes mechanical conveyors and are received into rooms already cooled to the right temperature by a system of refrigeration pipes and large centrifugal fans. This system keeps the cargo both cool and dry. "Banana messengers." When the fruit steamer reaches its port the bananas are quickly transferred to cars properly refrigerated, or, perhaps, to cold storage rooms in a great fruit warehouse. A man is sent with every banana train to see that the bananas are kept in the best possible condition until delivered into the hands of the customers of the fruit company. These " banana messengers" must inspect the cars at division points, record the temperature, and take 30 THE STORY OF FOODS the proper measures to cope with weather conditions in the territory through which the cars must travel. These cars are made so that they may be heated as quickly as cooled. At certain points they are in- spected by resident " banana messengers" who check the work done by the men sent with the train. The United States receives each year, by this remarkable method of transportation, almost fifty million bunches of bananas. Whenever you see a bunch of bananas you can scarcely forget its wonderfully interesting journey from Central America to the cellar of the dealer in "the States" — a trip which has been personally conducted with as much care as if the bunch of bananas had been one of a number of human passengers. Fish shipped alive. The lakes and rivers of Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa abound in fish which are carried alive from their native waters and delivered to the cities of the East as lively and squirming as when they were first caught. While they are by no means the choicest kinds of fish, being mainly buffalo and carp, they are a boon to the people who buy them because they are sold at a cheap price and delivered in prime condition. The cars in which these fish are carried alive are furnished with large tanks through which run small pipes pierced with many tiny holes. Jets of air are constantly forced through these holes by means of an electrical air pump. By this device, it is pos- sible to carry many fish in a tank and keep them in a good, lively condition to the end of the journey. Old and new ways of distributing fish. In con- tinental Europe fast fish trains distribute this food throughout that country in a most systematic and THE JOURNEYS OF FOODS 31 economical way, very unlike the way fish were deliv- ered in Austria a quarter of a century ago. At that time enormous tanks of water containing fish were hauled by from four to eight horses from Russia to Austria. Thousands of these fish were thus deliv- ered alive to the various towns and sold in the public markets. As these towns were about fifteen miles apart, to take the fish from one town to another meant an all-day journey. By this expensive method, fish naturally became a luxury instead of the poor man's food as it is to-day. Primitive methods of carrying food. The means by which foods are carried in countries where primi- tive conditions still exist are as interesting as they are varied and picturesque. The most primitive Brown Bros. Women of Jamaica carrying fruits and vegetables to market of all methods of transportation is the carrying of burdens by human beings. In nearly every country 32 THE STORY OF FOODS or region which might be classed as barbarous or semi-civilized, a distinct method of human burden Brown Bros. Rice growers in Java transporting grain by means of shoulder poles bearing has been developed. In Jamaica, for in- stance, market day finds long processions of women going to town with baskets loaded with vegetables and fruits nicely poised on their heads. This is really the characteristic way in which foods make their first journeys in all parts of the torrid zone. Many ingenious things have been devised by man to enable him to carry greater burdens. Many laborers among Old World peoples use various forms of what the pioneer American farmer called the "neckyoke." This is a pole from each end of which THE JOURNEYS OF FOODS 33 a burden may be suspended. In Java, for instance, the natives carry rice to market by means of shoul- der poles of the simplest kind. Journeying by water. Naturally water transpor- tation is the most popular and the cheapest wherever it can be used, because it involves the least outlay of effort or power for the size of the burden carried. Rafts, canoes, boats, and ferries of many kinds are used for the forwarding of foods. But the most novel food craft that ever rode the waters is the coconut raft (see page 424) , which looks like a huge circular mat made of unhusked nuts. Pack animals as carriers. Where animal power is employed to transport foods, the "pack" is the Courtesy of United Fruit Co. From the faraway plantations of Central America, pack mules carry to waiting steamships many thousand bunches of bananas destined for American tables most primitive form of placing the burden. The principal pack animals are the mule, the burro, the 34 THE STORY OF FOODS horse, the camel, and the llama of the Andes. All these animals are extensively used to "pack" foods to and from remote and inaccessible points. The camel is the "ship of the desert" for the warmer parts of the Old World countries of Asia and Africa. In America the mule is the great mountain climber. The donkey is the almost universal burden bearer in the Old World and the New, and the pack horse is almost as common and as widely distributed. If these animals did not carry food to miners, settlers, and others of the "advance guard of civili- zation," a large part of the world's pioneering would be impossible. If they did not bring foods from out-of-the-way places, many of our most pleas- ing foods would be much scarcer than they are now. Journeying by cart and sled. The two-wheeled cart is probably the most typical vehicle for carrying foods in the old-fashioned way. The style of the Hauling wheat to market, Nairobi, Africa cart varies with the place or region of its origin. The very simplest type of cart is that used in the THE JOURNEYS OF FOODS 35 Philippines for hauling rice. The wheels are solid discs of wood and the " box " merely a rough platform. J _^^0. J s ^Bn! - Carrying supplies in Alaska by dog train Brown Bros * The next stage in the development of the cart is typified by the wheat carts of Nairobi, British East Africa, drawn by the quaint humpbacked oxen of that region. The wheels are of wood, being heavy rims held in place by four crude spokes or cross braces. This vehicle has a somewhat elaborate box. Dogs harnessed to carts haul much of the food in the Old World. In the Far North the sled is the common means of conveying food. In Lapland the sled is drawn by reindeer, in Alaska by dogs, and in Siberia or Iceland by hardy little ponies. Motor truck and automobile. The motor truck and the automobile trailer are the latest and most im- proved means of food transportation. These modern carriers have almost revolutionized the bringing of foods from the field to the near-by markets. If we were suddenly deprived of them we should be made to feel their importance far more than we do now. Chapter III WHEAT The world's harvest time. This is harvest time for wheat! Not a day passes in which wheat is not being harvested somewhere. Perhaps it is on the pampas of South America or the steppes of Siberia, but somewhere the sun will set to-night upon a harvest scene; somewhere the golden grain is falling Harvest time in Kansas. Every day throughout the year a harvest field like this may be seen somewhere in the world beneath the sickle or reaper. Somewhere, too, wheat is being planted to-day. When the wheat fields of Dakota are covered with snow, the men of the Argentine are threshing wheat; and when winter grips Patagonia, a harvest moon shines upon the grain fields of Scandinavia. As we are sowing wheat in the United States it is being 36 WHEAT 37 harvested in the valley of the Nile, and as the Egyptians sow wheat the grain is being cut by Russians in Siberia. Thus we see that the process of the world's wheat production is an unbroken cycle. A Calendar of the World's Wheat Harvests January June (cont.) Australia United States (cont.) : Chile Kentucky New Zealand Mississippi Missouri February and March North Carolina Egypt (upper) Oklahoma India Oregon Tennessee April Utah Asia Minor Virginia Cuba Washington Cyprus Egypt (lower) July India Austria-Hungary Mexico Bulgaria Persia Canada: Syria Quebec England (southern) May Germany Algeria Roumania Asia (central) Russia (southern) China Switzerland Japan United States: Morocco Colorado United States: Illinois Texas Indiana Iowa June Michigan France (southern) Minnesota (southern) Greece Nebraska Italy New York Portugal Ohio Spain Pennsylvania Turkey (European) Wisconsin United States: Alabama August Arkansas Belgium California Canada: Georgia Alberta Illinois British Columbia Kansas Manitoba WHEAT 39 August (cont.) September and October Canada (cont.): Norway- Ontario Russia (northern) Saskatchewan Siberia Denmark Scotland Great Britain Sweden Russia (central) Poland November The Netherlands Africa (southern) United States: Argentine Minnesota (central Peru and northern) Montana December New England Burma North Dakota New South Wales South Dakota Wheat a universal product. Wheat grows on every continent, and, to some extent, is cultivated in every civilized country. Distinctively the white man's food, it may be called the universal food of the Caucasian race. Not only is wheat eaten chiefly by the Caucasian, but he has taken it with him wherever he has migrated. He has bred wheat to meet local conditions everywhere, although it has been found wild only in the temperate zone. Wheat was the chief crop of ancient Egypt and there is reason to believe that its cultivation antedated the Pharaohs. To-day this grain is cultivated on every continent and on all important islands of the seas. There are wheat fields in Canada less than six hundred miles from the arctic circle and in India within the torrid zone. Civilization and the culture of wheat. The cul- ture of wheat may be considered as a sign indicating the march of civilization. It should be noted that from the beginning of history the greatest wheat production has meant the balance of power among the nations. At least the strongest nations have 40 THE STORY OF FOODS always been the great wheat producers. Far back in the early ages when wheat was the chief crop of ancient Egypt, her power was as wonderful as her civilization. The ancient Romans at the height of their power valued their granaries almost as highly as they did their armies. Many other examples might be cited to show that civilization, national power, and the cultivation and use of wheat have always been closely associated. While England raises only a small fraction of the wheat needed to feed her people, among the posses- sions of the British Empire are to be found millions of acres of wheat land. It is fair to-day to call the United States the leading wheat-growing country of the world, but the time is near at hand when she must increase her production in order to provide enough for her own people. Origin of wheat unknown. No one knows the age of wheat. History refuses to give us the date of its origin. We are told that the Chinese used wheat for food twenty-seven hundred years before the Christian era and that it has been known on the uplands of Syria and in the valley of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers for ages. Traces of buried wheat have been found in ancient tombs of Egypt, in the prehistoric lake dwellings of Switzerland, and in cer- tain regions of Asia. But it is impossible to deter- mine the exact age of wheat. Ancient history freely mentions the plow and speaks familiarly of cereals, among which is wheat. In fact, the oldest countries are those which seem most closely connected with this world-wide food. Methods of cultivation. Wheat has been grown in the valley of the Nile for many ages. Each year WHEAT 41 the people are putting more intelligent effort into the cultivation of this grain. Even the modern tractor Plowing on the upland plains of Palestine. Notice the crude plows is occasionally seen in Egypt doing the work done centuries ago by the slaves of the ancient Pharaohs. But modern methods of sowing, cultivating, harvest- ing, threshing, transporting, and grinding wheat are not consistently practiced the world over. In parts of Syria and Russia the people are still content to use the same crude implements for cultivating and harvesting wheat that were used in Egypt and Rome thousands of years ago. Yet Russia is to-day the second largest wheat-raising country in the world, ranking next to the United States in the production 42 THE STORY OF FOODS of that grain. In some years the Russian wheat harvests have even surpassed those of this country. Harvesting on the steppes of Siberia. Here camels furnish the motive power for an American reaper Growing wheat in Russia. Wheat is produced in both European and Asiatic Russia, but the great bulk of the wheat lands lie in the so-called Black Earth district of Southern Russia. This enormous plain, probably in its depth of soil unequaled any- where else on the face of the globe, yields, under almost primitive conditions of cultivation, much more wheat than is consumed in Russia. This sur- plus grain is sold in Western Europe, where not enough wheat is raised to feed the people. Poland, once an independent kingdom, is another great wheat-producing section of Russia. On the vast steppes of Siberia there are many wheat farms, and here may be seen modern Ameri- can farm machinery of every kind. Harvesters and WHEAT 4?, binders manufactured in the United States are used throughout this part of Russia, with camels serving as the motive power. Russia also employs modern oil and steam tractors which do the work of many horses. In fact, in all parts of the world one may see modern American power tractors at work where once slaves, camels, elephants, zebus, oxen, or horses furnished the driving power. Sowing and harvesting in many lands. The sowing and harvesting of wheat differ widely in the various countries. In America machinery replaces man wherever possible, but in some parts of Russia, India, Egypt, Algeria, Palestine, and China the peasants and natives still cling to the crude ways of their forefathers. Many of them are too poor to buy machinery and others know too little of modern methods to use it. There are still many Courtesy of International Harvester Co. Harvesting wheat with the sickle in Algeria. Modern implements are gradually being introduced throughout the country countries where wheat is sown by hand, harvested with a small hand sickle or a heavy "cradle," 44 THE STORY OF FOODS bound by hand, and then threshed with the old- fashioned hand flail. But the parts of the world Courtesy of International Harvester Co. Threshing wheat in Egypt. This is one of the Old World countries where the methods and implements of bygone centuries are still in use where one may see the implements of bygone cen- turies in use are becoming fewer each year. Yet the ancient wooden plow — little more than a crooked stick — is still used to some extent in Syria, India, and China, while the implements of WHEAT 45 the Japanese are often as crude as were those of their forefathers. But we do not have to go to Old World lands to find ancient methods and ancient tools employed in wheat culture. Within twenty miles of Albu- querque, New Mexico, and in other places in the Southwest, we may see Indians raising wheat and corn under these same primitive conditions. Looking back at one of the oldest countries we see India, with more than three times as many people as there are in the United States, farming by methods almost as far behind the times as those of the ancient Romans. There are, of course, certain regions in India where the progressive Briton has introduced modern farming methods, but as a whole the country is using the methods and implements of long ago. In the fields of India the buffalo, zebu, camel, ele- phant, and ox may still be found hitched to the ancient wooden plow. There, too, one may see hand sowing and hand harvesting and, at threshing time, the old-fashioned hand flail. The wheat farms of the United States offer the best example of the modern way of raising this grain. Vast farms, many of them containing thou- sands of acres, are plowed by great tractor engines pulling as many as eight plows behind them. On some of these farms the plows are followed by the harrows and these in turn by the seeders, so that in one day, and at the same time, many acres of land are plowed, harrowed, and planted to wheat. Perhaps nowhere else in the world does the wheat crop depend so much upon the whims of the weather as it does in India. Here seeding time is usually followed by long, heavy rains and storms called 46 THE STORY OF FOODS monsoons. When, for any reason, these tropical storms lack strength or the rainy season is shortened, the wheat crop of India fails, and this failure usually means famine. We hear many sad stories of great famines in India, when hundreds and thousands of natives die for want of food. Storing and shipping wheat. The handling and transportation of wheat have likewise undergone many changes. As in planting and harvesting, our methods of handling and transportation are the most advanced of all the world. Practically every wheat farm in the United States is equipped with modern machinery, and every farming center has its ele- vators for storing and shipping grain. The railroads of this country are equipped with every known device to facilitate the handling and transportation of grain. Distribution of worlds wheat crop. Few coun- tries in the world raise more than enough wheat to feed their own people. Russia, the countries of the Danubian plain, the United States, the Argentine, Canada, Australia, and India always have wheat for sale. The United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Belgium, Italy, France, and Brazil must all import a considerable part of the wheat or wheat flour they use. Algeria was originally the granary of Rome. The Moors who later conquered it were not wheat eaters and as a result the growing of wheat in Algeria practically ceased. But in recent years, this crop has been re-established by the French government. The world's crop of wheat is about 4,000,000,000 bushels. The United States furnishes about one fifth of the world's supply of wheat. By far the WHEAT 47 greatest part of our wheat is consumed at home. In normal years we export on an average 150,000,- 000 bushels of wheat, including that ground into flour, while Russia under normal conditions exports Courtesy of International Harvester Co. Wheat ready for shipment. A familiar scene at Odessa, Russia, the leading seaport of the Black Sea more than 170,000,000 bushels and the Argentine sells to other countries more than 90,000,000 bushels. The world's consumption of wheat is advancing steadily. The rate of increase is about 100,000,000 bushels a year. 48 THE STORY OF FOODS Under normal conditions the United Kingdom is compelled to import about 220,000,000 bushels of wheat and flour a year, and Germany must import about 80,000,000 bushels. The Netherlands finds it necessary to buy from other countries approximately 20,000,000 bushels of wheat and flour a year and Belgium about 50,000,000 bushels. In fact, every country in Europe, with the exception of Russia, Bulgaria, and Roumania, must look to foreign lands for a large part of its wheat supply. China does not raise wheat enough for each in- habitant to have even a small amount, but uses rice instead. In Japan, however, about 1,250,000 acres of land are given over to the raising of wheat and the yearly crop totals about 27,000,000 bushels. This indicates that the average Japanese farmer raises 21.5 bushels of wheat to the acre. Results of intensified farming. In the United States the harvests average only 14 bushels of wheat to the acre. But in England and Germany intensified farming by a lavish use of fertilizer has been developed to such a degree that the farmers are able to produce an average of more than 30 bushels of wheat per acre. Intensified farming is also practiced in some of our states, the yield in Maine and Vermont having averaged as high as 29.7 and 29.3 bushels to the acre. If all the land available for wheat were to be farmed under the method employed in England and Germany, the annual yield of wheat would stagger the imagination. But it is equally true that if all the land now devoted to wheat were to be farmed as land is farmed in some parts of Russia, the whole world would experience a famine in wheat such as WHEAT 49 occurred in Russia in 1891 and 1892. Then thou- sands of Russians starved to death. That famine taught Russia a lesson and since then she has been doing much to improve her agricultural conditions. Wheat industry employs many people. Every- where a multitude of men and women are earning their living by working with wheat or wheat prod- ucts. Every day huge ships loaded with wheat go back and forth across the oceans, and long trains ^^fffi A <>> (SS Courtesy of International Harvester Co. Hauling wheat to market across the pampas of the Argentine loaded with this grain move across the various countries. Every day millions and millions of dol- lars are spent for wheat. Perhaps the wheat which furnished the flour your mother baked into bread to-day came from a farm thousands of miles away. The wheat that enters into the food set before the English child may have traveled many miles in a wagon or an automobile; it may have ridden in a great cart over the pampas of the Argentine; it may have been carried by ship and hauled in freight cars. This wheat may have been 50 THE STORY OF FOODS planted, harvested, threshed, and handled in the old-fashioned, laborious manner followed in some parts of Russia and India, or it may have been pro- duced on one of our great, modern, up-to-date farms. If it were not for the men who devoted their lives to the study of how to grow, handle, and store wheat, you and I might often go hungry for bread. But the great grain experts worked faithfully at the task and gradually developed the modern elevator, in which wheat can be safely stored for many years. However, the crops that are now raised each year make it unnecessary to store wheat for use in future years and these elevators are used only to hold the wheat until the mills are ready to make it into flour. Flour the chief wheat product. While some wheat is eaten unbroken or in its natural state, by far the largest part of it is turned into flour which in turn is made into various foods, such as bread and pas- tries. Then, too, a great deal of wheat is made into what is known as breakfast foods. Macaroni. Next to bread and pastries, macaroni is one of the most popular foods made from wheat flour. Since the introduction from Russia, about 1900, of " durum" wheat, and still more since the European War increased the difficulty of procuring macaroni from Italy, the macaroni industry in this country has grown at a surprising rate. By the use of air currents and other devices, Italy's great climatic advantage of being naturally suited to dry- ing macaroni has been overcome. The manufac- turers now make artificial climates within their works that are under almost perfect control. Macaroni is made in many different forms, the most familiar being macaroni, spaghetti, vermicelli, and the fancy WHEAT 51 letter and star shapes. It is highly nutritious, exceeding in food value both bread and beefsteak. Brown Bros. One of the most popular foods made from flour is macaroni. The dough is pressed through holes in the machine, coming out in long strings which are cut to the desired length and hung up to dry Wheat on our bill-of-fare. Wheat flour appears on our bill-of-fare in many different forms. In fact, so wide is the range of its uses that at one meal it may appear on your table as an ingredient in half a dozen different dishes. For instance, if we were to consider how many ways it entered into our dinner we should probably find that we would have first of all, with our soup, crackers made from wheat flour; with our fish perhaps a sauce containing wheat flour and toast made from wheat flour bread. Then of course there would be wheat bread and perhaps macaroni made entirely of durum wheat flour. 52 THE STORY OF FOODS With the roast we might have Yorkshire (wheat flour) pudding, or maybe there would be a fowl with Brown Bros. In the harvest fields of Australia dressing made of wheat bread. Our pies, our cakes, and our puddings would all draw heavily upon the wheat supply. Possibly instead of coffee or tea we might prefer a cereal drink containing wheat. A great factor at the athletic training table is plain boiled wheat and milk. When at your dinner table to-night you spread a layer of golden butter over a slice of bread you will be adding the last link to one of the greatest business chains in the world to-day. The story of a bushel of wheat from the time it ripens at the end of a waving stalk in the warm sunshine until it is eaten as cereal, bread, cake, or pastry, is as inter- esting as the story of Robinson Crusoe. The harvest. When the wheat is ready to har- vest, many binders are sent clicking across the broad fields, cutting the grain, tying it in bundles, and WHEAT 53 dropping it on the ground. Harvest hands follow these binders, pick up the bundles of wheat, and set them up in shocks. Later to the fields come the threshing outfits with their crews, and the bundles of wheat are fed to the buzzing separator. As the grain is separated from the stalks it runs out into sacks and the stalks are blown out through a long pipe into a rapidly mounting pile of straw and chaff. The sacked wheat is then carried to a near-by elevator where it is weighed and put into storage. But not all the wheat is put into sacks ; sometimes it is brought to the elevators in great tank wagons and dumped into a receiving bin. It is then elevated by chain cups or suction to a storage bin from where it is loaded through chutes into big grain cars. The grain is carried in these cars to large roller mills and converted into flour. Flour milling. The history of making wheat into flour is long and contains many interesting stories, none of which, perhaps, is more interesting than one connected with spring wheat. Although only a bare half century since the superior qualities of this grain have been utilized, to spring wheat alone is due the beginning of the wonderful prosperity of the Northwest. And the secret behind this lies in the processes of milling. Spring wheat is especially rich in gluten, an element highly valuable in bread making. But under the old processes of milling, which reduced the grain to flour at one grinding, the bran — which is coarser in spring wheat — remained in the flour, discolored it, absorbed moisture, and caused it to spoil. Under a new process of succes- sive milling, this dark-colored bran was removed. Then spring wheat came into its own. The vast 54 THE STORY OF FOODS prairies of the Northwest were turned into fields of wheat, stretching for miles in every direction, and A group of Minneapolis flour mills where thirty thousand barrels of flour are made each day thus Minneapolis became the great flour-milling center of the world. The value of the wheat depends upon the qual- ity of the flour it produces. For this reason the United States government has maintained mills and laboratories where the exact milling qualities of each species of wheat can be determined. Then the farmers plant the variety of wheat on which the government reports most favorably. The chief types of wheat are known as hard, semi-hard, and WHEAT 55 soft, red, white, and durum or macaroni. Wheat is also known as spring and winter, but this depends upon the time of planting. The milling qualities of these wheats vary and for that reason the price also varies. As with the production of wheat, no one knows how long man has been making it into flour, or similar products. The crushed wheat of prehistoric man was very different from the fine flour made in our great modern mills. The ignorant savage who lived centuries before the Christian era could not produce with the aid of unhewn stones a flour similar to that made by the skilled workmen who operate the complicated machinery of the modern mill. But as man advanced so did his methods of grinding wheat. For many ages, the natives of all countries ground wheat between stones. Invention of the saddle-stone grinder. The first step toward modern milling was taken when the saddle-stone grinder was invented. This was used by the ancient Greeks, Romans, Swiss, and Egyp- tians. China and other Asiatic countries also ground their wheat with this device and it is even now in use in some parts of the world. The natives in certain regions of Africa resort to the same methods of grinding their meal as were in use in the time of Abraham. The saddle stone consisted of two stones, the upper of which fitted into the hollowed top of the lower. The wheat or other grain to be ground was put into the hollow of the bottom stone and the upper stone was rocked backward and forward until the grain was reduced to a coarse meal. From the time of the first saddle stone to the present era of steel rollers the process of making 56 THE STORY OF FOODS meal and flour from grain has undergone many changes. Centuries of progress can be traced by the various develop- ments of the flouring mill. Yet to-day prac- tically every kind of grain reducer, from the saddle stones of the Egyptians to the mod- ern tempered steel roll- ers, is in use somewhere . Family and state mills. In olden days the work of the miller was done by women and slaves, each fam- ily grinding its own meal. At that time there were no public mills and every house Women of Palestine grinding flour with a quern had its own saddle stone and its quern. Finally in Rome state mills were established and in these labored slaves and criminals. Oxen shared the labor with slaves. It was also the practice to put prisoners captured at war to work in the mills. The Roman mills were increased in size and gradually improved. Introduction of the public mill. A little later the use of public mills was extended, and throughout almost all the civilized world the people were com- pelled to bring their grain to these public mills and pay a heavy toll for the grinding. The poor people much preferred to do their own grinding with their rude little querns. But the landlords and public officials, greedy for the toll, used harsh methods to WHEAT 57 prevent the people from making meal or flour. Many times the homes were raided and the little mills destroyed or carried away. Later types of mills. The water-power mill soon appeared, followed by the windmill. But it was many years before the steam-driven flour mill came into use. The water-driven mill was operated by the Romans before the birth of Christ and the wind- mill was introduced into England about 1200 a.d. d & Underwood, N. Y. One method of grinding wheat in Manchuria, a region rivaling the United States in land area adapted to spring wheat It was not until 1784 that the first steam-power mill was established in London. Recently mills operated by electricity have been erected. 58 THE STORY OF FOODS Undoubtedly the finest example of a Dutch wind- mill in America stands on the banks of the Fox River at Geneva, about thirty-five miles west of Chicago, Illinois. It is part of the equip- ment of Riverbank Villa, the extensive es- tate of Colonel George B. Fabyan. It is seventy-five feet high and can grind one hun- dred and fifty bushels of wheat into flour in eight hours of good wind pressure. This quaint mill, which looks as if it might have been trans- planted from Holland, was built in 1876 near r \ ^ A ffili ^^^ SSbbS"^. " jA i ... w| ^ . 4 : / $ v i ,jf 4* ^mi him Courtesy of Colonel Ceorge B. Fabyan An old windmill of Dutch type at Geneva, Illinois Elmhurst, Illinois, by two brothers from the land of dykes. In 1915 it was taken apart and its pieces hauled by wagon a distance of nearly twenty miles to its present site. Old-fashioned burr stones are used in this mill and it grinds wheat, corn, and various other small grains. At the present time the most economical method of grinding is by water power, but it is only in cer- tain places that sufficient power can be obtained. Minneapolis, Minnesota, which is the greatest mill- ing center in the world, uses the power furnished by the St. Anthony falls of the Mississippi River. To-day in the great mills of America and Europe WHEAT 59 thousands and thousands of barrels of flour are ground daily between sets of tempered steel rollers. These grind the grain until it is reduced to a fine dust, known as our commercial flour. When you visit a great roller mill, and hear the whirr of the many busy machines, it will be interesting to recall what you have learned about the grinding stones of earlier days. You may think of the rude stones used by the savages, the saddle stones of the ancient Romans, the little querns of the poor people of Europe; the old water mills, in use for centuries, and still grinding wheat for the peasants; the picturesque Dutch wind- mills; the great modern steam and electric mills. Then you will realize how many years it has taken 5/. Anthony Falls, which furnish the water power that has made Minneapolis the greatest milling center in the world the world to develop machinery that will convert wheat into the fine white flour of to-day. Chapter IV OTHER GRAINS A prehistoric food. The history of grain is as old as the history of man. Even our corn, although still unknown to most Europeans, has an origin reaching back into prehistoric times. Columbus found it widely cultivated by the Indians, but its use dates far back of 1492. There are evidences of its cultiva- tion by the Mound Builders and it has been found Papa go Indian woman of Arizona grinding corn on metate stone — the most primitive method known stored among the ruins of the Cliff Dwellers. No one knows when and how corn was obtained by the Indians. But it is from them that corn derived its name. Corn is the biblical term for all grains and the word is still used in this sense in England. When an Englishman wishes to speak of our corn he says "maize" or "Indian corn." 60 OTHER GRAINS 61 Varied uses of corn as a table food. Corn deserves a prominent place among table cereals. Green corn, usually eaten on the cob, and canned corn are the forms best known to those who live in the city. These are commonly " sweet corn." But the large, hard yellow or white ears of "field corn," which rejoice the hearts of many thousands of farm- ers throughout our country, are not by any means all destined to be used as feed for stock. Of the 3,000,000,000 bushels of corn raised in this country in a year many thousands of bushels are made into corn meal and hominy. These are staple foods in America, served daily on our tables as mush, "hasty pudding," muffins, johnny cake, and corn bread. A few years ago the United States each year sold a limited amount of corn in Europe. In years when the price was low at home and corn could be sold in competition with the cheaper stock foods of the world, the quantity sold in Europe was somewhat important. The value of corn as food for man has been little appreciated, even in our own country. It contains all the elements necessary for the sustenance of the body, furnishing heat, energy, and maintenance of life to an extent equal to that of any other cereal. It also has the advantage of a high rate of yield and a comparatively low cost of production. There are many countries in the world where the food value of corn is unknown, and where the grain is considered suitable only for stock feed. European nations, however, are rapidly becoming acquainted with the true value of this substantial food. At the Paris Exposition of 1900 the United States commission maintained for six months what was known as the American Corn Kitchen. This was OTHER GRAINS 63 done at the suggestion of a few men familiar with the food value of corn. In this kitchen were cooked and served many samples of food of which corn formed the basis. Thousands upon thousands visited the corn kitchen and in this way many Europeans were taught the value of corn as a table food. The same exposition contained an exhibit which demonstrated the fact that in corn America possesses a product with as wide a range of usefulness to the human race as that claimed for the bamboo. This Corn Plant (Maize) Eir Corn ;a|k Breakfast food Glutin Hills Stock|foo( Husks MJts FJiel St ittk Pijh ESL Packing in war So|ap Corn oil X Cooking and Sala'd oil 'Jints jbber substitute and meal food Ladndry Syrup Dext?- From Robinson's "Commercial Geography." After Corn Products Mfg. Co. data Industrial uses of the corn plant exhibit contained sixty distinct articles of commerce, all true products of Indian corn. It included among other things meals, flours, starches, sugars, oils, rubber substitutes, and cellulose. Originally it was thought that field corn could not be successfully grown in the extreme northern states. But now it is raised as far north as Minne- sota and the Dakotas, and both sweet and field corn may be found growing in many parts of Canada. The only real rival our country has as a corn- growing state is the Argentine. In that country in 64 THE STORY OF FOODS the neighborhood of the Parana River there is a large area which by reason of soil and climate is wonder- fully adapted to the growing of this grain. As very little corn is used in any form in the Argentine, a large part of the crop, which now exceeds 300,000,000 bushels a year, is available for sale to the importing countries of the world. The value of corn to the people of our own coun- try can scarcely be estimated. Its direct use on our bill-of-fare in the form of green corn or canned corn is trifling compared with its use in the form of beef, pork, mutton, poultry, milk, butter, cheese, and eggs. As a food for animals and fowls it is the basis of all meat products in this country. While corn has always played an important part in dairying, its usefulness in the production of milk has been Scene on a dairy farm. The use of the silo has greatly increased the importance of corn in the production of milk multiplied many times since the silo has become general throughout the dairy districts. When field OTHER GRAINS 65 corn is cut into ensilage or is shredded, all of the corn plant except the stump and roots is consumed. The American canning industry draws largely upon sweet corn. In a single year more than 240,- 000,000 cans of this splendid food are put up by the canners of this country. Millions of dollars' worth of various commercial products are made from the field corn of this country each year. Among these are sirups, starches, glu- cose, sugars, and various dextrines, or gum saps. Oats a popular breakfast food. Practically every one of you finds on your breakfast table, at least once a week, and perhaps seven times a week, our modern descendants of "porridge." To our grand- parents there was but one food made from oats and that was oatmeal mush or "porridge." Grand- mother would take her basket to the store and buy so many pounds of oatmeal, which the grocer would take out of a barrel with an old-fashioned wooden scoop and weigh into a paper bag. To-day table oats are handled in a very different way. There are as many varieties of foods made of oats as you have fingers and toes. Perhaps the rolled oats are now most widely known. These are put up in sacks, barrels, cartons, and cans of various shapes and sizes ranging from one pound to one hundred and eighty pounds. While there are many other kinds of cereal and patented breakfast foods sold, yet it is said that the United States consumes as food about 1,750,000 barrels, or 315,000,000 pounds, of oats a year. Be- sides this many million bushels of oats — by far the greater part of the world's crop — each year are fed to live stock. 66 THE STORY OF FOODS America the greatest producer. With an average annual yield of more than a billion bushels, the Courtesy of Interna tioiial Harvester Co. A Wisconsin oat field. The oats raised in Wisconsin are among the finest in the world United States is the largest producer of oats in the world; Russia ranks second, Germany third, and Canada fourth. Like wheat, oats can be raised in almost every country and are, perhaps, even hardier than wheat. In America oats are grown in all the northern and western states. The South produces a small quan- tity, but the oats from that section are used almost entirely as stock food. The finest oats are said to be raised in Canada and in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Dakotas. Iowa and Illinois are the greatest oat-producing states in the Union. Oats are raised in Alaska, but only for stock feeding. Exports to other countries. Oats are shipped yearly from the United States to every civilized coun- try on the face of the globe, and to some not civilized. OTHER GRAINS 67 Because of the wide range of the distribution of American oats it would be possible for oats harvested from the same acre in Iowa to be eaten in several different countries and by people of several different races. One pound of oats from an Iowa field might be eaten in China by the yellow man, another in Africa by the black man, another in the West by the red man, and another in Norway by the white man. Oats off the same acre in Minnesota might be eaten by the fisher folk of Iceland and the sheep raisers of Australia. While we raise more oats than any other country, we are at times compelled to import them. Our importations are mostly from Canada, although occasionally we buy some from the Argentine. Where rye is grown. Rye belongs to the wheat family. It is very hardy and will thrive under con- ditions too poor for most other grains. It succeeds best in a cool, moist climate. This grain furnishes food for an enormous part of the world's population, but probably has a smaller distribution than any other cultivated grain. The world's production of rye, roughly speaking, is about one half as great as that of wheat. More than one half the total yield of rye is grown in Russia, where almost 800,000,000 bushels of this grain are produced yearly. Rye is the standard bread grain of the peasants of that country, who eat this cheaper grain and sell their wheat abroad. Next to Russia, Germany grows the largest amount of rye, producing about one half as much as Russia, or about one fourth of the world's supply. In the United States the rye crop is the smallest cereal crop grown, amounting to about 40,000,000 bushels a year. Very little rye 68 THE STORY OF FOODS rye is produced in the countries outside of Eastern Europe — Russia, Germany, and Austria-Hungary growing about 90 per cent of the world's rye crop. ' Courtesy of International Harvester Co Harvesting rye. In Northern Europe rye is the principal cereal and throughout this region rye or black bread is one of the chief foods of the people Food value of rye. For many reasons rye might be classed as a neglected food in this country. As far as nutritive value is concerned, it is equal to any other cereal, not excepting wheat. It has never been a popular breadstuff in most countries, how- ever, because of the color of its flour and because of its lack of gluten, the quality in a grain which pro- duces light, aerated bread. Rye is prepared in a number of ways, one of which is called rye flakes. It is also used in a great many of the prepared breakfast foods and cereal drinks. Pumpernickel is a dark German bread made of unbolted rye. It is very heavy and slightly acid, as it is made from fermented dough. It is OTHER GRAINS 69 handled in the better class of delicatessen stores in this country. Sometimes it is imported from Germany, but usually it is made here. Mankind's first cereal food. Barley, another his- toric grain, is said to be the most ancient food of man. Several varieties, one the sacred barley of the ancients, were known to the lake dwellers of Switzer- land. It was cultivated, we are told in the Bible, in ancient Egypt, and was also the chief breadstuff of the Hebrews, the Greeks, and the Romans. Production of barley. The growing of barley is much more evenly distributed than that of rye. It is the hardiest of all cereals. It ripens in Norway beyond the Arctic Circle. While the limit of cultivation extends farther north than any other grain, it also flourishes in semi-tropical countries. ?^Pcfc Courtesy of International Harvester Co. Harvesting barley in Norway. Barley can be cultivated farther north than any other grain The world's yearly production of this grain is a little less than that of rye, amounting to about 70 THE STORY OF FOODS 1,340,000,000 bushels. Almost 30 per cent of the total crop is grown in Russia, where it is exten- di field of millet. Although in the United States millet is used chiefly as fodder, in some places it is used in the same way as rice sively consumed as food. However, barley is usually grown as food for animals and for brewing purposes. The annual crop of the United States is about 170,000,000 bushels, this country ranking second among the barley-producing countries of the world. It is interesting to note that Japan ranks fifth in the production of barley, raising about 85,000,000 bushels yearly, whereas its production of other grains, with the exception of rice, is small. Value of barley as a food. Barley contains less protein and carbohydrates but more fats and salts than wheat. There is a barley bread used more on account of its agreeable flavor than because of any special food value. In the United States barley is used to a considerable extent in soups, or mixed, finely ground, with infants' foods; but the consump- tion of the grain in this cduntry is small. OTHER GRAINS 71 Millet at home and abroad. Millet, the smallest of the grain foods, is used in some localities in the same way as rice, but the greater part of the millet grown in this country is used as green fodder. The ripe seeds are used as poultry food. We import millet from Germany and Italy, where it is used in large quantities in soups. We use the yellow Italian millet to some extent for puddings. But the larger portion of this product is sold here as food for cage birds. In Peru a variety known as Guinea maize is grown, from which is made a white flour of good flavor. The grain that feeds one third the world. Rice is the most intensively cultivated of the world's grains, and forms the principal food supply of a large part Brown Bros. A rice field in Texas. Rice was introduced into the United States in 1700, the industry grew slowly, but within recent years the production has increased steadily of the population of the world. In volume the rice crop stands alongside that of wheat. The world's 72 THE STORY OF FOODS annual production of rice amounts to about 170,- 000,000,000 pounds, to which the United States contributes a little more than 600,000,000 pounds, or one third of one per cent. We import about 130,000,000 pounds of rice yearly. Until a few years ago the United States imported practically all the rice we used. In the beginning of the industry in this country rice was produced only in small quantities in the Carolinas and in - -'" • f '.-' - ■ ,S, Jt Copyright, l'Jl7, by Keystone View Co. Cultivating a rice field in South Carolina. This state was one of the first in the United States to engage in the cultivation of this grain Georgia. But in recent years the cultivation of rice has moved to Louisiana Texas, Arkansas, and OTHER GRAINS 73 California. The rice production in these states has gradually increased, until in 1916 the crop amounted ■■Ty^^^Mm^Mi Courtesy of International Harvester Co. Hauling rice in the Philippines. Rice is the chief food of the natives and the grain produced in the islands is of high grade to almost 42,000,000 bushels or 1,176,000,000 pounds, the yield being nearly 48 bushels per acre. This was the largest rice crop grown in the United States at that time, but undoubtedly the production will continue to increase. The Philippine Islands also produce a high grade of rice. It is not possible to determine accurately the amount of rice produced in China, but it is reasonable to place the yield at between 50,000,000,000 and 60,000,000,000 pounds a year. The annual rice crop of British India amounts to about 70,000,000,- 000 pounds a year, which is almost 40 per cent of the world's entire crop. Rice producers the rice consumers. The great rice-producing countries of Asia — China, India, and Japan — are also the great rice consumers. China 74 THE STORY OF FOODS consumes its entire harvest. Japan imports large quantities of the cheaper grades of rice and exports Copyright, 1917, by Keystone View Co. Japanese rice planters at work. The rice is transplanted about two or three weeks after the sowing of the grain much of its grain of better quality. In many parts of China and Japan rice and fish and a little tea make up almost the entire diet of the people. Growing rice in the Orient. More than 50 per cent of the tillable land in the three main islands of Japan is devoted to the growing of rice. In Taiwan (Formosa), as in the southern part of China, two crops of rice are raised each year. China has almost eight thousand square miles more of land devoted to the raising of rice than is given over to the growing of wheat in this country. At the same time the Chinese are able to produce almost twice as much rice to the acre as we produce wheat. Thus you see what a wonderful rice harvest China has each year. Only a small percentage of the rice crop is grown on dry land, the greater part of it being raised in standing water. The rice fields are divided into OTHER GRAINS 75 small plats and flooded from the irrigation canals, of which there are several thousand miles in China and Japan. Where the land is rolling, small plats are leveled out on the hillsides, or graded into ter- races, surrounded by narrow, saucer-like rims to hold the water. These little rice plots are cultivated with a thoroughness seldom, if ever, seen in our own land. The way in which these Orientals utilize every inch of ground, sparing neither time nor labor to obtain a good crop, is remarkable. Without modern machinery of any kind, they transplant practically every spear of rice growing on that vast area of rice fields. We wonder at the patience and persistence of the Chinese farmer, who is painfully and labori- ously using a foot pump to draw water from a canal to flood the tiny patch of land on which his wife and children are working. This irrigation is not made necessary by an excep- tionally dry climate — for the rainfall in many rice- growing sections is heavy — but because the rice requires an unusual amount of water. And these fields are continually being fertilized, not because the land is worn out or run down, but because the Orientals have learned in their four thousand years of farming that one cannot continually take from the soil without giving back, and that to feed the soil is surely ''casting bread upon the waters." Growing rice in the United States. W T hile rice apparently yields best on lowlands, if there is an abundant water supply and if the fields are prop- erly irrigated, large crops can be raised on land not naturally swampy. In the United States the most fruitful rice lands are in the coastal plain region of the Southern States. The planting of rice is done 76 THE STORY OF FOODS in America by plowing and disking the land and then pulverizing the soil as finely as possible. Then the seed is sown, either broadcast or with rice seeders, which plant it in drills about four inches apart. When rice grown in this way is about six inches tall the fields are flooded by irrigation, the water being allowed to re- main on them until the grain begins to mature. The water is then drained off in order to allow the fields to dry out for the harvest. Food value of rice. Rice is highly nutritious, easily digested, and very palatable. Yet in America the most nutritive part of this grain is often sacrificed for the sake of securing a more attractive appearance. At least this is true when polished rice is considered. Unpolished rice contains much more food value than polished rice, and the natural brown head rice is most valuable of all. Copyright, 1917, by Keystone Vie A rice-polishing machine A Comparison of Food Values Rice Water 12 . 2 per cent Protein 8.0 Fat 3 Carbohydrates 79.0 Mineral matter .4 100.0 per cent The rice kernel is composed of Potatoes 78 . 3 per cent 2.2 .1 18.4 1.0 100.0 per cent starchy central OTHER GRAINS 77 portion, around which is a delicate, nutritious cov- ering. When the housewife learns to prefer the unpolished rice, especially the natural brown rice, she will get more food of this kind for the same money and the men in the rice industry will be saved the labor and expense of polishing. The unpolished grain is dull of color, and has a white, dusty appear- ance. The polished rice is a shining white product that glistens. __ . j . ,j Copyright, 1917, by Keystone View Co. Kice used. Ill varied. Stones for hulling rice and removing ways. Rice is used in the chaff a great variety of ways. It will furnish a substantial base for a meal, or can be made into a dainty des- sert. An excellent soup can be made with it and a still better pudding. It is both pleasing and health- ful. In one respect rice stands almost alone — it is a favorite food with all races, because it receives readily the characteristics of any desired flavor. The Italian, who likes rich foods, prepares rice with oils and finds the dish suited to his palate. The Mexican uses rice with chili to produce the "hot" sensation he likes with his food. The Englishman takes it highly spiced with fruit sirups, and the American uses it with tomatoes and soups. America makes and imports large quantities of rice flour and rice meal. In Japan and China rice flour is used for making bread and other articles of food. Chapter V BREAKFAST FOODS Evolution of the breakfast. The breakfast of to-day bears little resemblance to that of twenty or thirty years ago. In fact, a great industry has grown out of the changes that have come over our morning meal within that period. Many millions of dollars are now spent every year for breakfast foods either unknown or neglected a decade ago. Probably no other meal has been so completely revolutionized by modern inventions as breakfast. In the main it has been changed from a heavy and unattractive offering of food to a light and whole- some meal. This evolution of the morning meal has meant more perhaps to the children than to any other members of the family. Is it not true that the refinement of breakfast foods has made the break- fast hour almost as much ''the children's hour" as is twilight at the close of day? Because it has had much to do with the better nourishment of children, the modern breakfast food has brought about a wholesome change in the diet of practically all civilized peoples. If the millions of dollars this country expends every year for breakfast foods had been paid for the research work necessary to develop them, that investment would have been justified because of the beneficial effect of this form of food upon the world of children and invalids. The beginnings of breakfast food. Until a few years ago "porridge" and mush were about the 78 BREAKFAST FOODS 79 only forms in which grains were commonly served as breakfast food, unless pancakes could be classed under this head. An old Eng- lish dish, known as frumenty, was made by boiling wheat kernels with milk and spices. But the American breakfast table was slow to receive the cereal breakfast food. Not until it was refined into a really ap- petizing food and brought to the attention of all the American people through national adver- tising did it become popular. Preparation of present-day breakfast foods. To-day cere- als are prepared for the break- fast table in many artful ways. They are puffed, rolled, cracked, ground, shredded, malted, and flaked. In speaking of the ways in which these breakfast foods are prepared the United States Department of Agriculture says: "The ready-to-eat brands are prepared in a great variety of ways. Some are probably sim- ply cooked in water and then dried and crushed; some are made of a mixture of different grains; some have common salt, Courtesy of U. S. Dept. Agr. « . , , , A bunch of oats malt > and apparently sugar, Courtesy of U. S. Dept. Agr. A bunch of wheat 80 THE STORY OF FOODS molasses, or other carbohydrate material added to them; some probably contain caramel or other similar coloring matter. Those with a flake-like appearance are made like rolled grains, save that rflpP- ■DBV fl 1 '■■NHI JMK jKB&£* - __ \3>***- B*V%^fcv i '-art^t Liaf-*j-iii*"ir~~y ir-'i -Aa »^JB ' pi Toasting oven used in the manufacture of ready-to-eat breakfast foods. Toasting not only makes the food crisper but adds color and flavor the cooking is continued longer. Those which look like dried crumbs are probably made into a dough, baked, crushed, and browned. The shredded prep- arations are made with special machinery which tears the steam-cooked kernels into shreds and deposits them in layers or bundles. Very many of BREAKFAST FOODS 81 the ready-to-eat cereals are parched or toasted before packing. This gives them a darker color, makes them more crisp, and imparts a flavor which many persons relish." The process by which puffed foods are made is possibly the most interesting and ingenious of all. The kernels of the grains to be puffed are carefully cleaned and then cooked with live steam in a gunlike cylinder. When the steam has thoroughly satu- rated the kernels and raised them to a terrific heat, they are shot from this gunlike cylinder into cold air. As a result the heat that is within the kernels causes them to swell or puff to several times their natural size. Growing and marketing oats for breakfast food. As oats undoubtedly furnished the first cereal break- fast food, let us study the preparation of this grain for our breakfast table. This is the story of a two-pound can of rolled oats. The oats which went into this can were har- vested in an Illinois field. They were cut, bundled, dropped to the ground by a clicking reaper, then bound, shocked, and stacked. After they had cured in the sun, so that they would not sweat when put into elevators, the oats were threshed and hauled to market. Testing the oats. The oats were then put into an elevator, hauled up into a high bin, by a long belt set with iron cups or pockets, which operated in a hollow, boxlike shaft. From the elevator they were finally shot down through a tube into a grain car. This car carried them to a large city where they were sidetracked. The next morning an inspector came and took three samples of the oats in the car, one 82 THE STORY OF FOODS from each end and one from the middle. He took these samples in order to test their milling qualities. Millers always carefully test oats to see whether they are properly cured and whether they have suffi- cient density and weight so that they will mill into a good product. Should the oats not meet their requirements, they are rejected. Through the cleaning machines. As the samples in this case were found to be satisfactory, the oats were accepted and hauled to the mill, where they were sucked through big iron pipes into large storage bins. But they were soon taken from the bins and sent through a cleaning machine having many parts. One section of this machine consists of shaking screens which remove the wild mustard seed which is mixed with the oats. Another part tosses the oats about in strong blasts of air, which blow the chaff, grass seed, and other impurities from them. Still another section of this machine sucks the oats through a big shaft and lets the stones and heavier elements drop into a box below. What kiln drying does for oats. From the clean- ing machine the oats were sent through the ''clip- per," where their tails were cut off. Next they were sent to the kiln drier where hot air, coming through the floor, kept blowing them up in the air and stirring them about. There are other ways of kiln drying, one of which is to put the oats through a machine something like a coffee roaster. Still another method is to dry them in big open pans over the fire, as tea is sometimes fired. The first way, however, is the quickest, requiring only about three quarters of an hour for a carload. This drying, or roasting, develops the flavor of the oats, just as it BREAKFAST FOODS 83 does with coffee. The oils in their tiny cells are released and flavor the whole grain. The mill with the best roasting system makes the best oatmeal, rolled oats, or other cereal. Hulled, steamed, and rolled. From the dry kiln our oats went through a huller, which is the cleverest piece of machinery in the modern milling plant. The grains passed through its rollers and were ~" V ^^'^ • F HI "m ft 1 Ifli * " ' i'/ J 'Jlrflg ,-/' >* - - J "«f : , ! i : :#iilfb » ; ■ '■.-.;..:.. ii ^§£fe^«,-: m 11 . •- K "#' ■..■J'.'l LJ irc /Ag C00& room of a great mill where a ready-to-eat breakfast food is manufactured jostled about just enough to remove their coats. Those which slipped through without having their hulls removed were automatically "tailed back" or sent through again by the machine. Some went through three or more times. The hulls were blown away by air blasts. When the oats came out of that machine they were called "groats." The next process was that of steaming the oats for about twenty minutes to make them soft for 84 THE STORY OF FOODS their passage between the big polished steel rollers. They were still moist with the steam when sent through the rollers and flattened into flakes. Packed, labeled, and sterilized. Some of the oats were passed to a machine which put them into cardboard boxes, sealed the boxes, and placed labels on them, all without their being touched by human hands. Next they went into a sterilizing room having a network of hot steam pipes. Here the packages were dried under a heat sufficient to ster- ilize them thoroughly and kill any unwholesome germ that might, by any possibility, have survived. But the oats we are following were not put into a package. They were sent to a big press which forced them into a tin can under great pressure. There were two pounds put into that can, which was then sealed and sent to the sterilizing room. In the Antarctic. Suppose our two-pound can, whose history we have been following, was one of the cans bought by Captain Scott and Lieutenant Shackleton and put aboard their ship which, in 1901, made a dash for the South Pole. The good ship was on the water for many, many days and was finally frozen in the ice of the Antarctic Ocean, where it was held prisoner for two winters. During that time many cans of oats were eaten by the brave explorers. The men had a terrible time, and suffered much from cold and hunger; but they were deter- mined not to die of starvation, so they were very frugal of the oats, because they did not know how great might yet be their need. It was a hard struggle for them to keep life within their bodies. The men greatly needed a more generous allowance of food, yet they hoarded their provisions. BREAKFAST FOODS 85 How long oats keep. When they finally escaped from that awful ice prison and sailed back to sunny waters and to civilization, two cans of the oats were unopened. These were brought back and exhibited. Finally, to determine whether or not the oats were still sweet one can was opened. The contents were pronounced as pure and good as ever! The other can is being shown to thousands of people each Harvesting oats in a field that a year before was free range. Thousands of acres of grazing lands in our western states are now yielding cereals which, converted into breakfast foods, are shipped to all parts of the world year. In 1917 it was about seventeen years old, and some day, perhaps, it will be opened before many people, and then eaten. Who can tell where the remainder of the oats from that Illinois field went? Can you imagine? Perhaps they went to Iceland or Siberia, to Tas- mania or South Africa, or perhaps some of them may have been served on your table, or on mine. 86 THE STORY OF FOODS Why cereal foods are popular. Oats, wheat, corn, rice, and barley prepared in many ways and mixed into numberless combinations give the Amer- ican a wide range of breakfast cereals from which to choose. All are nutritious, none contain harmful adulterants, and practically all are palatable and tempting to the average man or woman, boy or girl. Because these foods reach the consumer in a con- venient, sanitary, and attractive form and because they furnish simple, abundant nourishment at low cost, they are daily growing more popular in this country. We are consuming millions of dollars' worth of them each year. We also export great quantities of this class of food to all parts of the world. "Made in U. S. A." America is the home of the breakfast food. It is a far cry from pioneer days and the original American breakfast food, the samp and hominy of the red man, to the breakfast foods of the present time. In the United States to-day many great mills and factories and thousands and thousands of men and women, boys and girls are busy preparing wholesome, convenient, and nourish- ing cereal foods for the tables of the whole world. Those who grow the grains from which these foods are made, those who help in their manufacture, and those who sell them, are all entitled to feel that they have a worthy part in giving the world a most welcome addition to its food supply. Chapter VI FRUITS Countries known by their fruits. Aside from its people, there is perhaps nothing that gives to a country or a locality so personal and distinctive a touch as its fruits. The mere mention of the word California seldom fails to bring to mind a picture of dark green trees hung with golden oranges. The fig is inseparably associated with Turkey and the date with Persia and Arabia, while Panama or any of the Central American countries suggests great clusters of bananas to the mind of the average boy or girl of the United States. Man's wants the motive power of industry. The earth's pleasant fruits are about the most interest- ing teachers of geography we could possibly choose. They are capable of opening up to us a world of information about the soil, the climate, and the people of their particular regions. If you do not see how the fruits of a country can throw any special light upon the character of its people, remember that the abundance of wild fruits of a highly nutritive character in certain tropical countries has more to do with making the natives indolent and improvident than almost any other cause. Why work when wild fruits, capable of sustaining life, are to be had for the picking? And why provide for the future when nature alone does that, by loading the forest trees and shrubs and the jungle thickets with such an astonishing variety of fruits that every season's dinner is always at hand? This is certainly more 87 THE STORY OF FOODS than a hint as to how the fruits of a region influence the character of the inhabitants. Geography by way of fruit store and peddler. No geographic excur- sion, easily recruited and carried out, is likely to yield you any more pleasure and knowledge than an in- vasion of some large city fruit market. If you take such a trip under the guidance of your teacher and under conditions favorable to learning something about the things you see, you will surely return with a fund of knowledge that will surprise and delight you. Such an excursion will throw an entirely new light upon the subject of geography. There is still another way of getting an interesting insight into the geographic realm which fruits will open to you. This is by persuading a fruit man from a foreign country to talk to you. Almost any Italian or Greek fruit peddler who remained in his native country until grown, if he speaks intelligible English, is capable of giving you a talk on the fruits of his country that will give you a nearer view of his native land than you could get in almost any other way. In some ways his talk will be more interesting because his life in the Old Country was Courtesy of George C. Roedinn Capri figs growing on an embankment FRUITS 89 spent in manual work instead of in study. This means that he has worked among the fruit trees and shrubs himself and knows by personal experience all about their habits and the methods of cultivating them. One of the most interesting talks to which the writer ever listened was made by a Dalmatian who vividly pictured the beauty of the terraced fruit gardens of his mountain home so laboriously built up with leaf-mold retained by stone walls. He taught geography with a realism that fixed the scene and facts permanently in the memory of his hearer. His regard for the fruits of his country was somewhat like the affection he had for its people. One of the fifteen hundred descendants of the wild crabapple Apples a temperate zone fruit. Let us now con- sider a fruit of about fifteen hundred varieties which 90 THE STORY OF FOODS ripens into a myriad hues and possesses a wonderful range of flavors that please the whole world's taste. Apple blossom time in a commercial orchard in Michigan. This is one of the greatest of our apple-producing states The apple? Of course! It is perhaps the oldest of all temperate zone fruits. Our present varieties have all been developed from the wild apple, of which the wild crabapple is possibly the only surviving type. Although the apple is found in certain alti- tudes of the torrid zone, its real home is in the tem- perate zone, where it has a wide distribution. We export many thousand barrels of fresh apples and many million pounds of dried apples each year. These products are sent to almost every country in the world. It would not be possible to name FRUITS 91 every country to which apples are sent from our ports, but the heaviest shipments are to the British Isles, France, Germany, Russia, and Australia. Apples in the United States. It is hardly possible to give an accurate estimate of the quantity of apples produced and consumed in this country in a year. There are millions of apple trees bearing fruit in the United States. It is said that if all the apples grown in this country in a year were placed in cars they would make a train that would reach from Chicago to San Francisco. The United States leads the world in the production of this wonderful fruit. But we must remember that the apple is only one of the many fruits raised and consumed in America. Pears. Pears are almost as universally grown as apples, and are to be found in every fruit store. There are nearly a thousand different va- rieties of pears. Some pears are almost as small as a thimble and on the island of Jersey are grown pears of enormous size which have sold for as high as six and seven dollars each in London. Find the island of Jersey on your map. Pears grow wild in Southern and Eastern Europe and generally through- out Asia. Like apples, pears are grown in almost *>■ Picking Kieffer pears in Colorado 92 THE STORY OF FOODS every state in the Union, and are exported mainly to the British Isles and the continent of Europe, although many other countries receive small quan- tities of them. Peaches. The peach is considered by many the most delicious of all fruits and its excellent flavor justifies this high opinion of it. A member of the almond family, it is a native of Western Asia, but Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. Peach orchards in one of the most fertile valleys of Colorado has responded to influences of the soil and cultiva- tion in this country to such an extent that the peaches grown here are considered as fine as any the world produces. Because the peach will not keep under ordinary conditions we find that our peach exports consist almost entirely of the dried fruit. In American horticulture perhaps the most re- markable recent achievement is the propagation FRUITS 93 of a distinctly new type of peach that promises to revolutionize the shipping possibilities of fresh peaches. This wonderful peach stands long ship- ment practically as well as the more tender varieties of apples. Severe tests of its ability to stand up under long and hard journeys have been made and it has been found that it can be sent from coast to coast without suffering any marked decline in its condition. This means that many places, remote from shipping centers, which have been obliged to go without fresh peaches, need do so no longer. A long ocean voyage is easily possible for this new peach, which is large and of fine texture and flavor. It also possesses the peculiar attraction of having a skin that is practically without fuzz. The nectarine, a cousin to the peach. The nec- tarine is a highly prized variety of the peach family which can be grown only in warm climates. Cali- fornia and her sister states on the Pacific coast pro- duce the greater part of the supply grown in this country. The nectarine can be successfully grown in the North only under glass. Plums, native and cultivated. Our plum is said to have come from the European sloe or blackthorn. The sloe has a blue fruit, a little smaller than our wild plum. The plum is cultivated in many parts of our country and grows wild in almost every state. No doubt you have picked wild plums; if you have you know something of the fun that the boys of Europe have in gathering the wild sloe. There are three general classes of plums cultivated in this country : the purple, the red, and the yellow or green plum. The loquat, a small, yellow, oval- shaped, plumlike fruit now grown in America, is a FRUITS 95 native of Japan. When ripe it is pleasing in taste, and may be eaten either raw or cooked. Prune plums. Prunes are dried plums of a partic- ular variety. They are grown especially for the mak- ing of prunes and even when fresh are called prunes by the growers. Until about twenty-five years ago almost our entire supply of prunes came from Europe; from France, Germany, Turkey, Spain, and Austria-Hungary. Now our Western States not only supply our own wants but export many tons of this fruit to the European countries. But there is still a market here for fancy prunes, which we import from France. These French prunes are considered especially choice and delicious. That we import a certain commodity from a particular country to which we export that same kind of food is some- times explained by the fact that our own naturalized citizens or alien visitors from that country demand the "home article" because they are fond of its dis- tinctive flavor. Thus does a commercial demand for a food emphasize the fact that we are a nation made up of people from almost every part of the earth. The cherry at home and abroad. Is there one among us that does not hail with delight the arrival of that delicious early summer fruit, the cherry? Cherry season has pleasant associations for the men and women, boys and girls who have had the privi- lege of visiting, at picking time, the localities where cherries are grown. Though the cherry is a small fruit it does not occupy a small place in the diet of the human race. In some parts of the world, in fact, it is a really important part of the food supply. In France, there are forest regions where the cherry is an important item in the food of the people. 96 THE STORY OF FOODS There the gathering of wild cherries is a big event in the year. In Germany, in the valley of the Rhine, scene in Japan in cherry blossotn time the schools are closed during the cherry season, so that the children may help their parents harvest this delicious fruit. Though a native of Persia, the cherry is now cultivated all over the world. It is said that the Romans of long ago cultivated several different varieties of cherries. In Japan the cherry is extensively grown for its beautiful pink blossoms. Food uses of the quince. The quince is a member of the pear and apple family and is native to Asia. It is now widely cultivated and may be found in most civilized countries of the temperate zone and the tropics. The majority of the quinces raised in this country are grown in western New York. While the quince is seldom eaten raw, it makes an excellent jelly and is much used by the housewife for flavoring preserves, jellies, and jams. The quince has long FRUITS 97 been a favorite fruit of mankind. It was popular with the ancient Greeks and Romans. The apricot. The apricot is a small yellow fruit which looks something like a peach, though it belongs to the same family as the plum. Like the peach and the plum it may be eaten raw, preserved, or dried. This fruit was introduced into Europe during the time of Alexander the Great. Now California pro- duces many thousand tons of apricots a year. There are a number of factories in that state devoted to drying and canning apricots. In one year the United States exported more than 35,000,000 pounds of dried apricots, which were shipped to all parts of the world. The fancy trade of this country, however, still demands the importation of a small amount of dried and candied apricots from France and from Italy. Oranges. There are two kinds of oranges — the bitter and the sweet. The bitter orange, known as both the Seville and the Bigarade orange, was the first orange known and was brought by the Moors to Spain in the eighth century. Not until the fifteenth century did Europe become acquainted with the sweet orange. Both the bitter and the sweet oranges were introduced into Florida, where they thrived wonderfully. But, because the sweet oranges were much preferred by the American people, practically no bitter oranges are now grown in this country. While oranges will grow in many of our southern states, they thrive best in Florida and California, where many millions are raised each year. Although we still import oranges from Europe, Asia, and Central America, our exports of oranges greatly exceed our imports. 98 THE STORY OF FOODS There are several varieties of fancy sweet oranges, of which the Satsuma, the tangerine, the mandarin, navel, Valencia, St. Michael, and the King of Siam are the most familiar. The kumquat is a tiny orange, the size of a small plum and generally oval in shape, which we have imported from Japan. The Japanese and Chinese in our country are now cultivat- ing it. The fruit is acid with a sweet rind usually eaten with the pulp. This fruit has met with great favor in Europe and is also much appreciated in this Copyright, 1917, by Keystone View Co. One of the great orange groves in southern California. More than ten thousand acres are here planted to navel oranges country. The preserved or candied kumquat is ex- cellent and is a favorite sweetmeat of the Chinese. FRUITS 99 Lemons and limes. The lemon is so familiar a fruit that it has achieved a permanent place in the L_ J— 1 Courtesy of U.S. Dept. Agr. Washing lemons by machinery. Lemons are usually picked once a month. They are then washed, sorted according to color, and the unripe and partly ripe fruit stored to color and mature slang of our country. While we produce a great quantity of lemons, we still import many from Europe. The lemon, like the pear, is best picked when green and allowed to ripen off the tree. The lime, a member of the lemon family, is much smaller than our lemon. It grows best in the West Indies and India, but a limited supply is grown in the United States and in Europe. The lime is grow- ing in popularity and its use in place of the lemon is steadily increasing in this country. Limes are so aromatic they almost seem to have been perfumed. The ginep, or Spanish lime, is a fruit which looks like a plum but tastes like a grape. Both the flesh 100 THE STORY OF FOODS and seeds of this fruit are eaten, the latter some- times being roasted and eaten as we eat nuts. Copyright, 1917, by Keystone View Co. Gathzring limes in the West Indies The grapefruit or pomelo. The grapefruit is the largest member of the citrus family as the kumquat is the smallest. The orange, lemon, kumquat, lime, citron, citrange, and grapefruit all belong to the citrus family. The grapefruit, also known as the pomelo, is said to have been introduced into Florida FRUITS 101 by the Spanish. It is called grapefruit because it hangs from the tree in clusters as grapes hang from the vine. We get this fruit chiefly from California, Florida, and the West Indies. Porto Rico sends us annually increasing quantities of it. Other citrous fruits. There is also a fruit known as the Bengal quince or the elephant apple which is said to be of the citrus family. Another fruit prob- ably of the citrus family is the bergamot of Southern Europe, a somewhat pear-shaped fruit which seems to be a cross between a lemon and an orange. The citron, another member of the citrus family, is said to be a native of the island of Corsica, the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte. Olives, green and ripe. No doubt all of us have tasted pickled olives, and perhaps some of us have eaten ripe olives. Then, too, olive oil is doubtless familiar to you. But do you know how the olive grows, where it comes from, and what is its history? This question becomes an interesting and important one when we remember that we sometimes import more than 5,000,000 gallons of olives in a single year and more than 6,000,000 gallons of olive oil in the same time. You are all familiar with the green olives which come in bottles, either plain or stuffed with peppers or anchovies, and packed in brine. In Southern Spain, where the finest green olives are produced, the fruit for pickling sometimes grows as large as plums. Ripe olives are of a dark brown color. Their use is becoming more common in this country every year. In fact, on the Pacific coast where the olive is grown, few green olives are used, the ripe ones being much preferred. 102 THE STORY OF FOODS The Bible speaks often of olives, as does ancient history. It is doubtful if there are many fruits 91 An olive orchard near Fresno, California. This state produces the largest part of the olives raised in the United States that have been known to man longer than the olive. Originally the olive came from Asia Minor, but it is now raised extensively in our Southwestern States and in all the countries of Europe bordering the Mediterranean. The olive grows on a large ever- green tree which bears a heavy mass of greenish- gray leaves. It thrives best in a dry, subtropical region. The trees sometimes reach the age of fifteen hundred years. It is claimed that certain olive trees in France are two thousand years old. Two kinds of persimmons. The United States and Japan both produce persimmons. A young lad in far off Japan picks, from a small tree, a sweet, juicy FRUITS 103 persimmon, the size of a large peach; while the lad in our Southern States scales a tall tree, perhaps fifty feet high, to get a persimmon the size of a small plum. Both of these persimmons, however, when thoroughly ripe are as sweet as sugar- plums, and are keenly appreciated by the boys who gather them. The pomegranate. The pomegranate, which is now cultivated quite extensively in Turkey, and in fact in nearly all other warm countries, is a native of Persia. The pomegranate tree has showy flowers of an orange-red color and bears a fruit about the size of a big apple, which has a reddish-yellow rind. This fruit is made into sirups and wines in Persia and its seeds are considered of medicinal value. The pomegranate is highly valued in the Levant. Perhaps it would be interesting to you to ask the Courtesy of George C. Roedins A pomegranate vender on the pontoon bridge that spans the Tigris River at Bagdad elder members of your family if they can tell you something about the Levant and just where it is. 104 THE STORY OF FOODS The fig and where it is grown. It will also afford you constant entertainment at home to start a guess- ing contest as to what countries grow each kind of fruit that is brought to your home. For example, what one fruit is raised chiefly in Smyrna, in Turkey, in Greece, in Dalmatia, in Italy, in California, Louisiana, and Texas? The fig! The history of the fig is as old as that of the apple. There are more than a hundred varieties of figs. In its natural state the fig is a small pear-shaped fruit with a tough skin, which varies in color from almost white to a dark purple. The fruit is eaten fresh, preserved in sirup, and dried. While the dried fig is the most popular form in this country, California Irrigating a fig orchard in California. The fig industry is increasing steadily in importance in California and the South is now putting up many gallons of figs in sirup each year. Although California, Louisiana, and Texas FRUITS 105 raise large crops of figs, the United States still imports many million pounds of this fruit annually. Fresh Calimyrna figs packed ready for shipment. These California figs are unsurpassed in quality In one year we bought more than 13,000,000 pounds of figs from Asiatic Turkey alone and millions of pounds from Greece and Italy. We have also imported figs from Egypt and from French Africa. An immigrant wasp and his work. No doubt you have at some time asked yourself the question, "Of what use are wasps?" Let me tell you about the fig wasp, without which we should not be able to have the fine variety of figs we get from Smyrna and from the vicinity of Fresno, California. The finest fig trees require " caprification " ; that is, they must be visited by the wasp which carries the pollen of the capri fig into the blossom of the fruiting tree. If this wasp does not visit the fig tree it will not fruit 106 THE STORY OF FOODS properly. How a plucky California horticulturist introduced this wonderful wasp into his fig orchard, at an expense of thousands of dollars, is one of the most interesting of all food ' 'immigrant" stories. Brown Bros. Gathering fruit from a date palm in Arizona. Soil and climatic conditions in certain areas of Arizona and California are especially suited to the date and its cultivation is increasing It made possible the production of figs of the finest qualities, and put the American fig industry on a permanent commercial basis. The date palm and the date. It is difficult to pic- ture an oasis in the Sahara without at once seeing the tall, green-topped date palm. It would also be hard to imagine how the wandering tribesman, ranging FRUITS 107 this great sea of drifting sand, could live were it not for the date palms which offer shelter and food to the traveler. It is not only a blessing in itself but in the heart of the desert it affords shade and pro- tection so that figs, almonds, and other trees and vegetation will thrive there. The date palm will flourish under conditions where nothing else would grow, yielding a life-giving food in the heart of a sun-baked desert of sand. It is almost the only tree or plant to which alkali is not injurious. In the "Sunken Gardens " of the Algerian Sahara grow the Deglet Noor dates, which are consid- ered the choicest in the world. These trees appear to be half buried in the drifting sands. They are fed by an abundant supply of underground water. Not only does the date palm furnish food to the natives of Persia, Arabia, and Northern Africa, but its wood and leaves are used by them in a variety of ways. It begins to bear when about six years of age and will continue to produce fruit until it is more than a hundred years old. In the arid South- west of our own country there is an extensive and flourishing plantation of date palms. United States merchants annually import almost 35,000,000 pounds of dates, of which nearly seven eighths are purchased from Asiatic Turkey. A large percentage of the dates from Smyrna are raised in Arabia. Dates are raised also in China, Spain, Mex- ico, Greece, the West Indies, and the East Indies. The banana. The banana is undoubtedly the most productive fruit plant known. We cannot properly call the banana plant a tree, because it is cut down every year, growing up again from the roots or stump. You have seen the great bunches 108 THE STORY OF FOODS of bananas hanging in stores, and in imagination you may have seen them growing on large trees. Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. A banana plantation in Costa Rica. Although a native of the West Indies, the banana is now grown in almost all tropical countries But more than likely your mental picture was not correct, for when growing the fruit points upwards, not downwards as you see them hanging in stores. The banana is a native of the West Indies, but is now grown in almost all tropical countries. There are two special varieties, yellow and red. The FRUITS 109 fruit is harvested, shipped, and marketed while green. In fact, the wholesale fruit houses always buy their bananas green and ripen them in banana rooms which are kept warm and dark. The carambola, an East India fruit. An East India fruit that will no doubt interest you is the carambola, also called the Coromandel gooseberry. This fruit is usually about the size of an egg and has a thin, smooth, yellow skin. It has a variety of flavors, from sweet to sour, and is a general favorite wherever found. It is eaten raw, cooked, or pickled. The avocado or alligator pear. If you were to make a journey into Central America you would see there a fine spreading evergreen tree whose oval The avocado or alligator pear is eaten chiefly as a salad, with salt, pepper, and vinegar leaves shade its large, green, pear-shaped fruit. This is the avocado, or alligator pear tree, which grows 110 THE STORY OF FOODS also in Florida and California. While the avocado is a fruit it is eaten chiefly as a salad, and is treated more like a cucumber than a fruit. It is peeled and eaten with salt, pepper, and vinegar, or served with salad dressing. The taste for alligator pears is usually acquired. Their popularity in this country, however, is shown by the fact that they often sell for seventy cents apiece. The avocado is not a very large fruit, averaging about a pound in weight. There is no other food, perhaps, which has been given such a variety of names. It is known, for example, as the maya and the ' 'custard apple." Spanish, French, Aztec, English, Carib, Ger- man, and Latin all have had special names for it. In fact, it is called by forty-three different names in eight different languages. The mango. Per- haps the most widely discussed fruit of the tropics is the mango. Although it is said to be a native of South- ern Europe, it is now grown in almost every tropical country in the world and is pro- duced in many sizes, shapes, and colors. It flavored fruit, soft and difficult to Brown Bros. Gathering mangoes. Our supply comes from Mexico, the West Indies, and Florida is a delicately keep, but delicious when eaten like a cantaloupe FRUITS 111 Unlike the cantaloupe, however, it has a stone to be removed. The mango is a most popular fruit in the South, and in the larger cities of the North, where it is sold by high-class fruit houses. The mangosteen. Among tropical fruits none is more interesting than the mangosteen. It is claimed by some to be the finest of all fruits. The mangosteen is not widely known because it will not stand transportation. It is a small fruit with a thick rind and a soft, rose-colored courtesy of u.s.Dept.A gr . pulp. It is not only unsur- iCZftZm & passed in taste but is said surrounded by the to be especially wholesome. thick rind The sapodilla. Another tropical fruit is the sapo- dilla, which looks much like a russet apple and con- tains a soft, sweet pulp. It is eaten either raw or cooked. Breadfruit and how it grows. Still another impor- tant tropical fruit is the breadfruit. If you were to go to Central America to gather breadfruit you would find great trees with peculiar fern-shaped leaves, below which hang bunches of large green fruit, bigger than your head. The breadfruit has a heavy rind, inside of which is a white starchy mass that looks very much like bread dough. But when this fruit is boiled, sliced, and served with butter, it is very good indeed, tasting not unlike sweet potato. There is also a false breadfruit, or ceriman, as it is sometimes called. The ceriman is shaped like a large ear of corn, and when the husky skin is removed the fruit is delicious. 112 THE STORY OF FOODS The guava and its uses. Just imagine now that you are traveling in the tropics — let us say in Mexico — and that you have found a guava tree. The fruit on this tree is possibly the size of a small tomato. It may, however, be larger or smaller, as there are about a hundred different varieties of this fruit found in tropical America. It may be red and shaped like an apple or it may be yellow and shaped like a pear. Like many other fruits, it may be eaten raw, cooked, preserved, or made into an excellent jelly. This fruit is seldom eaten in its fresh state in temperate climates, because, like many other delicious tropical fruits, it cannot be transported long distances. Other fruits of tropical America. While you lin- ger, in imagination, in tropical America you might also taste the fruits of the Spanish bayonet, the sweet sop, the sour sop, the Cashew apple, the pepino, and the cherimoya. There also you would find the true papia or papaya, which is often con- fused with our papaw. The tropical papia looks something like a muskmelon, while the papaw of the United States outwardly resembles a short, thick banana. The plantain. In many tropical countries, the plantain, a fruit which tastes like a vegetable, serves as a food staple, taking the place of grains and root vegetables. It belongs to the banana family, but it is flat, and much larger and coarser than the banana. The plantain has little flavor, and is seldom eaten raw. When roasted or baked, it is considered appetizing and nutritious. The plantain is also dried and ground into a flour which serves many food purposes. FRUITS 113 The prickly pear and other cactus fruits. You should be careful not to confuse the prickly pear Brown Bros. A field of prickly pear or spineless cactus in the fruiting season. The finer grades of fruit afford an excellent article of food and the coarser provide fine food for cattle with the avocado, to which it is in no way related. The prickly pear is the fruit of the Opuntia family, one of the cacti. The fruit, except that of the spineless variety, is usually armed with many tiny thorns or spears. This fruit is eaten in much the same manner as the avocado. The fruit is of various colors — red, yellow, purple, and green. In Mexico and Sicily, the poor people look upon the prickly pear with great respect, as it forms an important part of their food supply and is used in many difierent ways — as fruit, as salad, and as jelly. The juice of the prickly pear is made into a pleasing drink. Other fruits belonging to the cactus family are 8 114 THE STORY OF FOODS the Mexican strawberry, the strawberry pear, the Barbados gooseberry, and the melon thistle. The Mexican strawberry is a small fruit about two inches long and one inch in diameter, of a reddish- yellow color, and is the fruit of the hedgehog cactus. The taste of a strawberry pear might lead you to think that you were eating a strawberry, although it is not as delicate in flavor as the strawberry and is perhaps a trifle sourer. It is bright red in color and shaped something like a pear. The strawberry pear is the fruit of the torch cactus, which takes its name from its long, brilliantly colored flowers. If you saw Barbados gooseberries hanging from a certain cactus found in the West Indies you would probably think them misplaced gooseberries, so much do they resemble that fruit in appearance. Although their flavor is distinctly different from that of our gooseberry, if you tasted them you would not be disappointed. The fruit of another cactus plant, the melon thistle, looks much like one of our favorite melons. This fruit, small and pearlike in shape, resembles a musk- melon and has a delightful flavor. The plant in some cases attains a height of two feet. In the future when you hear some one speak of the cactus you will think not alone of the huge, thorny, spike-covered stumps rearing their grotesque shapes above the hot sand of the desert, but of various plants, trees, shrubs, and vines, which fur- nish both man and beast with pleasing food. The pineapple. Suppose we now turn our atten- tion to fruits which grow on bushes, shrubs, and vines. The pineapple, one of the finest of this class of fruits, is a native of tropical South America, but is FRUITS 115 now grown in many tropical countries, especially the islands of the Caribbean Sea. Pineapples are Harvest time on a Hawaiian pineapple plantation. The pineapples from this island are considered the finest grown also grown abundantly in Hawaii and in Florida, and are cultivated under glass in Northern Europe. The pineapple was so named because its fruit looks very much like a pine cone. It is, however, the fruit of a low-growing plant, not of a tree. It grows in fields which, in some parts of Florida, con- tain thousands upon thousands of these delicious fruits. Perhaps the finest pineapples now grown are those on the plantations of Hawaii, where there are immense canning factories, which can the fruit and ship it to all parts of the world. The fresh pine- apples you see in your grocery store are likely from Florida, Cuba, or the Bahamas, as it is very difficult 116 THE STORY OF FOODS to ship successfully the fresh fruit from the Hawaiian Islands. Grapes and where they grow. In the hillside vineyards of Italy, Germany, and France one may see, at almost any point, the peasants working among the vines — a charming picture of contentment. A parallel to this picture may be seen in the " grape belt" of western New York. New Jersey, Ohio, Michigan, and Missouri also are dotted with pros- perous vineyards. California has the largest com- mercial vineyards in the world, where grapes are raised for the table, for making wine, and for raisins. Here may be found great vines each bearing thou- sands of pounds of grapes in a single season. One vine in California is said to produce thirty thousand pounds of grapes a year. Can you imagine that? Thirty thousand pounds of grapes from one vine, growing from a single root! The writer has seen two thousand acres of vineyard in one ''block" flourishing on what appeared to be a desert of sand. Since thousands of American and European farms have their private vineyards and many states can boast of their commercial vineyards, it is impossible to form any idea of the quantity of grapes consumed each year. It means millions of pounds of fresh fruit, millions of gallons of grape juice and wine, and millions of pounds of raisins. Quite recently California sent a whole trainload — fifty cars — of raisins to Chicago wholesalers. Grapes are of many varieties and many sizes and many colors. The best known American grapes are the Concords, the Niagaras, the Delawares, and the Catawbas. The big Malaga, possibly the best known table grape in the world, is grown most FRUITS 117 extensively in Spain. Another fine Spanish' grape is the Almerias. Importance of the grape industry. It is almost impossible to say how much land is planted to grapes. A Tyrolese farmer taking a load of grapes to the press to be made into wine In California alone there are more than 250,000 acres of land devoted to grape culture. In prac- tically every country of Southern Europe the cul- tivation of grapes is an important industry. In addition to the fruit secured from the thousands of acres of vineyards in California, New York, Michi- gan, Ohio, and many other states, we use more than 1,000,000 pounds of Spanish grapes each year, and also import grapes from some of the other European countries. Wines and champagnes are made from grapes, as are also many other beverages. Wine making 118 THE STORY OF FOODS is one of the greatest industries of the world. France, Germany, Spain, and Italy look to it as Strawberries. New varieties and increased means of transportation make this fruit possible the year round one of their chief sources of income. Ordinarily we import about 6,000,000 gallons of wine a year. Berries. The small fruits which grow on vines and bushes are usually known as berries. The most common of these with which you are no doubt all familiar are the strawberry, the blueberry, the rasp- berry, the currant, the gooseberry, the huckleberry, the cranberry, and the blackberry. A cranberry bog. Perhaps the only one of the small fruits that you have not seen growing is the cranberry, and so suppose we see just what a cran- berry bog or farm is like. A cranberry farm is usually situated in a natural bog or marsh, although in some cases lowlands are artificially flooded and made into bogs for this purpose. Cranberries grow FRUITS 119 on vines which require a great deal of moisture. They are often protected from the frost by being covered with water. This is done by flooding the ground from ditches which are usually built through the bogs. It requires three years after planting for a cran- berry bog to bear fruit, at which time countless little red berries appear on the vines. In nearly all the larger bogs the berries are gathered by the aid of stripping forks, but in the smaller ones they are stripped from the vines with the fingers so that the fruit may not be damaged. During the harvest season in a cranberry country nearly every able- bodied person, including women and children, go into the fields to gather the berries. The harvesting must be done rapidly as a frost will seriously injure the berries. After the cranberries are gathered they are put through a winnowing machine which Brown Bros. Pickers at work in a cranberry bog. The fruit was first cultivated on Cape Cod, and Massachusetts still leads in its production separates the dirt, leaves, and grass from the fruit. They are then barreled and shipped to market. 120 THE STORY OF FOODS Cranberries were first raised in this country in Massachusetts, which still leads in their production. The cranberry industry has been developed in New Jersey, New York, Wisconsin, Washington, Oregon, and Minnesota. Cranberries are raised in Europe, but their quality is not so good as those produced here, and our cranberries find a ready market in the Old World countries. Australia produces a berry similar to our cran- berry in both taste and appearance. This is the roselle, which has recently been introduced into this country, and of which we may expect to see more in the future. The roselle is served in a manner similar to the cranberry and, like it, makes excel- lent jelly. The melon family. The watermelon, one of our most familiar summer fruits, is a native of Africa. No doubt you have eaten the rich red flesh of the watermelon, and enjoyed it, too. While the water- melons generally seen in our city markets are red- fleshed, there are melons which have a bright yellow flesh, but are characterized by the same delightful flavor as the red-fleshed watermelon. The flesh of the melon is always eaten raw, but the rind makes an excellent preserve or pickle. The watermelon grows on a very large vine and is as common to the southerner as the potato is to the boy of the North. The citron melon is the same in color and shape as the watermelon but is much smaller, and cannot be eaten raw. It is used for pickling and preserving. The muskmelon family includes a variety of small melons, of which the cantaloupe, osage, and nutmeg are possibly the best known. Some of these melons FRUITS 121 are as small as a large orange, while others are as large as your head. Their flesh is of different colors, A watermelon patch in California. Sometimes, as in this patch, melons are grown between rows of orchard trees ranging from a pale green to a deep salmon pink. The muskmelon is grown in almost every state in the Union and is consumed only in its fresh state. California also grows a large green-fleshed melon for winter consumption in this country. Melons of this variety sometimes weigh as much as ten pounds each. Melons from abroad. During the winter months we import fancy melons from other countries. Among these is the golden or Egyptian melon from Egypt. It is shaped like an enormous cucumber, a single melon sometimes weighing twenty pounds. It has rind and flesh something like those of the Rockyford cantaloupe. 122 THE STORY OF FOODS The melon we import from France is broader and shorter than the Egyptian melon and weighs about six pounds. There is grown in France a tiny, seed- less green melon not much larger than a walnut, which is known as the melon d'Orpagon. This is pickled and is a favorite in Europe. Another melon known as the pomegranate melon is about the size of an orange and has a green mottled rind and pink flesh. The English Queen melon is grown under glass in England. It is netted and has yellow skin and flesh. This melon will weigh from three to seven pounds. A fruit farm along the Niagara River rown ros ' Fruit as a food for man. Fruit has been one of man's main sources of food supply since the world began. Primitive man, of the temperate or the torrid zone, whether his home was in America, Asia, Africa, Europe, or one of the thousands of islands that dot the oceans, always depended largely upon FRUITS 123 wild fruits for his food. Civilized man has come to realize the importance of this gift of nature and has given much time and thought to the cultivation and the higher development of the various fruits with which he is blessed. Evolution of modern fruits. The colonists of Virginia learned from the Indians the value of wild mulberries, crabapples, and huckleberries. The red men also taught the settlers the value of the wild foods of the fields and woods. As we look upon a plate of luscious pears, apples, melons, grapes, and peaches it is difficult to realize that these are the descendants of tiny, sour, hard-skinned, and almost unpalatable fruits. But this is unquestionably true. Nearly every fruit we eat has been developed by man until it requires a great stretch of the imagination to associate the present product with its parent of long ago. Mr. Luther Burbank, a man who has done many wonderful things in fruit culture, has given the world more than a hundred new varieties of fruits and berries. He has done this by selection and " crossing." If you could see the original thorny, forbidding-looking cactus from which Mr. Burbank has developed a delicious and healthful food which is good for both man and beast, you would think the achievement wonderful. Increased use of fruits. Primitive man of neces- sity made fruit a large part of his daily food; civilized man has it on his table every day because of its delicious flavor and its actual food value. There is a common recognition of the wholesomeness of fruits in the fact that they are generally given to invalids and convalescents. There can be little 124 THE STORY OF FOODS doubt that the use of fresh fruits is increasing rapidly and that each year a higher percentage of man's diet consists of fruits. Besides the tremendous quantity of fruit that is eaten fresh every year, there are millions of pounds preserved and put up in glasses, jars, and cans. It is doubtful if there is any part of the world to which some of the canned fruits of our country are not sent. Then, too, each year many million bushels of fruit are dried. It is impossible, also, to estimate the number of carloads of fruits which are made into ciders and cordials every year. Chapter VII VEGETABLES AND THEIR SEEDS An everyday food. Some good and highly impor- tant things are so common we are inclined to forget their existence. To this class belong vegetables. Probably they appear on your table at least twice each day and sometimes as many as four or five different varieties are placed before you at a single Choice specimens of common foods. Vegetables and fruits selected for exhibition at a county fair meal. If you were to make a careful search through the drawers and shelves of your home kitchen, pan- try, and cellar, you would probably find a surprising variety of fresh, canned, and dried vegetables. 125 126 THE STORY OF FOODS Variety and supply of vegetables. Perhaps it might seem to you that vegetables are uninteresting r,rA\" "j«L i »* » i sffSliS^. " Brown Bros. Harvesting onions. The raising of vegetables on so extensive a scale as this has made possible the variety and abundance on the average table of to-day articles of food and that there has probably been little change in this branch of our food supply since the time cooks first began to conjure with stew- pans. But such a conclusion would be decidedly wrong. In comparatively recent years there have been wonderful changes, not only in our use of vege- tables but also in the variety and abundance of our supply. When your father was a boy, he did not have the large assortment of vegetables you now enjoy, and your grandfather as a boy probably had no more than six or eight kinds on his table from one season to another. It is almost impossible to name all the vegetables which one may buy in an up-to-date grocery or market to-day. Those vegetables which we all VEGETABLES AND THEIR SEEDS 127 know and many of us no doubt have seen growing, are: artichokes, asparagus, beans, beets, cabbages, carrots, cauliflower, celery, corn, cucumbers, lettuce, onions, parsley, parsnips, peas, potatoes, pumpkins, radishes, rhubarb, squash, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes. Vegetable families. It is interesting to consider vegetables in families. For example, the Brussels sprouts, broccoli, borecole, and collard are all members of the cabbage family. In the same way Copyright, 1917, by Keystone View Co. Gathering eggplant for market. This vegetable, which is a member of the same family as the tomato and potato, is a growing favorite with market gardeners nearly all other vegetables have a great many brothers and cousins that are called by different names. One 128 THE STORY OF FOODS of these families may include a number of vegetables that differ widely, both in taste and in appearance. There are the eggplant, the potato, and the tomato all belonging to the same family, yet they do not look, taste, smell, or grow alike. Would you imagine the tomato and the potato to be related, or the turnip-like kohl-rabi to be of the cabbage family? Such, however, is the case. Interesting members of the bean family. The bean growing in your garden is of the same family as the curious tamarind of the East Indies. The tamarind grows on a big tree sometimes reaching forty feet in height, from which it hangs in long, thin-shelled pods that ripen in July and contain a sweet pulp and large, flat seeds. These seeds are the beans. But in the case of the tamarind the pod instead of the bean or seed is eaten. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say that the pulp surrounding the seed is the part that is used for food. This pulp is put into kegs and covered with boiling sirup, and is then shipped to various foreign markets. Later it is repacked in glasses or stone jars and sold, being considered a choice delicacy. The cowpea or "field pea" of the South, and the soy bean, a native of Asia, also belong to this family. New uses for the soy bean. One member of the bean family, the soy bean, which has been used in this country for many years but for fodder only, is now being recognized as one of the greatest of all vegetable foods. It is highly valued in the Orient both as a substitute for meat and as a relish. It also makes good soup stock and in Japan, China, India, and other parts of Asia is used in fermented form and is made into cheese, sauces, and drinks. VEGETABLES AND THEIR SEEDS 129 In some European countries its value as a food for invalids with impaired digestion is recognized and Brown Bros. Soy beans ready for shipment in Manchuria. The soy bean, which until recently has been used in this country for fodder only, is highly valued in the Orient as a substitute for meat and as a relish in Paris one may buy soy bean bread and soy bean meal. From the standpoint of food value the soy bean may be classed with meat, as it contains a large percentage of protein and a good percentage of fat. The soy bean grows from seed each year, just as our common beans do, and the plants are about the same size as our bush beans. The leaves of the plant are hairy, as are also the pods, which contain about four beans or seeds. The flowers are lilac colored. Less familiar vegetables. There are a large num- ber of vegetables unfamiliar to many of us, which may be bought in the markets of the larger cities of this country. Some of these are decidedly interesting. 9 130 THE STORY OF FOODS Bamboo as a vegetable. Surprising as it may seem, one of the most delicious vegetables used in great quantities in the Orient and now being intro- duced into this country is the young bamboo shoot. Is it hard to imagine relishing the plant from which your fishing poles are cut? Yet the Chinese con- sider the tiny shoots of the bamboo a delicacy and use them largely in their chop suey. In many re- spects the bamboo is not unlike asparagus. Vegetables for greens. The borage is a garden herb, the young leaves of which are used for salads and cooked as greens. Some of the finest greens are the leaves of the detested dandelion and mustard, of the beet, the turnip, the spinach, the kale, and Swiss chard. Sorrel, and many common weeds, such as the milkweed, the cowslip, the " pigweed," and the purslane, are used as greens. Vegetables used in salads. The cardoon is a plant of the thistle family useful for its stems and midribs. It is used in salads and soups and in the same ways as asparagus. The cardoon resembles the artichoke, although it is larger. It sometimes grows as high as ten feet and has leaves three feet in length. As we do not raise enough of this vege- table to meet the demand, we are compelled to import it from France. The rampion is a plant that looks something like the turnip, its leaves and white roots being used for salads. The shape of its root, however, is like that of the carrot. The shallot is a member of the onion family, with a flavor stronger than that of our common onion. It is used chiefly for sauces, salads, and soups. The shallot is pear-shaped, a little larger than a walnut, VEGETABLES AND THEIR SEEDS 131 and grows in clusters. The leek is also of the onion family, but, unlike the shallot, it is mild in flavor. Trimming and bunching asparagus for shipping. As a salad aspar- agus, a close competitor of the early pea for public favor, is now widely used and is constantly growing in popularity The endive, which with its relative, the dande- lion, belongs to the chicory family, is considered about the finest of all salad plants. It is now culti- vated in nearly all parts of the world. The endive was originally introduced into Europe from China and into America from Europe. This country raises a large supply of endive, but we still find it necessary to import thousands of dollars' worth of it yearly from Europe, especially from France. There are several firms in this country whose prin- cipal business is to import and distribute endive. These firms usually maintain men in Europe to 132 THE STORY OF FOODS locate the choicest supplies. Belgium has been the greatest producer of the endive. The chufas of Southern Europe. Chufas, also known as earth-nuts, are native to Southern Europe. These tuberous roots, which are about the size of beans, are very nutritious and are eaten both fresh and dried. The gherkin and the martynia. The gherkin is of the cucumber family and is a native of Jamaica. It is also known as the Jamaica cucumber and is considered especially excellent when pickled or boiled. The martynia, or unicorn plant, is also pickled and eaten like the cucumber. It resembles a small violet-colored gourd and grows on a vine like the cucumber. Tomatoes of many kinds. The ground cherry, musk tomato, strawberry tomato, or winter cherry grows wild in the Mississippi Valley and in other parts of the world, but it is now cultivated quite extensively in this country. A member of the tomato family, it is known as the blue tomato by truck gardeners. It grows in a small husk which if left on will preserve the tomato through the winter. Although this tiny vegetable, which is only a little larger than a small cherry, may be eaten raw, it is at its best when preserved. This is only one of the fifty-odd varieties of toma- toes. There are red tomatoes, white tomatoes, blue tomatoes, and yellow tomatoes of every imaginable size and shape. There are tomatoes that, because of their shapes, are known as the pear tomato, the peach tomato, the cherry tomato, the plum tomato, the grape tomato, and the currant tomato. VEGETABLES AND THEIR SEEDS 133 Origin and use of tomatoes. The tomato has an interesting history. Botanists generally agree Delivering tomatoes at the canning Jaclory that it first grew in South America. It was probably cultivated in Mexico and Peru many years before the appearance of the Spaniards in 1519. For a long time this vegetable, now appreciated in every country in the world, was considered poisonous. To-day canned tomatoes are by far the most widely used of all canned vegetables. In addition to those canned in the home, the United States alone puts up more than 500,000,000 cans in a year, for com- mercial use, besides those that are preserved and made into ketchups, sauces, and salads. It would be impossible to determine the enormous quantity of fresh tomatoes consumed in this country in a year. The people of the United States are the largest per capita consumers of tomatoes in the 134 THE STORY OF FOODS world. With the possible exception of Italy, no other nation appreciates this delicious vegetable as it deserves. An ancient member of the pea family. You have no doubt read the story of Esau and how he sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. That pottage was very likely made of lentils. Lentils are as old as history, yet they are not a common food in this country. They are of the pea family and are about the size of a pea, but flat and circular in shape. They resemble the pea in flavor and are used in much the same ways, in soups, stews, and as a vegetable. In Germany they compete closely in public favor with the pea. The Germans use great quantities both of lentil meal and flour and of pea meal and flour. The lentil of commerce at the present time is largely from Egypt. A member of the squash family. Vegetable marrow is a member of the squash family and is closely related to our summer squashes. It is usually white or pale yellow in color and resembles a large ripe cucumber, although usually much thicker. It commonly reaches a length of about ten inches, although the Italian variety, which has a very rough, green rind and pink flesh, sometimes grows to twice that size. This vegetable is gaining in popularity in this country, and gardens in which it was unknown a few years ago are now producing it abundantly to meet a steadily increasing demand. Two well-known root crops. The yam is not the sweet potato although it both looks and tastes like it. It is a native of tropical America, and, like the sweet potato, is the tuberous root of a climbing plant. Neither the yam nor the sweet potato is VEGETABLES AND THEIR SEEDS 135 related to the ordinary or " Irish' ' potato, which is a member of the nightshade family. Salsify or vegetable oyster is so called because when cooked its flavor is very much like that of the oyster. Its roots resemble those of the rampion and the white carrots and are chiefly used for soups. Tapioca. One of the widely known foods of commerce is tapioca, which is also known as the Manioc roots. The manioc root, from which tapioca is made, is now being grown in Florida and other southern states cassava, ubi tanah, and manioc. It is made from the roots of the manioc plant. The native home of manioc is Brazil, but it is produced in a limited way in Porto Rico, Jamaica, and on Trinidad. But on account of the cheap labor in the Far East, its cultivation was begun there and has developed until now the greater part of the world's supply of tapioca comes from the Straits Settlements and Japan. The roots of the manioc plant range in size from a diameter of one and one half inches to eight inches, and from eighteen inches to four feet in length, each growing one or more tubers. These 136 THE STORY OF FOODS tubers grow in clusters somewhat like potatoes. A single tuber sometimes weighs as much as twenty- five pounds. After the roots have been thoroughly washed they are conveyed to the grinder, into which a steady stream of clear water is flowing. As the roots are crushed they are washed into pipes which carry the pulp to sieves. These separate the pure tapioca from the fiber of the root. It is next placed in shallow vats where the starch from which the tapioca is made, is allowed to settle. The water is then drawn off and the starch is broken into small pieces and cooked in iron basins. This manioc root from which tapioca is made is an important native food in several tropical countries. In South America a meal obtained by drying and grating the root is baked in thin cakes. These cakes are nutritious as well as pleasing in taste. New varieties increase use of vegetables. From this study of vegetables you will have learned that each year new vegetables are being added to those long for sale in our markets. You will realize, too, that this branch of our food supply is constantly changing and enlarging. We are reaching out here and there and adopting the vegetables which have found favor in other countries. At the same time it is well to remember that we rarely ever discard a vegetable after it has once come into common use. We hold fast to the use of all those which have been found nourishing and agreeable. This means a constantly increasing variety — an important con- sideration, in view of the fact that vegetables are as a rule cheaper than meat and that there is a VEGETABLES AND THEIR SEEDS 137 growing class of persons who are inclined to eat less meat and more vegetables. Canning widens choice. Of still greater impor- tance is the fact that improved processes in canning have immensely increased the world's consumption of vegetables and multiplied the choice of vegetables open to any consumer. In a word, there is scarcely Prize tomatoes and sweet corn. These two vegetables rank high among those that are most successfully canned a vegetable commonly grown which you cannot buy in canned form anywhere in the world. While there are undoubted exceptions to be taken to this state- ment if applied in a literal form, the fact remains that it is substantially true. Fortunately the most nourishing vegetables — such as tomatoes, peas, sweet corn, and beans — are those most successfully canned and for this reason they are usually to be had at low cost. 138 THE STORY OF FOODS Vegetable supply an unknown quantity. There is no practicable way of discovering how many A great commercial truck garden. Herefrom left to right may be seen long rows of beets, celery, onions, and carrots million tons of vegetables are eaten every year by the people of this or other countries, or how many billions of dollars this vast volume of food is worth. The " trucking" or vegetable-raising industry in America is an immense one. In the country districts the home vegetable garden is almost universal, and the farm or village home without its own garden patch is the exception. The vast total of this production is unknown and practically beyond computation. European seeds carefully grown. The importance of the vegetable crop in the work of feeding the world is shown in the care and skill employed in Europe in growing vegetable seeds. In one of Germany's VEGETABLES AND THEIR SEEDS 139 foremost seed gardens, at Erfurt, is a flower bed bordered with a fringe of parsley which attracts the attention of every observing visitor. This parsley is curlier, more compact in growth, and more dwarfed than any parsley produced in America. When questioned, the superintendent of the garden confessed that, five years before, he had started out with a definite ideal of a perfect parsley in mind and ever since had been constantly working toward its realization. ' 'It's beautiful — wonderful!" exclaimed his vis- itor. "You have certainly met with remarkable success. Would you permit me to take a photo- graph of this parsley for the benefit of the American public?'' "No!" was the firm answer. "I am sorry to refuse, but this product is not yet ready for the public. You will notice that occasionally through- out the row there are plants not as curly as the others; they are taller, rangier, and less compact. This defect must be so thoroughly overcome that we may be sure there is little or no danger of its reap- pearance before we are ready to give this parsley to the world, or even to have it made public through the papers. We cannot allow any new strain or variety to go out from this establishment, even in an experimental way, before we have done all that is possible for us to do for it, or before we are fully satisfied with the results of our work. Come back in about five years and you may get the picture of this." Another illustration of the untiring and painstak- ing persistence of the European seed growers may be seen in the way they grow radish seeds. As almost every home garden patch in America, no 140 THE STORY OF FOODS matter how small, contains radishes, this illustra- tion will interest a large number of us. In European seed gardens, the seeds are thinly drilled into a carefully prepared soil bed. As soon as the roots reach a size at which their final shape, color, and quality may be safely judged, they are pulled up by men familiar with the characteristics of each of the fifty or more varieties of radishes now under cultivation. These men have clearly in 7 'vmmmmm^^m^ *i Harvesting lettuce seed in California. In this state many acres are devoted to the growing of garden seeds mind the ideal at which the master gardener is aiming with each particular type in hand. Often they have had from ten to thirty years' experience in the production of radish seeds, working all the time in the same gardens and for the same employers. The poorly shaped, undersized roots are discarded and those measuring up fairly to the ideal in mind are replanted, this time with space enough for each root to permit its perfect development. From this time until the seeds are harvested each plant is given individual cultivation and protection. This VEGETABLES AND THEIR SEEDS 141 method is followed by every first-class European seed garden. Growing sugar-beet seeds. The painstaking and scientific practice which characterizes seed produc- tion in the representative establishments of Europe is still more vividly illustrated by the manner in which sugar-beet seeds are grown in the great European breeding gardens. The seeds are drilled in big, carefully prepared fields. Here the treatment of the roots is practically the same as that given to radishes. At the time of transplanting, experts select about one per cent for seed production. From this one per cent the chief expert of the establishment selects about 10 per cent for the production of "stock seed." For example, it is not unusual for a field devoted to an important variety of sugar beet to contain 250,000 roots. At the first sorting 2,500 of the choicest specimens are selected. These are all critically examined by the chief expert, the head of the breeding work of the establishment, who picks from the 2,500 roots 250 that are destined to carry on the line of breeding. These aristocratic roots, it will be remembered, represent only one tenth of one per cent of the crop. After they have been approved by the eye of the head breeding expert their probation is by no means finished. Next they undergo what is called the chemical test. Each root is bored and from it is taken a core of the pulp about one half inch in diameter and some three inches long. The root is numbered and the pulp from it is put into a glass tube bearing the same number. In the laboratory these pulp samples are subjected to analysis. Only those roots whose samples show a satisfactory chemical content 142 THE STORY OF FOODS are selected to perpetuate the choicest blood of the line. The remainder of the 2,500 roots, after the 250 champions have been selected, are replanted to fur- nish the commercial seed crop. The following spring the roots that have qualified under all tests as champions are set out in a spe- cially prepared piece of ground where each root is allowed two square yards of earth for elbow room. The care of these stock roots is a responsibility entrusted only to most dependable experts. They are sprayed, fed, and pampered as if each were the particular pet of the owners. After the roots have sent up their slender seed stalks, the labor of pro- tecting them against cross fertilization by unde- sirable agents, and against insects, wind, and frost begins. For a time this was a difficult problem, but eventually a small circular tent was invented which completely surrounds plant and seed stalk. This is so constructed that only a moment's work is required to put it into place or to remove it. How England obtains seeds. When the traveler through Southern England sees, on every hand, miles of cabbage, turnip, pea, radish, beet, and flower fields, all for seed production, it is hard for him to believe that England buys immense quan- tities of choice seeds from other countries and resells them. Perhaps peas are the choicest product of these fields, for English peas are the greenest grown under the sun. Seeds grown on a large scale in France. In France, there are thousands of independent seed growers, many of them working on a small scale with a little patch of ground. Nothing shows so VEGETABLES AND THEIR SEEDS 143 clearly the perfection of seed production in Europe as does a glimpse of the great seed establishment at A field of fine seed potatoes Verrieres, about thirty miles from Paris. Here the visitor finds four hundred acres devoted exclu- sively to the growing of seeds under intensive cultivation. The owners also control more than ten thousand acres in seeds in the south of France. This area is largely devoted to beets, sugar beets, mangel-wurzels, celery, onions of the foreign types, radishes, and herbs. In fact, the south of France may be compared with the north of Holland as a seed-producing district especially favored by climate and soil. The world's international garden patch. North Holland, bounded on three sides by the Zuider Zee, is one vast " sunken garden" devoted to the raising of seeds. Here is the home of the famous Dutch bulbs, tulips, hyacinths, and all their brilliant kindred. But since the first half of the seventeenth century, the days of the great tulip craze, Holland 144 THE STORY OF FOODS seed growers have turned their plodding genius to growing vegetable seeds, the demand for which is the solid one of food value instead of the fickle whim of flower fanciers. This does not mean that Holland has abandoned the growing of flower seeds and bulbs. Indeed not, for if you are in need of twenty tons of nasturtium seed, a single Holland grower can fill your order for that amount. But it does mean that the growers in the dike-protected fields are furnishing a big percentage of the world's best cabbage, cauliflower, kale, turnip, spinach, and radish seeds, as well as European beans and peas. There is not a European vegetable that cannot be grown, for seed purposes, to great advantage in the land of the wooden shoes. Success due to people, not soil. Gazing upon the great seed gardens of Holland the stranger is likely to exclaim: " Nature has been good to Holland. What wonderful soil she must have to produce such astonishing crops !" She has, but here, again, the secret of her success is the character of her people, not of her soil. " Dutch thoroughness " and " Dutch patience" are not idle phrases. They are the solid foundations upon which the remarkable seed busi- ness of this world-loved little country rests. Knowledge of seeds an inheritance. It is possible to find many instances where one acre of a Holland seed garden returns a larger revenue than is often brought in by an American farm of one hundred and sixty acres that is considered well cultivated. Intensive cultivation is an inherited art with the Holland seed grower. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that the average Dutch seed gardener inherits truer instincts for the business of raising seed than VEGETABLES AND THEIR SEEDS 145 the average American is able to gain by years of careful study. The same may be said for the Frenchman or the German who comes of a line of seed growers. In France, as in Holland, the lore of seed gardening has been handed down from father to son, from mother to daughter, through successive generations. This knowledge, in fact, is the richest legacy the seed gardener is able to leave his son or his daughter. Seed growing in the United States. What has been done by European horticulturists can be done in our own fertile country. For every acre of Dutch land ideally equipped for seed production, America has a hundred equally favored. The coming of the great European war naturally forced the horticulturists of the United States to grow many more vegetable seeds than ever before. This proved a big task, but it has been done with marked success and with true American energy and resourcefulness. In this work the seed spe- cialists from the Old World have been decidedly helpful. This does not mean, however, that we depend wholly upon alien experts for the growing of our seeds. At first the seed gardeners grew vege- tables for market because that seemed to be the most profitable thing to do, but the acute pressure for a far greater production of American-grown seeds virtually forced them to take a hand in seed culture. This illustrates how our country with its wonderful mixture of Old World peoples is generally able to meet any great emergency and produce the needful supply of articles previously imported. 10 Chapter VIII MILK AND BUTTER Milk, the perfect food. Every human being has at one time lived wholly on milk! This proves beyond question that milk contains all the food ele- ments required to sustain life and promote growth. But as the human being develops, the upbuilding of his body demands other foods. Here begins the insistent call for variety in our nourishment that has made man explore the whole world for things to eat. In America, when we speak of milk we usually refer to the milk of cows. But in other countries the people use the milk of goats, sheep, horses, reindeer, and other animals. In Europe the milk of sheep and goats is used extensively, not only in making cheese, but also as a part of the daily food. -The amount of milk consumed by man is almost beyond imagination. In the United States alone the trade in milk amounts to 7,500,000,000 gallons a year. This by no means represents all the milk we consume, because there are many thousands of gallons used by the owners of the cows, and the government in compiling these figures cannot take these unmeasured supplies into account. Food properties in cow's milk. Cow's milk con- sists of about 85 per cent water and 15 per cent solids. These solids are composed of fat, casein, sugar, and albumin. There are also traces of salts of various kinds. The fat of milk, from which butter is made, is called butter fat. The casein is used for cheese. 146 MILK AND BUTTER 147 Dairying and the cream separator. Dairy meth- ods have greatly changed within recent years. Men Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. A cream separator in a modern dairy. The invention of the separator has practically revolutionized the business of the dairy farmer who are now barely in middle life can easily recall the time when all milk intended for butter making was put into pans in a dairy house and the thick yellow cream skimmed from the top and churned by hand on the farm. Later came the creamery, which sometimes made cheese as well as butter. The dairy farmer hauled his milk each day to the cream- ery, and perhaps hauled back to the farm, in the same cans in which he had delivered his sweet milk, a load MILK AND BUTTER 149 of buttermilk or whey for his calves and pigs. But this pastoral picture has been changed by the cream separator, one of the greatest of all modern inven- tions. It is especially valuable to the dairy farmer who lives too far from a town or city to sell his milk to those who use it in its natural state. The cream separators, which may be operated either by hand or by power, resemble big brass bowls that whirl about with great rapidity. The centrifugal action resulting from the whirling sends the lighter cream to the top of the bowl while the heavier ele- ments remain at the bottom. An outlet at the top permits the cream to escape, while a spout, nearer the bottom, drains off the skim milk. The advantage of the separator to the farmer living a long distance from the creamery cannot be realized by one who has not seen a wagon heavily loaded with milk cans struggling through the mud and mire of a dirt road in the country after a spring thaw or a series of heavy rains. With the separator in his dairy house, the farmer remote from town or the creamery, instead of hauling hundreds of pounds of raw milk to market, takes one small can of cream. Then, instead of having to haul buttermilk or whey back to the farm for his calves and pigs he has a supply of sweet skim milk left at home for these animals. They relish this milk and thrive far better on it than on sour milk, buttermilk, or whey. But not every dairy has a separator. There are still many dairies in the country where the milk is cooled in a picturesque springhouse just as it was during the last century. But dairies of this kind usually sell their milk for consumption in the natural state and not as cream, butter, or cheese. 150 THE STORY OF FOODS Handling milk for family use. Modern improve- ments in the methods of handling milk for family On the great modern dairy farm of to-day the electrical milking machine is taking the place of hand labor use in cities and villages have been little short of marvelous. To-day there are hundreds of dairy farms which ship milk to the big plants every evening. Many of them milk from seventy-five to one hundred cows each and some of the larger farms several hundred cows. On these large farms to-day the milking machine, a modern labor-saving device, is being introduced. This ingenious machine is operated by electricity and is a great boon to the farmer with a large herd in a region where farm laborers are scarce and wages high. If one of these farms is close to a large city it will send its whole milk — that from which the cream has not been taken — to the city. MILK AND BUTTER 151 A model dairy farm. Not long ago the writer visited a large dairy farm near Chicago, and watched the handling of milk for the people who live in that city. Some of it goes to children who have never even seen a cow! Everything connected with this farm was almost ideal. Its immense barns were as well ventilated and lighted as a modern school building. The cement floors of the stable could be flushed and washed clean with comparatively little labor. In winter a stream of cold, pure spring water flows through the long cement drinking and feeding troughs. There is hot water for washing purposes and the milkers are required to bathe frequently and to wash their hands and the udders of the cows Brown Bros. Interior of an up-to-date stable on a great dairy farm. Fine ventilation, cement floors, and running water make this stable a model of cleanliness before each milking. The milk house, which stands at some distance from the barn, is equipped with 152 THE STORY OF FOODS heating and refrigerating devices so that the milk may be cooled quickly or heated to any required Courtesy of Oak Glenn Farm Holstein cows on a model dairy farm degree. The bottling room also has live steam for the scalding of bottles and all vessels in which milk is placed. This model dairy is also fully equipped with milking machines which may be used whenever convenience requires. Value of shady pastures. This farm abounds in grassy pastures threaded by a clear, cool stream with a rocky bed and banks overhung with trees. In the heat of summer the cows stand in this shaded stream, making a striking picture of contentment, while the rich grasses gathered from the pasture are being distilled into milk for the children of the city. The owner declares that this well-shaded stream is one of the farm's most valuable features; for quiet, comfort, and contentment on the part of the cows are necessary for the production of high-grade, per- fectly wholesome milk. Bottling the milk. Since this model dairy farm lies close to Chicago, the milk is sent to that city and marketed as whole milk. There, as near all MILK AND BUTTER 153 large cities, are large milk-bottling plants to which many farmers send their milk. The milk is carried in wagons or by motor to the railroad station, where it is put on special milk trains and hauled to the bottling works. Here it is strained, put through the clarifier, pasteurized, and then bottled. There are also large separators which take the cream from the milk. The cream is sold directly to customers, while the skim milk from the separators is either used in bakeries, sent back to the farms to be fed to the stock and poultry, or sold to the producers of milk-fed chickens. Pasteurized milk or cream is that which has been A huge sterilizing machine in a milk-bottling plant. All bottles are sterilized by live steam before they are sent to the bottling room to be filled with milk heated to a point just below boiling, at which all bacteria are killed. Immediately following this 154 THE STORY OF FOODS heating, the milk is cooled to 50° F., or possibly a little lower. Testing milk. All milk must be tested before it is accepted in these bottling plants, for when it is sent to the city in bottles, to be delivered to the homes of consumers, the milk must have their guar- anty of purity back of it. There are city, state, and federal milk inspectors who work in the different cities and whose business it is to see that no impure or unwholesome milk is sold. They must protect the people who purchase their milk and cream indirectly from the bottling plants or directly from the farmers. Perhaps you would like to know just how a city using about 260,000 gallons of milk a day protects its citizens from impure milk. This city maintains special investigators whose business it is to "plate" samples of milk for bacteria. This means that, without notice, they take samples of milk being delivered in their city, carry them to their laboratory and there " culture" them, or give the bacteria a chance to develop. If harmful bacteria are found, the milk is rejected and immediate action taken to prevent further deliveries. The plant or farmer furnishing the milk is also subject to prosecution. Work of the inspector. But the city inspection does not end here. Inspectors, whose duty it is to see that the farms themselves are kept in proper condition, are sent to the various dairy farms which furnish the milk for the city. They also inspect the bottling plants and the methods in use there. The cows furnishing the milk must be inspected at stated intervals by a registered veterinarian to see that they are in good health. MILK AND BUTTER 155 In one city which takes these precautions, there are about 3,200 wagons delivering milk from some Brown Bros. After leaving the cooler the milk runs into a large tank from which it is automatically drawn into sterilized bottles 1,300 distributing stations. These stations are scattered broadcast throughout the whole city. Precautions to protect the public. Now let us take a look into one of these great milk-bottling plants, which are located throughout the dairy district of our country and maintain many branches in near-by cities. Let us see how they protect the public and meet the requirements of city and state authorities. These bottling plants buy milk only from the dairy farmers with whom they make contracts and who will live up to their regulations. They employ high- grade, practical dairymen to go from one contract 156 THE STORY OF FOODS farm to another and offer suggestions calculated to encourage the production of more and better milk. The bottling companies also have expert veteri- narians whose business it is to make frequent visits to the various dairy farms under their contract and see that the cows are in prime condition and receiv- ing proper treatment. The dairy experts divide their time equally be- tween the plants and the farms. In the morning they are at the plants, sampling and testing the milk, as it is delivered, to make sure that it is up to the standard of quality and purity. In the afternoon they visit the various farms and seek to give the producer every possible assistance in his work. A trip through a bottling plant. In the bottling plant visited the manner in which the milk was handled was especially interesting. When the farmers brought it in it was emptied into the receiving tank and weighed. The weight was credited to the farmer and the milk passed on to the clarifier, which removed any foreign matter that may have gotten into it. Then if the milk was found satisfactory, it was passed on to the cleaner. From this machine it went to the uniforming tank where all the milk was mixed together. Then it passed to the pre-heater. There, by the aid of hot water coils, the milk was raised to 90° F. Next it went to the pasteurizer where it was raised from 90° to 145°, when it was forwarded into what is called the compartment holder. This is to keep the heat at a uniform temperature until the milk is thoroughly sterilized, and then gradually cool it. From the compart- ment holder the milk was fed into the cooler where MILK AND BUTTER 157 it was reduced to about 45° F. Finally it was auto- matically put into sterilized bottles and sealed. Brown Bros. Sealing the bottled milk with caps. After it is cooled the milk will start on its journey to the city It was then cooled again and placed in refrigerator cars for shipment to the city. When the milk reaches the city, the cars are dis- tributed to the various branches about town where the delivery men assemble for their supplies. Within twenty-four hours after leaving the farm, milk is delivered to the consumer. Certified milk. There is one grade of milk that sells for about twice as much as ordinary com- mercial milk. This product is known as certified milk. Certified milk is produced on a farm approved by the milk commission of the medical society of the city in which it is to be distributed. It is put into special bottles and sealed with special caps, which are furnished to the farmer who has been given a permit to sell certified milk. 158 THE STORY OF FOODS The certified milk permit is awarded a farmer only after a committee of the milk commission has visited and inspected his buildings, his cattle, his help, and his utensils. If the quality of the milk produced, the sanitation of the buildings, the methods used, and the health of the stock and employees are all satisfactory, the place is certified. The certified farm must be inspected at frequent intervals and the milk constantly tested. The bacteria test for clean- liness is generally re- quired. The care necessary to keep cows, premises, and employees in a con- dition satisfactory to A pure-bred Hohtein cow the inspectors involves a large amount of work and heavy expense. As a result of the exacting care given to the production of certified milk, it does not have to be pasteurized. Cows for milk and butter. The Holstein is the favorite cow of the farmer selling milk for use in the natural state, since cows of this breed usually give the largest quantity of milk. A good Holstein cow will give about 8,000 pounds of milk a year, or 28 quarts a day during the best milking season. But Holstein milk is likely to yield only about 3.5 per cent of butter fat, while 4.5 per cent is a fair percentage for Guernsey and Jersey milk. Butter is the most important product obtained from milk. From 83 to 85 per cent of butter con- sists of butter fat, the remaining 17 to 15 per cent being moisture and salt, with a trace of proteins, MILK AND BUTTER 159 milk sugar, mineral substances, and sometimes color- ing. Now let us see by what methods it is made. Butter making, ancient and modern. The use of butter dates back thousands of years to the time of the ancient Jews. The old-fashioned way of making it was to allow the milk to stand until the cream which came to the top was properly ripened. Then it was skimmed and churned. But to-day that method is not generally used. Suppose we follow a load of milk that a dairy farmer brings to the creamery. First the milk is sampled and, if found below requirements, is rejected. If accepted it is poured into a large weighing tank and weighed. The farmer is given a duplicate of the weight slip and at the end of the month or perhaps the « l ■ : ' ■..■,<.,»-,,: v f '4 1 m fi, ' 1 Jbui ' 1 . . <** - jj » -a! i .-? // : ■ . i ^qJPMt 1 ! n }J*^ \>\ m*>*^ TH m fi " ' M ^ v \ IB ■ / y it l t' j. [■- • tff*-:' ■ ; ;ll"T"'v. im i ' I. - j i Brown Bros. Removing the butter from the huge churns fortnight a settlement will be made. Usually the price of milk is agreed upon for the whole month. 160 THE STORY OF FOODS After this the milk is emptied from the weighing tank through a long pipe into a vat in the creamery. Dutch girls at work in a Holland butter factory rown ros ' From this vat it is put through the separators and the cream taken off and run into a pasteurizing machine and then into another vat. The skim milk is run into large cans and delivered back to the farmer. The cream is ripened in what is known as a starting tank, where hot water coils aid the process. In order to bring about the necessary fermentation, a " starter" of curdled milk is added. Butter coloring is also added and when the cream is properly ripened it is turned into huge churns and churned at a temperature of about 60° F. The butter forms in little golden globules and the remaining liquid is called buttermilk. This is drawn MILK AND BUTTER 161 off and put into tanks or pails, and if the creamery is located in a town, there is usually a ready sale for the buttermilk as a summer beverage. The butter is then washed with clean water and salt worked into it. The salt acts both as a means of making it more palatable and as a preservative, keeping the butter fresh for a considerable length of time. Butter made in this way is known as creamery butter. Packing butter for market. The butter is put in- to tubs or boxes in which it is to go to the retailer. If it is to be sold in pound packages it is put into a large box having slits in the sides. Through these slits are slipped wires which cut the butter i ; 1 E - i& » r t : *&&•%£ E#— ll|y-' - ' ' ! ; J .! I m Jr. Wm t ' \: *"* i ~» HI m '"'"Hi ■y i f ■ ■*^-~ B 1 \ * - \J : ?t f ' ' i B ijrown Bros. Storing butter that has been packed for market in a modern cold storage warehouse into pound bricks. The butter is then wrapped in specially prepared paper and shipped to market. II 162 THE STORY OF FOODS The world's greatest butter makers. The United States makes about 650,000,000 pounds of creamery ****S\ W A. |W ^ /^3» i : • «■ ^Hk, *-Vj ^. *U d B M 191 jHr- • to m Jlj^fl BKs, ^^jj ■Jrm IP^^vBjH ' ]f j. /.; L / p */ / n TSBKt gSK_JW * Wmt ' Starting butter on its way to the consumer. A subway freight train is transferring it from a storage warehouse to a refrigerator car of an outgoing train butter a year. Of dairy butter, which is made on the farm and usually sold in bulk, the United States produces about 995,000,000 pounds a year. In one year the United States exported more than 6,000,000 pounds of butter to other countries. The greatest butter-making countries in the world are the United States, Canada, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, and Germany. The United States rivals Denmark in the quality of its butter. Renovated butter. Perhaps you have heard of "renovated butter" or "processed butter." This is made by working over low-grade or slightly spoiled butter. MILK AND BUTTER 163 The processed or renovated butter is made from "packing stock," which is old butter gathered from various sources. The "packing stock" is melted down and the oil drawn or ladled out, the salt and foreign matter settling to the bottom of the tanks. This leaves pure butter oil. This oil is then aerated and sweetened by having fresh air blown through it. After this process it is again placed in a churn and some good cream or whole milk added to give it the desired flavor. Salt is then worked in and the finished product put into packages. The manufacture of renovated butter is controlled by the internal revenue department of the United States government. The factories producing this product are given license numbers which must appear on their packages, which are sold under a revenue stamp. Chapter IX CHEESE One of our oldest industries. Cheese making is one of the world's oldest industries, and cheese has been used as food from a very early date. It is frequently mentioned in the Old Testament. There is found Job's complaining inquiry: " Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?" and David carried "ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand." Climate a factor in cheese making. Few manu- factured foods are so dependent upon natural con- ditions — such as location, soil, water, and climate — as cheese, for cheese making is an agricultural as well as a manufacturing industry. This fact, together with its wonderful history, makes cheese one of the most fascinating subjects in the study of food geography. But the two elements which have most to do with determining the qualities of cheese are locality and climate. A little later, when you read about the cheese makers of the Old World, you will learn why cheese making with them is not only a community craft but an inherited occupation. But now let us see how sensitive cheese is to the influences of climate. The climate of one locality may differ only a little from that of another region near by, and yet that slight variation in temperature and rainfall — for these are the chief characteristics of climate — may be enough to fix borders within which a certain kind 164 CHEESE 165 of cheese can be made and beyond which it cannot be made with assured success. In cheese produc- tion climate draws geographical boundaries both narrow and exact. All cheese is made from milk, and nearly all domesticated animals which give milk in considerable quantities have a share in cheese Courtesy of Wisconsin Dairy and Food Commission In a Wisconsin cheese factory. Placing hoops, filled with curd, in the cheese press production. Of these animals cows, goats, sheep, camels, and horses are the principal ones. Because cheese is made from milk, good pasturage is necessary. This can be had only where there is an abundant rainfall, or where irrigation supplies the necessary moisture. Most of our domestic cheese is made in Wisconsin and New York. In those states all the cheese factories are in localities which during the cheese-making season — May to Septem- ber, inclusive — have a mean temperature of about 166 THE STORY OF FOODS 65° F. Experiments conducted by the United States government have established the fact that nearly all these factories are in districts which have a grow- ing season of about one hundred and fifty days. Two great cheese-producing states. Since Wis- consin now produces more cheese than any other state, let us study the work of the cheese makers of that state and also the cheese they produce. There are about 2,000,000 dairy cows in Wis- consin and more than 2,000 cheese factories. About one fourth of the factories are engaged in making "foreign style" cheese. In one year the great cheese-making district of southwestern Wisconsin produced about 30,000,000 pounds of "foreign style" cheese. New York produces almost as much cheese as Wisconsin and both states make many kinds of "foreign style" cheeses. Brick and domestic Swiss cheese are the principal products of the Wisconsin cheese makers, while New York stands unrivaled in the quantity of high-grade Limburger produced. Coming of the Swiss cheese makers. In his admirable work on the Wisconsin cheese industry Professor O. E. Baker, of the United States Depart- ment of Agriculture, says: "The coming of the Swiss to southwestern Wis- consin commenced in 1845, when 140 immigrants arrived from Glarus, the Canton authorities having appropriated 1500 Gulden to send them over to relieve the labor surplus at home, caused by de- pressed financial conditions at that time. The immigrants settled in the northwestern portion of Green County, and named the town New Glarus in memory of their old home. This portion of Green CHEESE 167 County is rough to rolling in topography, and although these early pioneers did not find anything Courtesy of Wisconsin Dairy and Food Commission Removing the cheese from the hoop after it has been pressed to the proper hardness here to compare with their beloved Alps, they did find an abundance of hills, with cool springs and ever-flowing streams between, and a soil similar to that of their native land. " Other Swiss followed in 1846 and 1847, among them also a few cheese makers, and although they were poor, they were industrious and frugal, and were soon able to purchase a cow. After a while they would buy another cow, and a few years later a third. Thus the industry grew slowly, under the domestic system of production, for about thirty years, keeping time to the tinkling of the cowbells, which every sentimental Swiss even to-day insists upon attaching to his favorite cow/' It was not until about 1870 that the supply of 168 THE STORY OF FOODS cheese made by these thrifty Swiss folk exceeded the local demand. But before that time a little cheese had been sold to the German people of Milwaukee and Madison, who were already familiar with the excellent qualities of Swiss cheese, or " Schweitzer Kase," as they called it. To-day Wisconsin is producing annually many million pounds of cheese which is being sent to all parts of our country. Yet there are Swiss families in the state still making cheese after the manner of their forefathers in the Old World. In fact, there is to-day one little cheese factory where three genera- tions of the same family are working, side by side, producing cheese closely resembling that which their forbears made on the grassy slopes of the beautiful Alps. From father to son. No one knows how long the people of Europe have been making cheese, for this food dates back beyond written history. It is not unlikely that cheese making began in an effort to utilize the surplus milk to insure a food supply in times of scarcity. Cheese making is an art that is handed down from generation to generation — and the knowledge of how to make the particular cheeses for which they are famous is perhaps the richest possession of the people in certain districts. As soon as he is capable of learning anything, a boy in the cheese-making section of Switzerland is taught that he is to follow the trade of his father. Of course there may be exceptions to this rule, but in the cheese-making districts they are rare. The Swiss children raised in the cheese-making communities understand that they are to make the same kind of cheese as their fathers, mothers, grandparents, CHEESE 169 and great grandparents made — and make it in the same place. The same thing is true of France and Norway. This is one of the best examples of inherited callings and of home crafts- manship, and vocational edu- cation at the hands of parents to be found anywhere in the world. "Foreign style " and im- ported cheeses. In practically every important cheese-mak- ing district in the United States one will find little factories where experts from the Old World, either German, Swiss, French, Italian, Dutch, or Swedish, using the same care make a product much like that made by their forefathers. However, we must not forget that certain European cheeses cannot be successfully imitated in this coun- try and that the " foreign style" cheeses made here are not identical with those of the Old World upon which they are modeled. But each year the foreign style cheeses made by experts who have inherited the skill of European makers are becoming more popular. This is true even with consumers who are familiar with the imported article. While our domestic, or American-made, cheese is both nourishing and " tasty," there are many Americans who are satisfied with nothing less than genuine imported cheeses. It is for these people that the European countries each year send many Courtesy ot Wisconsin Dairy and Food Commission Determining ripeness of the milk before add- ing the rennet 170 THE STORY OF FOODS thousand pounds of cheese across the sea. From Italy alone we receive a dozen different kinds. Display of imported and domestic cheese carried by a great grocery house. It represents products from nine countries and thirteen states England and France also contribute a large variety, as do Holland, Belgium, and Denmark. The following descriptions cover the various cheeses carried by high-grade grocery stores and delicatessen shops in a large city. There are many more kinds of cheeses — one authority describes two hundred and forty-six different kinds — but these will be enough to enable you to learn what countries help supply the cheese for our tables. Norwegian cheese. From the high mountain sides of Norway we receive ged ost (goat's milk) cheese. This is a combination of certain grains, sweetening, and goat's milk curd. It has a sweetish taste, and is the color of maple sugar. From Nor- way we also get gammal ost (old cheese) which is CHEESE 171 made of cow's milk and packed in straw until prop- erly cured. Edam cheese. Edam is the great cheese of the Netherlands. It comes in balls, almost as large as your head. It is often done up in tinfoil and is usually painted red with a vegetable coloring, and then coated with paraffin. Edam varies a great deal in quality because of the differing percentages of butter fat taken out of the milk before the cheese is made. When no butter fat has been removed from the milk, the cheese contains from 45 to 50 per cent of butter fat. Another grade of Edam cheese contains from 20 to 30 per cent, or even less, of butter fat. Most of this cheese is made by the peasant women on the farms in the Netherlands and brought to market, where it is sold to the consumer as many farmers of this country sell eggs and butter. Roquefort, Camembert, and Brie. The best- known French cheese is Roquefort, which comes from the town of Roquefort, perched high on a mountain in the Department of Aveyron. French historians tell us that, as far back as " Bible times,' ' cheese was carried from Roquefort to the Mediterranean Sea. This was due to the fact that Roquefort is ideally located for the making of cheese. The peasant people used to carry cheese to the top of the mountain and hide it in the limestone caves, which were found to be especially fitted by nature for the storing of cheese. The cool temperature of the caves made them excellent storehouses. Finally, a knowledge and appreciation of this famous cheese began to extend beyond the Roque- fort district. Then men of keen business sense 172 THE STORY OF FOODS started to buy and sell it to meet a growing demand. And that was the beginning of the famous Roquefort Curing Roquefort cheese in a limestone cave cheese industry. As the business grew the caves were enlarged. Now each cave cut out of the limestone has an air shaft coming out of the top of the mountain and is well lighted. The chief occupation of the peasants around Roquefort is making cheese, which they bring to the caves to sell. Every family within miles of Roque- fort brings cheese to the various caves. This cheese is made of sheep's milk. Great flocks of sheep, raised especially for their milk, graze on the moun- tain side about this quaint old town. So great is the demand for Roquefort cheese that there are more than 600,000 milch sheep on these hills and mountains. The shepherds wear dark, gownlike coats which CHEESE 173 reach almost to the ground and give them a most picturesque appearance. Most of the clothing of the shepherds and their families is made from wool taken from the backs of their own sheep and carded, spun, and woven in their little stone cottages. Besides the shepherd, each flock is also tended by two dogs. These dogs move the sheep about over the grazing grounds or "commons" with a quietness and care that astonish visitors. Usually the sheep are brought into the fold each night for milking and shelter. The southern slopes of the mountains and foothills, fresh and green in winter, become burned and browned in summer. Therefore winter grazing is on the southern slopes, while in summer the flocks feed from the northern exposures. Among pastoral people in Europe there are none, perhaps, more interesting and picturesque than the shepherds of Roquefort. The habits and dress of Receiving cheeses in the storage room of a limestone cave these people have altered but little since the com- mercial world, centuries ago, first heard of Roquefort 174 THE STORY OF FOODS cheese. Grandfather, father, and son are shepherds; grandmother, mother, and daughter are milkmaids — and all are cheese makers. In many instances, however, the shepherds milk their flocks. Every morning the milk is skimmed, strained, and warmed almost to the boiling point. It is then put into pans and stirred with willow wythes. A little rennet is used to curdle the milk. After the curds have formed they are mixed with a specially pre- pared barley bread, which starts the green mold always to be seen in Roquefort cheese and helps to give it its distinctive flavor. The cheese is allowed to remain in the press for several days and is then taken to the caves and sold. There it is cured with salt. Girls employed in the caves rub the outside of the cheese with salt until __^___^ all the pores are closed. This forms the rind. The cheeses are cured in the caves for about four months, when they are shipped to nearly all parts of the world. One legend as to the ; '\ f y origin of the Roque- ♦ 7 *y f fort cheese tells us that Jl...,,^;,, , * ' ' one rainy day a shep- herd sought shelter in one of the limestone A fine sample of Roquefort cheese caves near the present city of Roquefort and that, in hurrying away after his flock, he left his lunch of sheep's milk cheese and bread behind. Some weeks later he was again driven to seek shelter in the cave and found his cheese thickly CHEESE 175 molded. He tasted it and liked it so much that he formed the habit of leaving cheese in the cave Turning the cheeses that are being cured in a storage cave to mold. Later he gave some to the village cure, who was enthusiastic over its flavor and began experiments in producing a quantity of it for the other priests, who were finally responsible for mak- ing it a popular favorite. While the peasant life about Roquefort has not changed in the least, the caves represent the most advanced and modern methods of handling cheese. They are electric lighted throughout and equipped with every mechanical convenience. Enormous motor trucks haul the cheese from the caves to the various shipping points. The whole industry is run on an efficient, business-like basis. Camembert is another famous French cheese. It is made from cow's milk and is a soft, rich, creamy cheese hailing from Normandy. A small cheese, it is put up in round wooden boxes, making a package that weighs about ten ounces. Like Roquefort, it has a world-wide popularity. It was first made i < ft; \5 N ~G •' /^~ ^ v j gg Wwx r Is l a s ■ M A%Q P U - >tiJo\r ?pn)nvf b* CHEESE 177 about 1790. Its flavor is as distinctive as it is pleasing, which makes it a favorite wherever rich table delicacies are in demand. This style of cheese is successfully made in the United States. Imported Brie cheese, mention of which is made as early as 1407, comes largely from the region of Brie in the district of the Marne in France. This cheese is made from cow's milk in the homes of the farmers and is put up in the shape of a pie. It is usually cured in cool basements. The packer and shipper of this cheese sends his wagon around to the homes of the makers, picks up the cheeses, and brings them to a central place where they are cured and packed. In taste Brie cheese is quite similar to Camembert — which is paying it a high compliment. A good many imported Brie cheeses come from Fontaine- bleau, a place intimately connected with the life of Napoleon. Italian cheeses. Perhaps the most familiar Ital- ian cheese is the Parmesan, which is used mostly by chefs for flavoring spaghetti, macaroni, and other dishes. It is thus used because it is so hard that it can be grated and produce an even mixture, and also because it has strength enough to give the required flavor. Parmesan cheese is made from skimmed cow's milk and, under proper conditions, may be kept for several years. Gorgonzola is the aristocrat of Italian cheeses. It is very widely used and is somewhat similar to Roquefort, but not so expensive. Like Roquefort it is made of sheep's milk, but is milder in flavor. Gorgonzola is put up in twenty-pound baskets, one cheese to a basket. The outside of this cheese is covered with a preparation made chiefly from 12 178 THE STORY OF FOODS gypsum and tallow. This coating makes it possible to keep the cheese for a year or more. Much of this cheese comes from the province of Lombardy. Genuine Swiss cheeses. Most of us are familiar with the rich, delicate flavor of Swiss cheese. There are a good many kinds of "Swiss style " cheeses made in America. While this cheese is rich and of pleasant In a corner of a cheese refrigerator in an American wholesale grocery. Cheese packed and cared for in this way remains fresh for a long time flavor, it lacks a certain quality, not easily described, although detected at once by the sensitive taste of the cheese lover. It is the product of an inherited art, together with climatic conditions which do not exist in this country. It is also possible to tell by sight the difference between the genuine imported Swiss and the "Swiss style" American-made cheese. The real Alpine article has very large "eyes" and is fine in texture. CHEESE 179 The Swiss cheese known as Emmenthaler is made of cow's milk, and is put up in wheels of about two hundred pounds each. Its manufacture is said to require more labor than that of any other cheese. This is because it must be washed and rubbed with salt each alternate day for the first week or so and then a little less frequently until it is fully cured. You will surely wish to know the history of Em- menthaler cheese, which dates back many centuries. Long ago the thai or valley of the Emme in the Alps became a great cheese center; hence the name Emmenthaler. Ever since the conquests of Caesar, and probably before, the peasants of Switzer- land have pastured their cows on the grassy slopes of the Alps. Emmenthaler cheese is made in small, immacu- lately clean factories, or cheese dairies, scattered throughout the numerous valleys which lie between the beautiful foothills and mountains of Switzerland. A factory is usually run by one family. This family may consist of a mother and father, some children, and perhaps the grandparents, all engaged in making cheese. Often a family factory will include only a man and his wife. There is a basement cheese depot in the city of Bern where, for fifteen gen- erations, members of one family have cured and handled Emmenthaler cheese. Emmenthaler like Brie cheese is cured in base- ments or cool cellars. It is repeatedly treated with the amount of moisture and salt necessary to give it the desired flavor. This treatment consists of first washing the cheese with pure, cool water which bubbles from a mountain spring, and then rubbing the "loaf" or "wheel" with salt. The salt soon 180 THE STORY OF FOODS dissolves and great beads of water are left standing all over the loaves. For this reason it is often called Courtesy of K. A. White A Swiss herd of cows and goats on the way to fresh pasture "weeping Emmenthaler." The salt strikes into the cheese, giving it a peculiar flavor. The frequency with which this process is repeated largely determines the quality of the cheese. The average Alpine factory will make 200 to 400 pounds of cheese a day. Occasionally one of the co-operative factories will make four loaves, or 800 pounds, a day — two loaves from the morning's and two from the evening's milk. As a rule the family which does the cheese making has no part in producing the milk. Experts at their trade, these cheese makers are paid for their labor by those who own and tend the herds. The cheese factories are neighborhood affairs and nearly all of them are co-operative, the profits or losses from the CHEESE 181 enterprise being shared by those farmers who send milk to it. Usually the cans of milk are hauled to the creamery in small, two-wheeled carts drawn by dogs. When the grade is steep or the pulling hard the peasant often takes hold of an extra strap or rope and gives the dog team a little friendly help. The Alpine pastures are indescribably rich and green, and are given a watchful care seldom bestowed upon meadows in America. They are much more like velvety lawns than pastures. In the lower districts about 80 per cent of the Swiss cheese is made where the cattle remain the year round. The cows are not allowed their freedom in a fenced pas- ture as in this country, but are staked out. No cow is moved on to a fresh grazing spot until she has made a clean job of cropping the grass Within the circle of her tether. This practice prevents the trampling and wasting of grass that is not eaten. The problem of plowing fields and doing other heavy farm work is often solved by the thrifty Swiss in a way almost unknown in this country. The milch cows are yoked and worked as we work oxen in America. But great care and judgment are required in order that this work shall not check or injure the cows' yield of milk. So the careful Swiss farmer, instead of working one pair of cows all day, uses three or four pairs in the course of a day's plowing and drives them so slowly that they chew their cuds contentedly while pulling the plow. But not all Swiss cheese is made under the co- operative plan. There is another kind of cheese making that is as picturesque as the scenes among which it is practiced. It might be called "following the snow line." 182 THE STORY OF FOODS Before Switzerland became a republic, certain lords and nobles received grants of lands or "alps." Haying time on an Alpine farm. Thrifty Siviss farmers use the milch cows for farm work These alps were leased and released to one generation after another of the same peasant families. The word "alp" means not only a very high mountain but also a high mountain pasture and this is the meaning of the term when used in connection with the leased rights of pasturage. As soon as the snow begins to melt in the spring, the Swiss peasant having a pasture right of this kind starts with his herd and a portable cheese-making outfit on a slow ascent of the slope. Of course the snow begins melting from the lower edge of the great drift. Then only a few hours after the sun has banished it from a stretch of mountain side a green carpet of grass appears. CHEESE 183 The herdsmen who "follow the snow line" and graze their cows on these lofty Alpine pastures are usually their own cheese makers. They remain on the high slopes making cheeses until forced down by the coming of cold weather. Sometimes they and their cheese-making outfits are sheltered in rude stone huts, but very often in tents. When eating a piece of genuine imported Swiss cheese you may well say to yourself: "Quite possibly this was made by a wandering herdsman high up in the great Alps and cured in a rough hut or in a grotto built over a moun- Courtesy of R. A. White All summer the Swiss cheese maker stays on the high mountain pasture, herding his cows and making cheese until winter sends him back to the valleys tain spring. Probably he took his older boys and girls with him to watch the cows and 'keep house' 184 THE STORY OF FOODS while he made the cheese and washed and rubbed it until it was cured." The prospect of a summer vacation of this kind would make many an American boy or girl almost wild with delight. English cheeses. From England we receive Stilton cheese, which is made in Leicestershire. It is made from the whole milk of cows, to which cream has been added, and is put up in twelve-pound cases of cheddar shape. Some Stilton cheese is cured by putting it in a bladder and smothering it in Bur- gundy wine. Although this is often done, it is by no means the usual method of curing. Stilton is a very rich cheese and has a sharp tang which suggests a family resemblance to Roquefort and Gorgonzola. It is said to have been made, for the first time, about the middle of the eighteenth century. Although few Cheshire cheeses find their way to America this cheese is probably the favorite with the English public. It might be called the mother of all English cheese from the fact that it is the oldest type made in the United Kingdom. It is made from cow's milk, unskimmed, and has a rich color and taste. A peculiarity of Cheshire cheese making is the use of a heated wooden box called an "oven." There is a cheese called the Cheshire-Stilton which combines the main characteristics of these two famous English cheeses. Another celebrated English cheese is the Cheddar. It takes its name from the quaint little hamlet of Cheddar in Somersetshire. Although this is con- sidered a good cheese it is especially important from the fact that it has given its name not only CHEESE 185 to a style of cheese but also to a shape, which suggests a tall, round bandbox. This form has become the standard in America for the regular domestic " cream cheese" of commerce. The pecul- iarity of the English Cheddar in point of quality is its decided acidity. It is made from the sweet milk of cows. Canada makes large quantities of Cheddar cheese, but of a type more closely resembling the Cheddars of the United States than those of England. This is virtually the only kind of cheese made in Canada, which in a normal year produces about 200,000,000 pounds, of which it exports 180,000,000 pounds. Other foreign cheeses. Germany is famed for its brick cheese, as well as for its Limburger. Lim- burger cheese, however, originated in Limbourg, Belgium, and not in Germany. Caerphilly is a hard Welsh cheese made from cow's milk; it is put up in eight-pound packages. Bohe- mia sends us Liptau cheese, which is made from goat's milk and is usually seasoned with red pepper and spices. It is packed in tinfoil. Odd types of cheese. There are many curious developments in cheese making — or at least they so appear to the boy or girl of the United States — caused by the kind of material available for curd. These oddities teach us that man is determined to have cheese and that he will make it of whatever kind of milk is most convenient for him to use. For example, in Lapland the most common cheese is made from the milk of reindeer. In certain parts of Italy, where the tame buffalo is much used as a work animal, a cheese called Latticini is made from buffalo's milk. 186 THE STORY OF FOODS Several kinds of cheese are made by mixing the milk of different kinds of animals. The Montasio cheese of Carinthia, in Austria, is a blend of milk from cows and goats. In curing it is rubbed with olive oil. There are several styles of cheese made by mixing the milk of goats and sheep. One of the most remarkable of what might be called cheese confections is the "flower" cheese of England — a delicious soft cheese in which are impris- oned the petals of roses or marigolds, or other fra- grant blooms which give their bouquet to the cheese. Venezuela has a curious cheese called Queso de Cincho made in the form of balls pressed in palm leaves. The queer Gouda cheese of Holland — packed in bladders — occasionally reaches the Ameri- can market. Sources of our cheese supply. In a normal year we import about 50,000,000 pounds, or about $10,000,000 worth, of cheese. Of this Italy fur- nishes over 40 per cent, Switzerland 35 per cent, France about 9 per cent, the Netherlands 7 per cent, and Greece contributes about 5 per cent. In one year we imported more than $11,000,000 worth of cheese. Of this we bought $5,024,270 worth from Italy, $3,617,651 worth from Switzer- land, $1,032,817 worth from France, $455,159 worth from the Netherlands, and $447,124 worth from Greece. We also bought cheese from several other countries of Europe, Asia, Oceania, and South America and from Canada. It is well to remember, however, that about 95 per cent of the cheese eaten in the United States is made in this country. Chapter X HONEY The story of honey, one of our most popular sweets, is older than the Bible, older even than history. It was a favorite food of the ancients to whom sugar was unknown. What is honey? Honey is the nectar secreted by the glands of flowers and gathered by bees for their winter use. Of all the sweets that come to our tables, honey is undoubtedly the most delicate and fragrant. It might almost be called the per- fume of foods, for honey is the very essence of the flowers, sometimes retaining their distinctive aroma. Naturally the flowers of heavy perfume, growing in southern climates, secrete honey of much stronger flavor than those of a milder odor, common to more northerly climates. The warmer or temperate lands produce more honey because they have a greater abundance of flowers. Nevertheless, honey is gath- ered as far north as Finland and Quebec during the summer months. How honey is stored. Housed in hives, the bees build combs made of layers of pure wax and divided into thousands of tiny cells in which the honey is stored. As it takes the bees about half their time to build the combs, the modern bee farmer makes the comb bases for them of beeswax. The bees accept these gifts and begin their work of gather- ing honey with little loss of time. Bees as consumers of honey. The honey which the little workers store in the combs is used to feed 187 188 THE STORY OF FOODS their young and to provision the entire swarm through the unproductive months when there are no One of the large bee ranches in California. The vast orchards and vineyards oj this state afford ideal conditions for the apiarist flowers from which to gather sweets. So the bee farmer must not take all the honey gathered by the bees; he must see that they have their share. For this purpose, the hive is divided into two parts, the lower, or "brood," section being for the honey used as bee food, and the upper part being for the honey which goes to the bee farmer, after the brood combs are filled. The frames, with their wax sheets of comb foun- dation, are called sections, each of which is intended to hold a pound of honey. Large frames are used when the beekeeper intends to extract the honey before marketing it. Quality, color, and flavor of honey. Most flowers secrete nectar, though by no means in uniform quantity or flavor. To this fact are due the differ- ences in quality, color, and flavor found among the HONEY 189 if Frank C. Pellett, Atlantic, Iowa A frame of honey to be extracted brands of honey from different parts of the world. The honey produced from orange blossoms, for instance, is of light color and mild flavor, while that produced from buckwheat is noted for its dark color and its very pronounced flavor. The quality of honey is also affected by the soil from which the flow- ers draw the material for making their nectar. Honey-yielding plants. In the United States, the greater part of the honey produced is alfalfa honey from the Western States, where several million dollars' worth is sold every year. Sweet clover, white sage, and other mountain flowers also contrib- ute to the western supply. In the Central States, white clover, sweet clover, Spanish needle, and heartsease furnish much of the supply. In the Southern States, cotton, mesquite, horsemint, and sweet clover, and in the East, North, and Canada, buckwheat and white clover are the leading honey flowers. Orange blossoms, cleome, aster, and basswood complete the list of the principal honey-yielding plants of North America. The bees of Scotland gather their honey from the Courtesy of Frank C. Pellett, Atlantic, Iowa A busy day at the hive 190 THE STORY OF FOODS heather. The honey of England and Northern France is much like that of Scotland. In Mexico, the bees #< A to •» ^ *.*^9* .^ Courtesy of Frank C. Pellett, Atlantic, Iowa A frame of brood and bees secure it from the mesquite, the guajilla, the catclaw, and the horsemint. In the vicinity of Narbonne, France, the bees make Narbonne honey, which is like our white clover honey. The bees of Greece still draw their nectar from the wild thyme, as they have done from earliest ages when Mount Hymettus, near Athens, was celebrated, in many a classic master- piece of prose and verse, for the quality of its honey. Poisonous honey. Can you find Trebizond on your map? It is a town on the Black Sea in Asiatic Turkey. The bees in the country around Trebizond collect honey from poisonous flowers, and as a result the honey found there is poisonous. Great care is used to warn strangers against its use. Honey experts the world over know about the injurious qualities of Trebizond honey. HONEY 191 New and old ways of handling honey. You may have heard about "bee trees" and the ancient method of gathering honey from hollow logs or stationary boxes covered with boards. The old- fashioned bee farmer did not know how to gather his honey without making a dense cloud of smoke to drive out the bees, or killing the whole swarm with -sulphur fumes. The combs, which had to be cut from the box, could not possibly be removed without injuring the swarm. The honey obtained by this Courtesy of "American Bee Journal' Bee farmers of an up-to-date apiary taking the frames of honey from the hives method was usually of poor quality, containing bits of wood, bee glue, bee bread or pollen, and dead bees. 192 THE STORY OF FOODS So when it was pressed out of the combs, it had to be strained, thereby gaining the name of ''strained" honey. The up-to-date bee farmer, however, uses movable frame hives and honey sections, in which each comb is hung separately in a frame. With the aid of a little smoke to keep the bees quiet, he can remove the honey with small waste of time and without killing a single bee or so much as getting his hands sticky from honey. This method enables him to keep the honey pure and sanitary and free from contact with any touch save that of the bees. Kinds of honey. When we go into a store to buy honey, we find that there are usually three kinds from which to choose. Comb honey is the product in the comb, just as it comes from the hive. Strained honey, now generally known as extracted honey, is that which has been extracted from the combs, strained, and put up in bottles or cans. It forms about nine tenths of all the honey sold. Candied or granulated honey is honey that has been allowed to crystallize into a kind of sugar. Blending honey. Because of the great variety of honey flavors, it is customary to blend the product, much as coffees and teas are blended. For instance, the flavor of the honey made from mountain sage is very mild, while that made from buckwheat is decidedly strong. But a blend of these two makes a very delicious honey. Wide use of honey. Honey is one of the most widely used of all foods. We are told by an explorer that when traveling through a river basin in the wildest and most unfrequented part of Burma and Tibet, his party was able to secure from the Lissu HONEY 193 natives besides a few pounds of rice and maize two bamboo tubes full of honey. In one year, the United States imported from other countries more than 115,000 gallons of honey. About half of this came from Cuba, and perhaps a third from Mexico. Among many other countries from which we receive honey are Greece, New Zealand, Tasmania, China, Japan, Portugal, Switzer- land, Jamaica, England, Russia, and Turkey. 13 Chapter XI POULTRY Poultry and the meat supply. The importance of poultry as a part of our national meat supply is appreciated by very few of us. Outside of the poultry trade there is probably not one person in ten thousand who has a true idea of the immense volume of this kind of meat produced and consumed in our country every year. The people of the United States eat annually more than 250,000,000 domestic fowls, such as chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, pigeons, and guinea fowls. Probably the reason why the importance of poul- try is so little appreciated is that the production is to so great an extent incidental. Almost every farmer in America has a flock of chickens which have the run of the farm and to which little attention is paid because they pick up the most of their living. Then, too, it is the common practice for the family in the village or country town to keep a few chickens, not as a money-making enterprise, but because the flock consumes the table waste and in return fur- nishes fresh eggs. Raising poultry. To a large extent poultry is a by-product of the farm and the village home, and is not produced like beef, pork, and mutton as a means of livelihood, or as a business enterprise. There- fore the magnitude of this food resource escapes the serious consideration of almost everybody. The very fact that a small flock of chickens can be kept by the village family having only a tiny 194 POULTRY 195 patch of ground — perhaps just enough for a small henhouse and a little yard — suggests the secret of the enormous total of poultry production. In other words, the army of poultry raisers vastly outnumbers those engaged in raising cattle, hogs, or sheep. Because the great volume of poultry raising is done in an incidental way, it must not be understood that it is never conducted as an industry in itself. There are thousands of poultry ranches in this country devoted to the exclusive production of table fowls and eggs. Then, too, it must be remembered that millions of city dwellers, especially those living in flats and apartments, are denied the privilege of keeping even a small flock of hens. This public, which is extremely large, must depend upon the - ,. A _ f • | UP \ ! ... | ; ;'«!! I &i»p*^jgg ^M? ""* ' "" iV ' V '"^*M Raising poultry as a business enterprise. There are twenty-five hundred hens kept on this successful poultry ranch feathered flocks of the farm, the village, and the "chicken ranch" for their eggs and poultry. 196 THE STORY OF FOODS But the man who raises the poultry does not usually sell his product direct to the consumer, any : \ 1 W "" ■' '^^S^R^HnU ^^^9 Newly hatched chicks in the brooder house of a great poultry plant more than does the man who raises the beef we eat. There are middlemen who look after all the work connected with preparing and marketing these fowls. Feeding stations. The service of the middleman is sometimes far more interesting than you would suspect. As an instance, take the "feeding station" or "poultry-fleshing factory," as one of the United States government experts calls it: "The manufacture of chicken flesh is being put on a factory basis and made into a factory proposi- tion, improving the quality and increasing the quantity. In other words, we are learning how to do things. "The farmer feeds his birds on corn, if he feeds them at all. Generally, however, they must forage POULTRY 197 for a living. These birds when sent to the poultry packer are far from fat. It does not pay to ship other than plump birds to the market — hence the poultry dresser has installed what he terms 'feeding stations,' but which are, in reality, chicken-fleshing factories. " These are light, airy sheds, or rooms, holding anywhere from 10,000 to 50,000 chickens, or other fowls, at a time. They are kept in what are termed 'poultry feeding batteries/ which are mammoth bird cages constructed either of wire or of wire and wood. The birds eat out of feeding coops, which are kept scrupulously clean. "Only a few birds are put into each cage, that all may have plenty of air and each may get his full jE-Jf ' ! '^W^|Jp^ipy V,.* 1 i * h '$* * \- ^ i ■JT- : .../ , *.. *<-',,''.. , ''" :;: ■ : ""' : '-:'-"^-''^: lllliiiiMMIBHB ^4 turkey drive. The advance guard of fifteen hundred young turkeys and their mothers on their way to market in an approaching holiday season share of feed at the feeding time, which is, ordi- narily, twice a day. After being in these cages for 198 THE STORY OF FOODS fourteen days the birds are killed and dressed. During that time they are expected to gain at least qA3»r.> "^>-XJL Section of a pigeon-breeding yard. There is a constant and increasing demand for squabs or young pigeons 20 per cent of their original weight. Frequently they gain more. The flesh which is produced under these circumstances is very tender and better flavored than that of the chickens that are allowed to run loose and pick up what feed they can find. "The feed used in these fleshing factories is a mixture of corn, wheat, oats, and buttermilk, and in some cases meat scrap or alfalfa is added. The buttermilk is by far the most important part of the ration and is responsible for such birds having the market designation 'milk fed.' "After the poultry is killed, unless consumed locally it is shipped to city markets or cold storage plants. In cold storage it can be kept in perfect POULTRY 199 condition for several months, and marketed when fresh poultry is scarce. Into these cold storage plants go millions of dollars' worth of poultry every year, and there it is held until the fresh stock is exhausted and the markets call for the reserve birds." Cold storage poultry. Concerning the ability of American cold storage plants to furnish poultry in season, the same government expert says: "The poultry which is coming to market in such enormous quantities is going to the storage ware- houses very largely, and we have no public reports of the holdings of poultry in warehouses, either public or private, in this country. But we know this: that all broilers (young chickens) for the entire year's supply are produced from July to October. All soft-meated roasters (chickens about six months old) are produced from September to December. There is never a time on any market when one cannot obtain these strictly seasonal types of chickens provided one is willing to pay for them. Therefore, it may be assumed that a sufficient number of broilers and roasters go into the ware- houses to supply the demand throughout the nine months during which each variety is not produced." Wild fowl. While the people of this country each year kill and eat hundreds of thousands of wild fowl of various kinds, mainly ducks, geese, quail, prairie chicken, partridges, pheasants, and turkeys, the volume of our wild game food with each year is fast becoming smaller and smaller. Every state in the Union, as well as the national government, has strict laws intended to keep the killing of game birds within reasonable limits. But in spite of these wise 200 THE STORY OF FOODS statutes, this branch of our food resources, which might well be called the poultry of the woods, has been steadily shrinking until it is now only a mere fraction of its former volume. For this reason many states are wisely liberating large numbers of English pheasants, quail, and other game birds that can be successfully hatched and reared in captivity. Where this has been done in a systematic and intelligent way, the woods and prairies have been restocked with game birds as fine and as valuable for food as those upon which the pioneers of our country depended for their "feathered meat." It is well to remember that the early settlers of our country depended upon wild game for meat Courtesy of Wallace Evi A flock of English pheasants. To-day large numbers of pheasants are being reared to replace the game birds of our country to almost as great an extent as we do to-day upon the "poultry-fleshing stations" and chicken ranches. Chapter XII MEATS The live-stock industry. The world's meat indus- try is so immense that one needs a keen imagination indeed in order to grasp its size and importance. It contributes to the tables of every civilized people Courtesy of N. Dak. Dept. Agr. and Labor A herd of cattle on a ranch in the Northwest, one of the important meat-producing sections of the United States and to the feasts of many savage tribes, and it draws upon the resources of almost every country. The ranges and pastures of the United States, the plains of Hungary, the steppes of Russia, the pampas of South America, and the wild reaches of the Austra- lian "salt bush" all help in the giant task of pro- ducing the world's meat. No country is so densely populated and none so sparsely settled that it is not called upon to share in the interesting labor of raising live stock to feed the human race. Each country naturally selects that part of the work for which it is best adapted. 201 202 THE STORY OF FOODS England the nursery of the meat industry. It might be thought, for example, that England, with its 51,000 square miles of land and its 34,000,000 population, would leave the raising of animals to countries with much more room for the four-footed creatures. But the "tight little isle" may fairly be called the nursery of the live-stock industry, for it raises the breeding material for the finest flocks and herds of the great meat-producing coun- tries of the world. In other words, the beauti- ful country estates of England do for the live-stock industry of the United States, Canada, South America, Australia, and South Africa what the research laboratory does for the great manufacturing industry that it is intended to serve — they develop with the greatest degree of certainty and at the smallest expense the types of live stock best calcu- lated to meet special public demands. For instance, in the early stages of the cattle industry in America the Texas longhorn, a wild, gaunt creature, was the most common type. While it was adapted to range over wide reaches of country and could exist on plains that would look like deserts to the boy or girl of our settled farming country, it was not easy to fatten. Cattle of this kind have been almost wholly supplanted by the Hereford, the Shorthorn, and the Angus breeds developed on English meadows. There, by patient selection, has been bred a type of animal which, on the smallest amount of feed, takes on the greatest amount of flesh in the shortest period of time. In sheep, Shropshires, Hampshires, and Oxfords are equally celebrated types of mutton sheep which have been perfected in England and distributed to MEATS 203 distant parts of the world. They have become the ancestors of the great flocks that graze on the western Descendants of a famous English breed of Sheep. A flock of celebrated Hampshire Downs in the "Blue Grass Country" of Kentucky ranges of the United States, the plains of Australia, the pampas of South America, and the veldts of South Africa. As a nursery for the types of swine which are in greatest demand where the biggest part of the world's pork is produced, England again heads the list, with the Berkshires, the Yorkshires, the Hampshires, and the Tamworths. In cattle, sheep, and swine, England has perfected many other breeds quite as famous as those men- tioned. Many other small and densely populated countries have helped to build up the live-stock industry in much this same way, although to a less extent than England. MEATS 205 Home of pedigreed stock. It is interesting to know that the ancestors of most of the meat animals of the great live-stock-producing countries of the world, like the ancestors of most of the people of the United States, have come from the small and highly developed countries of Europe. In thousands of instances the pedigree of these animals may be traced with quite as much exactness as the family trees of the widely scattered descendants of peoples in continental Europe and the British Isles. World-wide distribution of meat. Another inter- esting phase of the live-stock industry is its tendency to scatter out over the world and then return to the place of its origin. Yeai after year, England is sending to Australia, New Zealand, South America, South Africa, the United States, and Canada ' ' founda- tion stock" for flocks of sheep of the best mutton types, and the descendants of these sheep are sent back to England in the shape of frozen mutton. In the same way the cut of beef served in an English chop-house may easily have come from a Hereford steer born and pastured in Texas, and stall-fed in Illinois, whose grandsire was raised in Herefordshire, England. The remarkable range of distribution in canned and dried meats is suggested by the fact that various parts of a single beef animal, for example, may be eaten in a dozen different countries scattered widely over the surface of the earth. There is no spot on the globe reached by traffic where meats in these forms have not found their way. Meat-producing countries. Although about half the inhabitants of the earth eat but little meat, there are few people who do not eat at least some 206 THE STORY OF FOODS every year. The burden of the immense work of meat production falls chiefly upon nine countries, and of these only the Argentine, Australia, the United States, Canada, Uruguay, and New Zealand have enough range and pasturage to be able to export any considerable amount of meat. But Denmark, although a small country, sends large amounts of its famous bacon to all parts of the world. In normal times, Mexico and Russia also export a cer- tain amount of meat. Brazil is rapidly developing as an exporter of meats. The world's surplus of mutton is raised mostly in Australia, New Zealand, and the Argentine, and the excess beef in South America, Australia, and North America. Three fourths of the world's pork exports are from the United States. Practically all the beef eaten in countries where it is not extensively raised is grown on the American continents. The meat-exporting countries in one year sent almost 4,000,000,000 pounds of meat to the importing countries, most of it being "jerked" (dried) and frozen. America, however, exported some fresh meat, which was carried to European ports in fast refrigerated steamships. Stock raising in South Africa. There is constant pressure to extend the area of meat production. In far-off Africa much attention is being given to the raising of animals for meat. But in British South Africa adverse conditions exist and it is only by the greatest effort that the stock raisers there have been able to increase the production of meat animals. In some parts of that country, because of irregular and insufficient rainfall, it is necessary for every stock raiser to have both highland and lowland MEATS 207 ranges. The uplands are used in summer for range and the lowlands in winter. In the drier parts of South Africa it sometimes requires from ten to twelve acres of land to support one sheep, and at least five times as many acres are needed for each head of cattle. Suppose this condition existed in England or in Germany! The result would be an international calamity. In the thickly populated countries of Europe live stock must be raised on a minimum amount of land, and in Japan, where population is dense and tillable land scarce, the people practice intensive agriculture largely to the exclusion of the raising of live stock. To a great extent they sub- stitute fish from the sea for the meats we enjoy. American packing industry. In the great cattle- raising countries of South America and Australia are maintained enormous packing plants and cold storage warehouses, where thousands of cattle and sheep are prepared for export. But in studying the processes of preparing meat for the table, we cannot do better than consider the American packing industry, the greatest in the world — an industry whose products for a single year were valued at more than $1,500,000,000. The principal domestic animals raised in this country for food are cattle, sheep, swine, and some goats. Since beef is the most important of our meat products, let us study that first. The story of beef. Let us imagine that we are following a steer from his home pasture to the table at which he is to be eaten. In Colorado there is a certain ranch where the finest steers are raised. Surely there could be no better place to look for our 208 THE STORY OF FOODS animal than on the rich, alfalfa-covered hillsides of this ranch. So let us assume that we are there and that we have selected a sleek "white face," which is being driven into the loading corral. He is four years old, weighs about eighteen hundred pounds, and has a distinctive mark which makes it easy to identify him. On his flank is the scar of the branding iron. The brand, let us assume, is a circle between two short lines, which means that the name of the ranch on which he was raised is the "Bar Circle Bar." The loading corral into which our "white face" has been driven is on a spur of a railroad, a thousand miles or more from Packingtown. In the same corral are almost two thousand other steers, which within a week will all have gone through the stock- yards at Chicago. Usually ranchers sell their two- and three-year- olds to "feeders," who put them on rich pasturage and feed them corn and other fattening rations, until each steer has taken on several hundred addi- tional pounds of flesh. There are "feeders" in the corn belt states who do nothing but buy undeveloped cattle from ranches, fatten them, and sell them for high-grade beef. There are also thousands of farmers scattered throughout the Middle West of the United States who take a few steers each fall, when range cattle come to the market in great numbers, owing to the ending of the pasture season, to "finish," or stall feed. "Native steers" are those finished on the farms where they are born. They are usually choice animals. The Bar Circle Bar ranch maintains its own rich alfalfa pastures and large sheds for winter feeding. It is one of the last of the very big ranches and has MEATS 209 many miles of range. In pioneer days, our western ranches had almost unlimited ranges, the ranchers Brown Bros. Rounding up the cattle on a great ranch in the Southwest being allowed to graze their cattle and sheep at will over the virgin prairies. But with the march of civilization and the enforcement of fencing laws, the great free ranges have disappeared, the big ranches have been cut up into smaller ones, and the plow has turned the range into farms. From the loading corral our "white face" is put into a cattle car, together with a number of his brothers, and shipped to Chicago. Here the car is switched onto the railroad tracks which enter the stockyards and he is unloaded into one of the many thousand pens there. J The Chicago Union Stockyards, although standing alongside the great packing plants, is simply a hotel for live stock, in which as many as half a million ani- mals in a single day may be received and cared for as 14 MEATS 211 "guests," although not more than about a third that number have ever been "entertained" at one time. Here the stock is received by a commission man designated by the shipper, whose business it is to sell them to the highest bidder, whether he be a local packer, a buyer from the eastern cities, or a "feeder." For its service the stockyards company receives a certain sum for each animal handled, and the commission man gets a fee for his work. Our big steer is bought for one of the packing houses by a busy man in a raincoat, who clatters along the stone-paved streets of the stockyards on horseback. One of the many buyers in the stock- yards, he is an expert on cattle values. He can tell at a glance the quality of a steer, how much market- able beef the animal will "dress," and what percent- age of that will go into fine cuts. If he sees an especially fine grain-fed steer he will bid high for it against other buyers who want the same animal. In the next pen are two brand inspectors, or cattle detectives. These men, employed by the cattle associations, are familiar with every brand used to mark cattle. If any seller tries to dispose of an animal that does not bear his registered brand, it is the duty of these inspectors to learn how the animal was obtained. This is to prevent stolen cattle from being marketed through the stockyards. After being passed by the brand inspectors, fed, watered, and allowed to rest for a day or two, our "white face" is transferred, along with several others, to a pen in Packingtown. Now for a short time we must lose sight of him and await his reappearance in the chilling room in the form of two halves of beef, his head gone and his sleek hide 212 THE STORY OF FOODS on its way to the tannery. In the chilling room, the animal heat is thoroughly removed from the carcass. Brown Bros. In the chilling room. Corn-fed beef in the coolers ready for shipment to the markets of the world Every carcass in a packing house is examined by United States government inspectors. There are almost four hundred of these officials in Packing- town. All carcasses that are passed are stamped with the United States stamp, which reads, "U. S. Inspected and Passed." This is a virtual guaranty that the meat is wholesome. For forty-eight hours the carcasses are allowed to remain in the chilling room, which is kept at 36 degrees above zero. A few of these carcasses are sent to the local salesrooms, from which they are sold to the retail meat dealers. By far the greater number, however, are cooled to the desired MEATS 213 temperature, loaded into thousands of modern refrigerator cars owned by the packers, and shipped to distant distributing points. Only 56 to 58 per cent of the average steer can be sold for table use. This leaves about 43 per cent waste. But this waste has been banished. Probably no other industry has so completely mastered the art of utilizing waste. Even the gallstones of the animals are sold to the Japanese to be made into good-luck talismans. The blood is pressed, dried, and made into blood meal, used in balancing rations for feeding hogs and chickens and in the manufac- ture of fertilizer. If your local butcher kills his own animals, as a Preparing meat for beef broth, one of the important products of a great canning factory. _ This factory puts up many varieties of high-class soups few of them do, you may learn from him that he uses only the meat, hide, and brains. If the great 214 THE STORY OF FOODS packing houses used no more of the animal than these products, meat would be far more expensive than it is now. But it is only the large killing estab- lishments that are able to provide the facilities for turning every scrap of waste into a valuable by- product. To do this requires large and expensive plants with elaborate equipment. There is a certain class of butcher who uses only the fore quarters of the steer. This is the shohet, a Jewish Rabbi, who butchers the Kosher-killed cattle, the only meat the religion of the orthodox Jew will permit him to eat. Now let us follow the halves of our white-faced steer from the chilling room to their final destination. One half of the carcass was sold to a local hotel and was transferred by auto truck to its cold storage room, and was there cut into choice steaks and roasts and served to the guests in a beautiful dining room. The other half of our Hereford was bought by an out-of-town customer. It was loaded into'a waiting refrigerator car, and delivered the following morning at a meat market in a town about a hundred miles away. The tongue of our steer was pickled and its brains were frozen for shipment. The remainder of the carcass not used as meat was put through the various waste-saving processes and came out as by-products. A large percentage of the meat from lean animals is canned. They are commonly called " scrubs" or "canners." This does not mean that their meat is of an inferior quality, but simply that it contains less moisture and fat and is therefore less tender. So it is more suitable for canning purposes than for steaks and roasts. MEATS 215 i Shipping sheep and swine. Now let us see what becomes of the other meat-producing animals sent to the packers. Sheep and swine are often shipped in two-story cars called " double deckers." All live- stock cars are equipped with feeding and watering troughs and must be accompanied On their journeys by A Poland China prize winner attendants, whose duty it is to see that the animals receive proper and humane attention. When the ani- mals reach the stockyards they are transferred into clean, sanitary pens, which are under the constant scrutiny of United States government inspectors. Changing hogs into pork. Suppose we follow a hog from the pen through the plant. After being killed, the hog is dipped into scalding water to loosen the bristles, which are then deftly scraped off and started on their journey to be prepared for the brush makers. Swinging from an overhead trolley rail the carcass, as it passes slowly down the line, is cleaned and dis- emboweled by various workmen. Each oper- ation is observed by the ever- watchful government inspectors, who reject any animal that does not meet the strict require- ments of the law. Carcasses thus condemned are A champion Tamworth 216 THE STORY OF FOODS rendered into inedible grease and fertilizer materials. Those that pass inspection are so stamped and sent on to the chilling rooms. Now in place of the hog, we have so many pounds of pork. As with beef, this pork may be sold to dealers in country towns, frozen and shipped abroad, sold in local markets, or it may be cured. About as many products are made from its waste as from the waste of a beef carcass. The history of the sheep passing through Packing- town is much the same as that of the steer and the hog. After he enters the packing plant, his skin is removed and his carcass inspected by the United In a sausage factory. Here pork that has been changed into sausage is now being stuffed into "casings" and made ready for marketing States inspectors and then sent to the chilling room, and from there to the trade or else to cold storage. MEATS 217 Canned meats for the world. In the heart of Pack- ingtown are establishments which supply canned Corned-beef tins coming from the vacuum-sealing machine. The filled tins are automatically conveyed to the sealing machine meats to every part of the world. One plant there received a single order calling for 48,000,000 pounds of corned beef. The raw corned beef we buy at the butcher shop is not the canned corned beef of commerce. The latter is a carefully cooked food which comes from its container ready for the table. On the top floor of this plant we find the cooking rooms, where stand rows of big iron vats in which the corned beef is cooked. These vats are heated by steam coils. From the basement cutting rooms, a great automatic carrier brings tons of cured beef up to this cooking floor. The meat has previously been cut into strips and allowed to soak for several days in a pickle of salt, saltpeter, and sugar. 218 THE STORY OF FOODS When the meat reaches the cooking floor, it is placed in the big vats of boiling water and allowed A sterilizing tank in a modern meat-packing establishment to cook until the head chef, who superintends the cooking, pronounces it done. Then it is dipped out into aluminum buckets which travel along an overhead trolley. These buckets automatically dump their loads into a chute which passes the meat down upon aluminum-covered, traylike tables on the floor below, where it is sorted by hand, and the excess fat and gristle cut off. Next the meat goes through a series of cutting machines which cut it into smaller bits of the size desired. The corned beef is then sent through other chutes to the floor below and there put into cans, which are filled by large automatic machines. One of these machines will fill 22,000 one-pound cans in a day. MEATS 219 There are eight of these can-filling machines kept constantly busy. Bouillon cubes. This factory also makes meat extract and bouillon cubes from meat scraps or trimmings — not from blood, as some suppose. The scraps are cooked slowly until all the flavor is ex- tracted from them. The liquid is then boiled until it becomes almost solid, when it is known as meat extract. Meat extract and certain vegetable ex- tracts are combined and baked and then formed into bouillon cubes. Nationalities of Packingtown workers. At the present time the Union Stockyards and Packingtown employ workers from forty-four different countries. If you draw lines on your world map from Chicago to the countries listed below, you will see how many thousand miles many of the men have traveled who work in Chicago's great packing plants. Home Countries of Packingtown Workers Alaska Denmark Norway Arabia East Indies Peru Argentine Republic Egypt Poland Australia England Portugal Austria France Roumania Belgium Germany Russia Bolivia Greece Scotland Brazil Hawaiian Islands Serbia British South Africa India Spain Bulgaria Ireland Sweden Canada Italy Switzerland Chile Japan Turkey China Kamerun United States Costa Rica Mexico West Indies Cuba New Zealand From this we learn that the meat industry not only furnishes food to all countries but also gives employment to many of their people. 220 THE STORY OF FOODS Varieties of canned meats. Have you any idea of the variety of canned meats that can be bought? If your mother had one can of each kind of tinned meat, her pantry would indeed be well stocked, for at least sixty-two kinds are produced. Packingtown alone sends millions of dollars' worth all over the world. Canned Meats Prepared in Packingtown beef and vegetables beefsteak and onions beef suet boneless chicken brawn brisket beef broiled beef calves' brains chicken and tongue chicken soup chicken tamale chile con carne chipped dried beef chop suey compressed corned ham compressed pigs' feet consomme corned beef corned beef hash corned pork deviled chicken deviled ham deviled tongue deviled turkey frankfurter bratwurst hamburger loaf hamburger steak and onions ham loaf head cheese Irish stew jellied hocks lamb's tongue liver and bacon minced collops minced steak New England boiled dinner ox marrow ox tails ox-tail soup ox tongue pickled lamb's tongue pickled pigs' feet pickled tripe pork sausage meat potted beef potted chicken potted ham potted tongue potted turkey roast beef roast beef hash roast chicken roast mutton roast veal sauer kraut and sausage sliced bacon, in glass and tin sweetbreads tripe tripe and onions veal loaf Vienna sausage Vienna sausage, tomato sauce Other packing centers. While we have described Packingtown at Chicago, it should be remembered that there are many other great packing centers in the United States. Among the most important of these are Kansas City, New York, Omaha, Indian- apolis, East St. Louis, and Buffalo. MEATS 221 How packers distribute their products. Before studying the different cured meats, let us learn how it is possible for the American packing house to dis- tribute its products all over the world, to sell to the British colonist in South Africa, to the native of far distant Chosen, to the peasant of Northern Siberia. Packingtown concerns have more than a thousand branch houses and offices scattered broadcast over the face of the globe. Under normal conditions, one packing plant alone has about five hundred salesmen engaged in selling its products throughout the United Kingdom and continental Europe. The various governments buy their meat by contracting for so many thousands or millions of pounds of a certain kind, to be delivered within a specified time. In the principal cities of Europe, South America, and Asia, American packers have branch houses and offices, from which their salesmen solicit business. Thus, meat markets in Paris, Berlin, Vienna, London, Madrid, Stockholm, or any other large European city, are visited by salesmen who draw their pay from Packingtown. Of course, it would not be good business to send a salesman through the wilds of Africa or India in order to sell a few natives a small supply of corned beef, or into the heart of Siberia to secure orders for a few barrels of fat pork from scattered peasants there. So these sales must be made in another way. Now suppose little Nickol, who lives on the great steppes in Southern Siberia, between the Irtysh River and Balkhash Lake, has become tired of the goat meat from his father's herd, and longs for another taste of delicious ham like that which his eldest brother had once sent them from Petrograd. 222 THE STORY OF FOODS As it is now nearly Christmas and Nickol has worked hard, his father decides to have an American ham for Courtesy An American salesman in Asia their Christ's Day feast. So, the next time he goes to town, he tells the butcher there that he wants an American ham — a big, sweet, American ham. May he have it for Christmas, which is only three weeks away? Yes; the butcher will see that it is on hand before Christmas. That night the butcher writes to the wholesale house at Omsk and includes in his order the ham for little Nickol. The wholesale house at Omsk adds this to the order which it is sending to the big meat supply company in Petrograd. The Petrograd meat company has orders for many other hams, sides of bacon, and cases of American canned meats, and it telephones to the branch house of an American packing concern, with the result that the meat is MEATS 223 delivered to its plant the following morning. Within two weeks the ham is at the butcher's shop waiting for little Nickol's father to call and get it. This method of selling applies to canned meats as well as to other kinds of meats. But there are also direct importers in foreign countries who have the goods shipped from Packingtown straight to their own distributing houses. Cured meats. When we speak of cured meats, we mean those which have been pickled, dried, or smoked. The dried meat of the packer is somewhat similar to the smoked article, whereas the meat dried by our forefathers, by the American Indians and the natives of South America, Australia, and other countries usually was not smoked. The dried beef from Packingtown when sliced and canned is also known as " chipped beef." The large packing houses of this country pickle the meat in brine before smoking it. The story of ham. As ham is one of the most delicious and popular of cured meats, its story is too important and interesting to be omitted. Hams may be had in three forms: fresh, boiled, and smoked. The fresh ham is the hip of the hog just as it is cut from the dressed animal. In the preparation of the boiled ham of commerce, the greater portion of the fat is trimmed from the ham, the bones re- moved, and the skin again tied down over the lean ham. Then it is placed in an enormous " steamer" and thoroughly cooked. After this it is ready for sale. The smoked ham, of the kind commonly served with eggs, is first placed in a solution of sugar, salt, and saltpeter and allowed to pickle for a period 224 THE STORY OF FOODS which depends upon its size. The hams are first sorted and graded into sizes; that is, those weighing eight to ten pounds, for example, will be treated as one size, and those of ten to twelve pounds as another. By this method of grading it is possible to secure a uniform pickle or cure. After the hams have been properly cured, they are thoroughly washed in automatic washing machines and then transferred to the smokehouses on large iron carriers, or inverted " trees," from which the hams hang without touching one another. These " trees," being suspended from overhead trolleys, are easily shunted about. There are fifty hams hanging on one of these trees as it is wheeled into the smokehouse. The smokehouses in the plant we are visiting each have five stories and the floors are a steel net- work. On the bottom floor of the smokehouses, fires fed with hickory wood and hardwood- sawdust are smoldering. These fires send up an aromatic sweet- smelling, smoke which gives the hams a delicious flavor. The temperature of the smokerooms ranges from 100 to 130 degrees above zero. A cord to a cord and a half of wood is used in smoking a ''house " of meat. Each smokehouse has a capacity of 35,000 hams or sides of bacon, and there are 26 houses in this plant. After leaving the smokeroom, the hams are branded, inspected, and sent to the shipping and packing room. The hams are now ready for the consumer. Bacon sides go through the same process as that used in curing ham. The bacon is obtained from the breast and sides of the hog, the breast pieces being the choicest. MEATS 225 Pickled and salted meats. There are many varieties of vinegar-pickled, salt-pickled, and dry- salted meats, the most common of which are pickled pigs' feet, pickled tongue, tripe, and salt pork of different cuts. We also have a large export trade in pickled pigs' tails and ears, but these are not generally eaten in this country. In the curing of dry-salt pork the meat is rubbed well with salt. It is then allowed to stand in vats or in great piles on the clean floor until the salt has drawn the moisture from the meat and thoroughly cured it. A single packing plant salts many thou- sand pounds of pork each week . Because of its wonderful keeping qualities, this meat is shipped to all parts of the world. It is used in the tropics because it will not ferment in the heat, and in the polar regions because cold does not affect it. This is generally true of all cured meats, but especially of the salted. How by-products affect prices. We are told that the world's monthly meat bill amounts to almost $1,000,000,000. The bill would, no doubt, amount to several hundred million dollars more if it were not for the salvage income from the by-products of this industry, which tends to keep down the price of meat. By-products many and varied. More than eighty different kinds of drugs are by-products of the meat industry. One American plant manufactures over seventy-five medicinal preparations, the most famil- iar of which, perhaps, is pepsin, extracted from the linings of pig stomachs. Rennet — best known as an essential for curdling milk in the making of cheese — is also a product of this plant. 15 226 THE STORY OF FOODS The leather in the shoes you wear is furnished by this industry. For much of the music you enjoy you are directly indebted to the live stock which contribute strings for musical instruments. Fish lines, strings for tennis rackets, and other like things come from the same source. Even the fur- niture maker looks to the waste of Packingtown for his glue. Buttons, ornaments, and jewelry in almost endless variety are by-products of the meat-packing industry. From the following list you will learn that we get many things from the packing industry besides food. Principal By-products of the Packing Industry all kinds of leathers inedible grease artificial teeth laundry soaps beef extract musical strings buttons napkin rings candles neatsfoot oil canned edible products nursing rings formerly wasted oleomargarine combs pancreatin crotchet needles pepsin dice perfumes drum snares pipestems fertilizer rennet gelatine stock feeds glue suprarenal — worth more glycerine than five thousand dol- hair for brushes lars a pound handles for knives tennis strings handles for razors thyroid tablets hair for upholstering toilet soaps hairpins umbrella handles imitation stag horn wool Oleomargarine or "packing-house butter." One of the most important products of the modern pack- ing plant is oleomargarine. It is often used by those who feel that they cannot afford first-class butter at current prices. It is made of milk solid or butter fat, vegetable oil, neutral, and oleo oil, or MEATS 227 animal fat. Here is an approximate formula of a high-grade oleomargarine, or butterine, as it is sometimes called: Oleo oil 45 per cent Vegetable oil 14 per cent Neutral 12 per cent Butter fat 15 per cent Moisture and salt 14 per cent 100 per cent Oleo oil, which is made by melting and pressing the finest beef fat, is indisputably wholesome. So is the vegetable oil. The finest quality of lard, which contains nothing impure or harmful, is known as a base for many medicinal preparations, besides serving as a body for oleomargarine. Moisture is necessary for the working of the oleomargarine, and salt is used to add flavor and improve the keeping qualities of the food. Oleo- margarine comes out of the churn snowy white in color. If coloring is added before it is sold to the consumer an additional tax is levied upon it by the United States government. The world's annual production of oleomargarine is between 1,500,000,000 and 2,000,000,000 pounds. Of this amount, America produces about 145,000,000 pounds. England and Germany consume nearly half of the world's total output of this food. In Denmark, a land long famous for its fine butter, an average of 25 pounds of oleomargarine to the person is eaten each year. Holland, another dairy country, consumes 20 pounds a year per capita. In the United States, the average per capita consumption of oleomargarine is only 1.5 pounds a year. Chapter XIII THE WORLD'S COMMERCE IN MEATS Meat eating and national character. Many stu- dents of national traits tell us that the tendencies of a people may be read in the figures of their meat consumption. They insist that the kind and amount of meat eaten by a nation reveals the general char- acter of its citizens and serves as a kind of ther- mometer of national temperament. Other equally able thinkers say that this conclusion is altogether too radical. They contend, instead, that the meat consumption of a country is really an index to the health of its people, and especially to the increase in density of its population. Whether either of these theories is correct or incor- rect, the fact remains that "meat figures" are full of meaning, although the difficulty of obtaining reliable statistics has proved to be quite as great as the importance of the subject. The story figures tell. Until the United States Department of Agriculture made an extensive investigation of the world's production, distribution, and consumption of meats, few dependable facts in this field of information were available. Through the special courtesy of the Bureau of Crop Estimates, there is given in this chapter what are probably the most authentic and vital "meat figures" thus far made public. Usually figures make rather dry reading, but this time the common rule is reversed, for the figures tell a story so big, so new, and so important that 228 THE WORLD'S COMMERCE IN MEATS 229 no thoughtful person can fail to be interested in what they reveal. In order to make these state- ments seem much more real and important, it is sug- gested that when you come to a line of figures, you try to see in their places the actual things for which they stand. Our supply of beef, mutton, and pork. There are more than 61,000,000 head of cattle on United States farms. If these cattle were placed in a line side by side, as close together as they could stand, this line would stretch around the world and still leave more than enough to extend from Maine to California. Yet, strange to say, we are forced to import cattle. In the year of 1913 we brought in almost 500,000. Although we eat more meat than any other nation, we do not by any means consume all the animals that we raise and import. If equally divided among the inhabitants of the United States our total meat consumption would amount to 170 pounds a year for each person. No other country in the world sells as much meat as the United States. In one year we sold to other nations about 2,500,000,000 pounds of beef, mutton, and pork. Our farmers also have almost 68,000,000 head of swine. It is unnecessary for us to import swine save for foundation stock. There are about 50,000,- 000 sheep on our farms and we import about 15,000 a year for choice breeding stock and over 100,000 for consumption. Of course, not all the live stock of this country is on farms or ranches. There are almost 400,000 sheep not kept on farms or ranches, and about 2,000,000 head of cattle in the villages, towns, and cities throughout the United States. 230 THE STORY OF FOODS Demand for foreign meats. Although we raise and export a great amount of meat, there is a Eugene J. Hall A few of the sixty-eight million swine on the farms in the United Stales. Although we raise our entire supply of fresh pork, we import many m ill ion pounds of smoked hams and other specially prepared meats constant and growing demand for certain foreign prepared meats. We import more than 200,000,000 pounds of dressed meat a year. To get a clear idea of these imported meats you have only to visit a well-stocked delicatessen store and look at the smoked hams and other specially prepared meats, contributed to our tables by the nations of the Old World. The Argentine stands third in the production of cattle, second in the production of sheep, and second in the exportation of meat. While this country consumes only about one twenty-fifth as much meat THE WORLD'S COMMERCE IN MEATS 231 as the United States, its population is so small that its per capita consumption stands high in the list, the average consumption there being about 250 pounds per person a year. From the harbor of Buenos Aires, its capital, largest city and chief port, thou- sands of boats are engaged in carrying meats to all parts of the world. More than 1,000,000,000 pounds of meat is exported from this city in a single year. This includes a great quantity of frozen mutton sent to Europe, especially to the United Kingdom. Stock raising in the Argentine. On the broad, grassy pampas of the Argentine, 29,500,000 cattle and 80,000,000 sheep are being raised to feed the people of many countries. The ranches of the Argentine are raising cattle and sheep, not only for their own use, but for those countries which are not able to produce enough meat to meet the needs of their own inhabitants. But the live-stock industry of the Argentine is not limited to cattle and sheep. It is estimated that the country has 3,500,000 hogs. Australia as a meat-producing center. The only country which raises more sheep than the Argen- tine is Australia. There are more than 85,000,000 sheep in Australia, and its neighbor, New Zealand, has 24,000,000. The grassy steppes of Eastern and Southeastern Australia furnish pasturage for many million sheep and cattle. Here the government leases sheep ranges to the ranchers. Although Australia is about the size of the United States, there is a large area covered with mountains and deserts too barren and unproductive to furnish profitable pasturage. Because of the great numbers of sheep and cattle raised in Australia, the diet of its people is chiefly 232 THE STORY OF FOODS meat. Australians eat more meat per person than do any other people. Their average consumption is 262 pounds a year, with the Argentine a close second. The people of New Zealand rank next as meat eaters, with an average consumption of 212 Brown Bros. An Australian sheep ranch. There are more than eighty-Jive million sheep in Australia, and because of the great number of sheep and cattle raised the Australians eat more meat per person than do any other people pounds a year each. Next comes the United States, where the average consumption is 170 pounds of meat a year for each man, woman, and child. Yet the people of the United States consume more than fifteen times as much meat a year as do those of Australia and we export almost three times as much. In one year Australia exports about 425,000,000 pounds of meat, less than one third of which is mutton. THE WORLD'S COMMERCE IN MEATS 233 From what seaport do you think the greater part of the Australian meat is shipped? Find the eastern steppes of Australia and then you can tell. Stock raising in Germany. Germany is the fifth largest cattle-raising country in the world. Before the opening of the great European war the estimated number of cattle within its borders was more than 20,000,000. In normal times Germany usually has more than 5,500,000 sheep and about 25,500,000 hogs, being surpassed in the production of swine only by the United States. But being the second largest consumer of meat, using 7,500,000,000 pounds yearly, Germany has found it necessary to become the second largest importer of dressed meat and live animals. This nation has been buying from other countries more than 500,000,000 pounds of meat and almost 350,000 cattle, sheep, and hogs yearly. Yet you should be reminded that Ger- many's meat exports are small and that the German people use fish to a large degree in place of meat. In fact, they are not large meat eaters. The nation is classed eighth in per capita use of meat, the aver- age consumption being less than 112 pounds a year to the person. Germany's immense population accounts for the fact that while her meat consump- tion is exceeded in volume by that of only one nation, her per capita use of meat is low. How England is fed. We are told that if the people of England could not get food from other nations, they would starve within six months. This, of course, is because the country is so thickly popu- lated that the soil cannot produce food enough to feed the inhabitants. So England, being dependent upon other countries for her food supply, is naturally 234 THE STORY OF FOODS the largest importer of foods of all kinds. The only food of which England has a sufficient supply is fish. But if her people were forced to live entirely on fish, supposing that were possible, they would soon learn that the waters about them could not meet the demand made upon them. The United Kingdom consumes in one year about 5,175,000,000 pounds of beef, mutton, and pork. The United States, Germany, and Russia are, in fact, the only countries eating more meat than the United Kingdom. The latter stands seventh among the nations of the world in per capita consumption of meat, its average being 119 pounds to the person. But England has colonies that produce great quan- tities of meat and other food supplies for her. Of the 2,985,000,000 pounds of meat imported by the United Kingdom in one year, many million pounds came from its colonies,especially from Australia and New Zealand. South Africa, Canada, and even India also contribute largely. But the 2,985,000,000 pounds of meat im- ported in one year is not all the meat the United King- dom has had to buy from other countries. To this must be added about 64,000 live cattle and sheep. Meat supply and increase of population. There was a time when the European countries, which are now importing billions of pounds of meat each year, were raising more meat than they really needed, just as our western plains once grazed many more cattle than we needed for our own consumption. But as the population of a country increases, the land as a matter of course is divided into smaller units. Then open ranges and ranches become cultivated farms devoted to field crops and to garden- ing. Villages replace the farms and gardens and the THE WORLD'S COMMERCE IN MEATS 235 villages in turn grow into towns and cities. So the cattle or sheep range of to-day is the farm of to- morrow and the city of another year. That is why, Copyright by Huffman, Miles City, Mont. Sheep on a range in Montana. The rapidly increasing population of the United States has transformed most of the great sheep and cattle ranges into cultivated farms, villages, towns, and cities within a short time, Russia and the Argentine will be selling much meat to the countries that now look largely to the United States for their supply. But the United States is capable of producing a great deal more meat than she now turns out, so it will probably be a long time before we are forced to look to other countries for our own supply. In certain European countries the flesh of the horse is eaten. Germany, for instance, in one year ate more than 120,000,000 pounds of meat other than beef, pork, and mutton. This included game, of course, but in European countries game is not abundant enough to make much difference in the total meat supply. 236 THE STORY OF FOODS How Nature affects cattle raising. If we were to take a geography and attempt to determine where Range cattle in Western Canada, a part of the world highly favorable for the production of live stock most of the world's cattle are now raised, and where they are likely to be raised in a few years, we would find several important things to be considered. First, there is population. It is practically impos- sible for a densely populated country like England to raise enough cattle to feed its own people, although the number of cattle to the square mile in such a country may be large. England has about 667 persons to the square mile and 10.4 cattle. The Argentine has about 7 persons and 27 cattle to the square mile. In the United States there are about 33 people and 20 cattle to the square mile. Second, the physical features of the countries have much to do with the raising of live stock. For instance, stock cannot be raised in the deserts of Africa as it can upon the rich and fertile prairies of the United States or on the grassy pampas of the Argentine. Third, there are countries where the climate makes it practically impossible to graze cattle, sheep, THE WORLD'S COMMERCE IN MEATS 237 or swine. In Northern Canada and Northern Siberia, the intense cold makes the raising of these animals impossible. Also, there are countries where it is too hot and too wet to raise live stock, and where insect pests are a standing peril. Fourth, there is vegetation. In the hot, damp countries swamps and jungles abound which offer practically no pasturage to the domestic animals of our plains. In the Far North grow grasses and moss that will sustain reindeer but not cattle. In certain parts of the Sahara vegetation occurs which will nourish the camel, but on which our stock could not live. So we find that there are parts of the world highly favored by nature for the production of live stock. It is to these countries that the world is now looking for its supply of meat. Suppose you make a list of ten countries which are especially well supplied in this respect and then learn how many people there are to the square mile in those countries. Chapter XIV VEGETABLE OILS An important food element. Oils and fats form one of the most important parts of our food. Many of these, such as butter and fat meats, are obtained from animals, but many others come from vegetable products. These last, because less expensive than animal fats and oils, are becoming more and more important as a part of our daily diet. Chief among the fruits and seeds that yield edible oils are olives, peanuts and other nuts, corn, and the soy bean. Olive oil. There are a great many varieties of olives. Those used for the purpose of making olive oil are produced chiefly in Italy, France, Spain, and California. If your father's apple or pear trees were to bear only every second year he would be greatly disap- pointed. Yet this is all that the growers of the olive can expect. The fruit comes but once every two years. The tree flowers in the spring and the fruit appears toward the end of July. The olive is green until it attains full size. Then as it ripens it gradually turns from green to yellow, and by November, when the harvest begins, it is a rich purplish brown. The picking lasts until spring, although the best oil is said to be secured from the olives gathered in January and February. After being picked, the olives, in order to make the fruit give up its oil more readily, are spread out and slightly heated for about twenty hours. Next 238 VEGETABLE OILS 239 they are ground into a pasty mass which is sub- jected to heavy pressure until all the oil is extracted. An ancient olive press in Spain. This old stone press, which dates from the time of the Romans, is still used to crush olives for making oil The use of olive oil as a food is rapidly increasing in this country. It is over thirty times as nourishing as beef soup and twenty times as nourishing as milk. It is generally superior to lard or butter for cooking purposes and it is less expensive. Most of the olive oil imported into this country comes in large casks or hogsheads and is put into cans and bottles after it reaches the United States. There are also many gallons imported each year in bottles and cans. Some of the largest wholesale grocery houses and other importers have the oil bottled in France and Italy and Spain especially for their use and under the supervision of their agents. In a normal year Italy sends us 4,000,000 gallons, 240 THE STORY OF FOODS France nearly 1,000,000 gallons, and Spain about 350,000 gallons. California alone makes more than Copyright by the Detroit Publishing Co. Hauling cotton seed to the railway station. Cotton seed, which until recent years ivas practically a waste, now makes the cotton plant a valued food producer as well as an impor- tant factor in the clothing of mankind 200,000 gallons and is making more each year. The finer grades of California olive oil are noted for their flavor and purity. Cottonseed oil. Less than a hundred years ago the cotton growers of the world found it difficult to dispose of the seed cleaned from the "lint" or cotton. Until recent years the seed of the cotton plant was practically sheer waste. But to-day the oil pressed from the seeds of the average American cotton crop is an important addition to the food resources of our country, being valued at about $100,000,000. Thus many million dollars each year are snatched from the waste heap and turned into the pockets of the growers and handlers of our cotton crop. But VEGETABLE OILS 241 the fact that the cotton plant, which has for centuries done so large a share of the work of furnishing the clothing for mankind, has added to its usefulness by joining the ranks of the food producers is possibly still more important. The contribution of the cotton plant to our food resources is not, however, confined to the wholesome oil taken from the seed and directly consumed by man. The pulp from which the oil has been pressed has become one of the staple foods for the fattening of live stock, especially in the South, and millions of tons, in the form of cottonseed cake and meal, Cotton Plant Cljth Coinage Smokeless pAwder <{>wd Cotton batting Artificial silk Stjlk Data from Census, 1906, and Tootbaker From "Commercial Geography" by E. V. Robinson Industrial uses of the cotton plant are used for this purpose each year. Great quan- tities of this by-product are also used in the manufacture of fertilizers for the feeding of crops. Making cottonseed oil. In expressing or extract- ing cottonseed oil, the seeds are thoroughly cleaned, 16 242 THE STORY OF FOODS then crushed in machines resembling those in sugar- cane mills. This pulp is then put into woolen press bags and subjected to strong pressure. After the oil has been extracted, that which is left is called cottonseed cake. The oil from the presses is pumped into large tanks, from which it is either sold in the crude state or passed on to the refiner. In the refinery, caustic soda is added at a temperature of from 110° to 120° F., with the result that the undesirable fatty acids are neutralized and drop to the bottom of the mixture. The oil is then washed free of this sub- stance and allowed to clarify. It comes out of the clarifier a beautiful lemon yellow. Cottonseed oil is used in the packing of sardines and other products; as a substitute for olive oil in cooking; and in combination with olive oil for salad dressings. It is also used as a lubricant for machinery. The fatty acid portion, or cottonseed " stearin/' is employed in the manufacture of compounded lard, the lower grades being manufactured into soap. The seed yields a maximum of about 35 per cent oil. Cottonseed oil exports and imports. Cotton is grown mainly in the United States, Egypt, India, and South America. Cotton seed is exported from all these countries to Europe, where it is made into oil. According to United States government figures, in a single year this country exported 47,457,000 gallons of cottonseed oil; in the same year the United Kingdom exported 6,099,000 gallons and Belgium exported 1,341,000 gallons. But in the same year the United Kingdom imported 7,587,000 gallons and Belgium imported 2,876,000 gallons. VEGETABLE OILS 243 This means that the United Kingdom and Belgium raise no cotton but simply act as refiners of cotton- seed oil. The largest consumers of the oil are Germany, Italy, and France. In one year Germany imported 7,900,000 gallons, Italy 5,388,000 gallons, and France 3,697,000 gallons. Of these three countries, France was the only one to export any considerable amount of cottonseed oil, sending 172,000 gallons abroad. Nut oils. A wide variety of nuts are important as the source of large quantities of oils. The oil pressed from the raw peanut ranks commercially with cottonseed and olive oils. It is used in making oleomargarine, and to take the place of butter and lard in cooking. It is also valuable in the packing of olives and sardines. Large quantities of oils from the almond, the coconut, and the walnut are used in cooking and confectionery, chiefly as flavor- ing. Other nut oils are those secured from beech nuts, Brazil nuts, ground nuts, and hazel nuts. We used to import most of our peanut oil from France and Germany, where great quantities of African peanuts are pressed for oil each year. But in late years American peanut growers have learned the value of peanut oil and we are now producing large quantities of it. A bushel of peanuts weigh- ing thirty pounds will yield about a gallon of oil. While the African peanut in the amount of oil it contains is richer than our southern nut, yet American peanut growers are finding the cultiva- tion of peanuts for oil a profitable business. The production is now about 40,000,000 bushels a year but this does not supply the demand. 244 THE STORY OF FOODS Corn oil. Corn oil, an increasingly important item in our food supply, is made from the germ of the Indian corn kernel. In the making of corn products, starch, sirup, sugar, and gluten, the germ, which contains a large proportion of oil, is separated from the remainder of the grain. These germs are dried, ground, and then pressed to secure the oil. By refining and filtering, a valuable oil is produced, useful as shortening for bread and pastry, for frying and cooking, and as a salad oil. The unrefined oil is used in the manufacture of soap, lubricating oil, and a substance that can be used as a substitute for rubber. In the United States we make about 75,000,000 pounds of corn oil and 90,000,000 pounds of corn-oil cake a year. The corn-oil cake, which is made from the substance that remains after the oil has been pressed from the germ, is a valuable food for fatten- ing live stock. Bean oil. An important source of oil that has come into notice in recent years is the soy bean, a product originally grown in Eastern countries, especially in Japan, China, and Chosen. The plant is an annual, growing chiefly in bush form with a tendency to climb. It bears pods containing from two to five beans. The beans vary in color, but are chiefly yellow, green, and black. The plant is raised successfully in the United States, in North Carolina, Tennessee, and other southern states, where it is grown with corn. Besides being of great value as forage, the plant resembles peas, beans, and alfalfa in its nitrogen-storing properties and hence is valuable as a soil improver. Soy bean oil is imported from China, Japan, and VEGETABLE OILS 245 India. Its value as a substitute for lard in cooking and as an ingredient in the manufacture of salad oil Soy bean oil awaiting shipment at a Manchurian port. Soy bean oil plays an important part in the food supply of both Chinese and Japanese and oleomargarine is being recognized more and more. The plant is marvelously prolific and the oil so valuable that agricultural and commercial circles in the United States are now devoting increas- ing attention to the cultivation of the plant. The oil cake that remains after the oil has been pressed from the bean has proved a valuable food for dairy cattle. The use of bean oil in the United States and Europe in the manufacture of oleomargarine and salad oil is steadily increasing. The oil is extracted in much the same way as olive oil. The beans are crushed, heated slightly, and then subjected to steam pres- sure. Soy bean oil, in various degrees of refinement, can be put to the same uses that other vegetable oils are put. It may be used as a lubricant, as an 246 THE STORY OF FOODS illuminating oil, in the manufacture of soap, and in making a substitute for rubber. In Eastern countries the beans themselves are an important food resource. They are eaten boiled with meat. They are made into a meal which is used in bread making. A sauce known as shoyu or soy sauce is made by boiling the beans with an equal quantity of barley, then allowing the mass to fer- ment, after which it is salted and strained. This product is an important ingredient of certain popular meat sauces. Chapter XV FREE FOOD FROM MANY WATERS Perils of the sea fishermen. Romance, mystery, and adventure hang as thick as a Newfoundland fog over the whole fishing industry. It is not too much to say that probably more perils attend the work of taking the fish from the seas and the great inland lakes than surround any other food harvest. The loss of life in this calling is large. Hardly a season passes that does not show the sacrifice of several ships with their brave crews. Often whole fleets are swept away by the fury of a single storm. Adventure follows close in the wake of every fishing smack that puts out to sea, and there is scarcely a seasoned fisherman in any crew who has not had many thrilling escapes from death and suffered severe hardships from exposure. In fact, the everyday life of the fisherman, even in fair weather, would seem to the landsman decidedly hard, for the wind which to him would be a furious gale is held by the crew of a fishing smack to be only "brisk." Even though peril, exposure, and narrow escapes are taken by the fisher folk as "all in the day's work," it seems only fair to recall all this when a delicious piece of cod, mackerel, herring, or halibut is placed on your plate at the family table. You may say to yourself, as you eat a bit of such a fish: "No doubt there is a story of adventure — a good one, too — behind this fish. Did it come from American waters, or was it caught somewhere off 247 248 THE STORY OF FOODS the coast of Europe, or did some brown or yellow man take it from the teeming waters of the Pacific? " The salmon catch is taken immediately to the canneries which are always built at the water's edge to save loss of time in transportation Wherever it was, the men who braved the deep sea waters to get it knew the wild fury of storms so terrible as to test the courage of the most heroic. Some of the most stirring and powerful stories in all literature deal with the dangers of the fisher- man's life. Among sea tales that depict their perils and hardships with wonderful vividness is Kipling's Captains Courageous, FREE FOOD FROM MANY WATERS 249 Fishing an inherited calling. Many boys along the North Atlantic coast, in New England, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Labra- dor, are eagerly awaiting the time when they will be allowed to make their first trip with the fishing fleet. The very dangers of this life make it all the more alluring to the lad who has inherited from a long line of fishermen a generous share of courage, ambi- tion, and pride in the calling, coupled with a love of the sea. He is not easily turned from following in the wake of his hardy forefathers, who have made the family name, locally at least, famous by their skill and daring. Among the fisher folk of Holland, Norway, Sweden, Scotland, England, and Ireland, it is more than probable that the son of a fisherman will spend his life on the waters where herring and mackerel swarm. For the boys of these Old World nations are not so free to pick and choose their life work as are American lads. The son usually follows the calling of his father with little thought that anything else might be more to his liking. Certainly there is always a strong likelihood that any normal boy who has heard from father, grandfather, or uncle the stories of great catches, of clever seamanship, of wild storms, and of plucky escapes from perils of every sort, will be tempted to follow this exciting calling. Often the only tangible property a fisherman can leave to his family are the tools of his trade — the fishing boat, the nets, lines, and hooks with which he has earned a livelihood, and in which the surplus of a thrifty lifetime has been invested. It is only natural then, when the father dies or grows 250 THE STORY OF FOODS too old to work, that the family should look to the son to take up the business and make the most of it. From the Agricultural Yearbook Frozen halibut in a Pacific coast plant which freezes three and a half million pounds offish each year So whenever you eat a piece of herring, or mack- erel, or cod, it may add something to its flavor if you will stop and think that the son of the man who hauled that particular fish from the sea is anxiously awaiting the time when he can go out and follow the calling of his father, just as you expect, perhaps, to become a storekeeper, a railroad man, a farmer, or a lawyer. If you could talk with the lad in the Labrador fisher's hut, the sturdy Dutch boy whose thatched cabin stands just inside the Holland dykes, the Norwegian, the Scotch, or the Irish boy whose father has always put out to sea when the herring were due, you would probably be surprised to learn that he looks with pity upon any boy who is to follow FREE FOOD FROM MANY WATERS 251 a less splendid and exciting life than that of the fisherman. Food for rich and poor. Fish is the poor man's meat and the rich man's delicacy. In many locali- ties it is the cheapest flesh food sold; on the other hand, many of the most costly delicacies served at the tables of the wealthy are taken from the world's waters. For example, good frozen fish is delivered at the doors of settlers in the Northwest at a cost of three or four cents a pound, while in the larger cities, to which the chief supply is sent, brook trout may seldom be had for less than a dollar a pound, frequently being retailed for two dollars. In the districts close to the seas, lakes, and streams 1 1 / / / if. a / i . ^ _ 5 :.n p^w..™ ' j / at" *f§E^ *3gfe| '^MMS^kr0^^ v/^K^ BSeJLTffiT^'^ Wtt >■ ■ > W '1**dt~\ "* 3-'/ iJK?^?^^. '" . Br-*ffij^ _ '^ '-■ > ■ ■r-'.'s.---"- ' ' K&^Of^rS^-V^ : --i- : ' : -i : ' : 'ft '■•■:■,. ; - :\,^:-i- : 0M'---^ : ^ ! ^':|;^:.:;5:f«-'«:|r! '%•:■ A r '\v:v^v:.' ; --- :-:■:;'■ ,..;:4tlll Brown Bios. A &«# boat on the Atlantic coast. An offshore fisherman buying bait for the day's fishing which abound in fish, this food is the chief meat diet of the poor. Thousands of families in such localities 252 THE STORY OF FOODS consider any other kind of meat a luxury to be tasted only a few times a year. Protein at a bargain. To those who have meat on their tables every day, the cheapness of fish means little. But in homes where the cost of fresh meat is beyond the reach of the family purse, except on holidays, this food, freely given up by the waters, means health and happiness. Without it thousands of men, women, and children would be badly nour- ished. They would not have the strength to do the hard, rough work which falls to their lot, and their chances of bettering their condition would be gone. The nourishing power of fresh fish is from 2 to 4 per cent less than that of meat. But as fish is much cheaper than meat, fish is the real " bargain" when the amount of actual nourishment which one may buy for ten cents is considered. In writing on the subject an eminent Canadian authority has this to say: " Market cod can usually be obtained, in Ottawa, for 8 cents per pound, or less. It contains 11.1 per cent protein, so that one pound of protein would cost slightly more than 72 cents. Beefsteak con- tains nearly 15 per cent protein and would be considered moderate in price at 20 cents per pound. At this price one pound of protein would cost $1.33. Fresh haddock contains 8 per cent protein and usually sells in Ottawa for 8 cents per pound. One pound of protein purchased in the form of haddock would thus cost $1.00, and in halibut selling at 16 cents per pound, $1,045, whereas one pound of protein purchased in the way of mutton chops at 20 cents per pound would cost $1.54." Relative cost of meat and fish. In England, Ger- many, and almost all European countries, not nearly FREE FOOD FROM MANY WATERS 253 enough meat-producing animals are raised to supply the people, and meat must be imported from coun- tries where cattle, sheep, and hogs can be grown cheaply. r This fact makes the meat expensive. On the other hand, these countries are close to the seas which abound with fish free for the taking. Let us see what this means to the poorer people of these lands. At a time when beef was selling in Berlin for 16.5 to 19 cents a pound, fresh mackerel could be bought there for from .8 to 1.1 cents a pound, whiting for 1.4 to 1.6 cents, and cod for 1.7 to 4.9 cents per pound. Now consider canned salmon, which may be bought anywhere. Here is what the Bureau of Fisheries of our own government has to say about the food value of this fish: "One pound of canned red salmon of the best quality will cost about 16 cents. (The prices are the average retail prices in Washington, D. C, February 10, 1914.) The same quantity of bone-, muscle-, blood-, and brain-building material and body fuel in other foods would cost: Eggs, strictly fresh (at 34 cents per dozen) .... 36 cents Steak, sirloin (at 27.5 cents per pound) 33 cents Mutton, leg (at 19 cents per pound) 32 cents Chicken, average (at 25 cents per pound) 21.5 cents Ham, smoked (at 18.5 cents per pound) 13.5 cents Pink salmon, canned (at 9 cents per can) 12.5 cents "The best grades of canned salmon are richer than meats in body-building materials and contain about the same amount of fats. Pink salmon, which is a cheaper grade, is better than meats for making flesh and bone, but has less fat. Either is as digestible as the best sirloin steak, there is no waste, and nothing has to be thrown away except the can." 254 THE STORY OF FOODS The fact that the prices of meats have changed greatly from these figures makes little difference, for it has been found that, as a rule, fish prices change with those of meats and that usually there is about the same difference between them. In other words, fish, which is almost as nourishing as meat — in some cases more so — is almost always cheaper than meat. Realizing the importance of the fishing industry. It is difficult for a boy or girl living inland to form Drying nets at Jackfish, Ontario, an important fishing town on Lake Superior any true idea of the bigness and the importance of the fishing industry. The only way to get such a realization is to visit a great fish market or to watch the unloading of a boat just returned from a fishing cruise. When you read that the fishermen of Great Britain catch almost 3,000,000,000 pounds of this rich and delicious food a year, and that the value of this great catch is from $65,000,000 to $75,000,- 000, it doesn't mean much to you. But if you could spend one hour in one of the great fish FREE FOOD FROM MANY WATERS 255 markets in any large city near the sea and look upon a tiny fraction of the total catch, you would understand that fish is not a trifling sort of food to be tasted at a course dinner or to be eaten on Fridays only. After such a sight you would always spell "fish" with a big capital. Also you would be very thankful that the sea, the lakes, and the rivers of the earth are stocked by Nature with a supply of food so generous that the poorest may have it on their tables when beef, pork, mutton, and other meats are beyond the reach of their slender means. Still another cause for thankfulness is the fact that the fish are widely distributed throughout the waters of the world. Of course there are many lakes and rivers in thickly settled regions that have been "fished out." But the seas, the large inland lakes, and the rivers still abound with millions upon millions of fish. It is a mistake to think that because fisheries are free, there is no expense connected with the capture of the fish. The actual cost of operating a fishing schooner is considerable and losses of many kinds often occur. All this must be taken into con- sideration in the price the fishermen ask for their catch. A city fish market. If you are fortunate enough to live where you can visit a retail market that sells only fish and sea foods, by all means do so. It will give you a graphic view of the geography of the world's waters, so far as the food that they furnish is concerned. To make sure that you understand what you see it would be a good plan to invite your teacher to go with you. Such a trip, especially to 256 THE STORY OF FOODS a large market in a big city, will be one of the most delightful outings you could possibly plan. What was seen on a recent visit to a fish market in Chicago may give you a good idea of what an interesting affair such an exploring party may prove to be. Every day this special market receives ship- ments of fresh fish from all parts of the country, and the counters and tables are so arranged that the Packing sea foods for shipment to city markets and inland towns fish may be displayed to the best advantage. The tops of these display tables are great trays, kept half filled with chipped ice. On these were placed multitudes of fish, each fish occupying sufficient space to enable the buyer to examine it carefully. Above the counters were signs indicating from what place the particular fish then on display came. One of these signs read " Pacific Delicacies," and on the table were beautiful salmon fresh and frozen, or a dozen or more of the giant Pacific coast crabs, a FREE FOOD FROM MANY WATERS 257 shipment of delicate little sandabs from San Fran- cisco, and a number of beautiful trout from the Puget Sound country. These happened to be the special features for the day. On another table carrying a placard which read " Fresh Water Fish," were dozens of pike, pickerel, black bass, muskellunge, trout, perch, sunfish, eel, carp, and cisco. There were a dozen or more white-aproned clerks busily waiting on a host of eager buyers. When asked from where all those fish came, one of them said, "Some came from the many fresh-water lakes of the Northwest, some from central New York, and some were taken from the waters of the Rocky Mountains." Over still another counter hung a sign which read "Sea Food from the Atlantic Coast." Here were found cod, herring, haddock, halibut, sea trout, shad, lobsters, sea bass, flounder — a queer flat fish with its two eyes on one side of its head — and a bewilder- ing array of other interesting fish. Among these were red fish, trout, sheepshead, pom- pano, shrimp, red snapper, and sea turtles from the South Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, each beauti- ful in its way. On other tables were butterfish, bluefish, striped bass, crappies, scallops, bloaters, crabs, periwinkles, frog legs, oysters, and clams. Edible seaweed. But fish and shellfish were not the only foods that make this store attractive, for there were on display various seaweeds such as dulse, kanten, kelp, laver, and carragheen. Dulse is an edible seaweed found on the North Atlantic coast. It is dried in the sun and eaten uncooked as a relish, or boiled in milk and served as a vegetable or eaten with fish. Kelp is another 17 258 THE STORY OF FOODS seaweed found on both the North Pacific and North Atlantic coasts. It is also known as bladder weed, or giant bladder weed. It sometimes has leaves forty feet in length. Kelp is used in making the Japanese soup called "kombu." Laver is a seaweed found on both coasts. In Scotland and Ireland it is called "sloak" or "slook." It is boiled and served with butter, pepper, and vinegar, and by those who like it is considered a great delicacy. Kanten, a curious Japanese food, is a kind of gelatine. Great quantities of this gelatine are made from the gelidium family of seaweed. It is white, transparent, and has neither taste nor odor. In Japan it is used not only in making jellies and soups, but in clarifying sake or rice spirit. Two or three million pounds of it are exported to this coun- try every year for thickening jams, jellies, ice creams, and other table delicacies. Gelidium seaweed grows largely on the Pacific coast of the United States. Carrageen, or Irish moss, as this well-known seaweed is more commonly called, owes its name to a town on the coast of Ireland. But most of that found in our markets is from the shores of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. While carra- geen is used in various ways, a large part of the product is utilized in making blanc mange and jellies. Remember that all these foods were in stock at one time in one retail store, so you see the lover of fish may have a different kind every da> foi months if he wishes. In addition to the fresh fish, this store carries all kinds of imported fish in cans, pickled, and in brine. Every week it sells thousands of dollars' worth of fish, and its sales are constantly increasing. Chapter XVI FISH FROM HOME AND FOREIGN WATERS Fresh- and salt-water fish. The people of the United States consume many thousand pounds of imported fish each year, in addition to great quan- tities of domestic fish from both salt and fresh waters. Our imports cover a wide range, from the bundles of dried stockfish from Norway to the tiny bottles of pepper-stuffed anchovies from France, and the tubes of sardellen or anchovy paste from Germany. In the fish market of a large department store the writer saw a man make four purchases which instantly brought to mind pictures of the remote parts of the world from which they had come. One pound of smoked halibut came from the icy waters of Alaska; a bottle of French anchovies, from the sunny Mediterranean; a dried herring, from the picturesque fiords of Norway; and some California crabs, from the Pacific coast. A second customer bought some spiced herring from a cask. This herring came from Holland, although it had been spiced in this country. Its home had been the North Sea. Herring and where we get it. Herring is an important fish. In a single year we imported more than 76,000,000 pounds at a cost of more than $3,000,000. We bought 36 per cent of this from Scotland, 26 per cent from the Nether- lands, 14.5 per cent from Norway, 10.5 per cent from Canada, 9 per cent from England, and 4 per cent from Asia. Besides what we import, many 259 260 THE STORY OF FOODS million pounds of herring are caught by our own fishermen off the coasts of Newfoundland. Some Landing place of a fishing village on ike fiord coast of Norway. The Norwegian fisheries are especially valuable of our more daring fishermen sail their boats far north into the cold waters about Iceland and fish alongside the Scotchmen, the Scandinavians, and the Dutch. Many dangers are braved in those waters, and little John, in his Maine home, may be looking anxiously seaward for the return of his father, whose boat is perhaps within hailing distance of that which carries the father of little Olaf in Norway. The Norwegians take steamers to Iceland, where they catch and pack fish. These fish usually are taken back to Norway, whence they are shipped all over the world. But one time when some Nor- wegians, who were fishing in Iceland waters, were anxious to get flour, they loaded thirty-four hundred FISH FROM HOME AND FOREIGN WATERS 261 barrels of herring and some wool on the steamer "Hermod" and shipped it direct to New York, where the arrival of the fishing vessel created no little excitement. At New York the boat was re- loaded with flour and immediately sailed for home. Marketing herrings. Herrings are sold in many ways — fresh, salted, pickled, canned, and smoked. The Great Lakes abound in a whitensh known commercially as fresh-water herring. These great lakes yield annually about 150,000 half barrels of herring, most of which are salted. There are many salting plants on the lakes, especially along the Lake Superior coast. Duluth is the chief shipping point for these fish. After being dressed and " boned" the herring is from five to twelve inches long and is packed in ten-pound boxes. Herring roe — or a mass of fish eggs — is also packed in America. It is taken from herring caught in Chesapeake Bay and in the mouths of rivers in Virginia and the Carolinas. Roe is usually sold in two-pound tins. Newfoundland bloaters. Bloaters are smoked herring. The fish are caught largely off Newfound- land and Nova Scotia. The fishing vessels go there in November, the best herring being found from October to March. The catch is dumped into the hold of the vessel and covered with salt. The vessels are then brought to Gloucester, Massachu- setts, where their cargo is washed in warm water. This removes the dirt and salt from the outside of the fish and also extracts a good deal of the salt from the flesh itself. The herring are then smoked and packed in boxes. The boxes are of two sizes, one containing fifty fish, the other one hundred. 262 THE STORY OF FOODS The best grade of bloaters is selected from the top of the cargo and from herring carried in barrels Brown Bros. A familiar scene at Gloucester, Massachusetts. Here are thousands and thousands of salted codfish spread on flakes to be cured by the sun on the deck of the vessels. They are called fancy bloaters, and are so tagged. These are the same quality of herring as those packed in the hold of the vessel, the difference being that they are handled in a special way. Other kinds of herring. The fish market also offers us a delicacy known as the Bismarck herring, which comes from Germany. Baby herring, two or three inches long, are canned with wine and find ready sale in this country. The so-called Russian sardine is really a small Norwegian herring with its head cut off. These fish, which are sent to us from Germany, are put up in pails with spices and vinegar. In Norway there are large canneries that pack herring for export to this country. From there FISH FROM HOME AND FOREIGN WATERS 263 come the tins of herring in tomato sauce, marinaded herring, spiced herring, filleted herring in olive oil, and smoked herring, which are about the size of French sardines, put up in olive oil. It is said by one who has been long in the business of importing fish that 96 per cent of the herring imported from Norway and Holland is eaten pickled, and is not cooked. Catching and marketing tuna fish. Another customer at the fish market bought an article which will take us on a long voyage from the sea where the fat Iceland herring is caught. She took a twenty- five cent can of tuna, or " chicken of the sea," as it is called. It is also known as "the aristocrat of the ocean. ' ' Tuna is found only in the mild waters of the Pacific, off the coast of southern California. The island city of Avalon, Catalina Island, Cali- fornia, is famed for its tuna fishing. The California leaping tuna is one of the gamest of fish. Like all other tuna fish, it is caught with hook and line and will battle for hours before it can be safely landed. The tunny fish, which is of the same family as the California tuna, is caught in the Mediterranean. It is the long-fin tuna, however, that furnishes us with a rare delicacy. These fish travel in large schools, live in deep water, and come to the surface only in mild weather. In the early summer, small power boats from California fish for tuna at from five to fifty miles out from shore. In this manner the larger Cali- fornia tuna canneries are supplied. Tuna fish weigh from fifteen to seventy-five pounds each and are very active. The fish are cleaned on the boats and when they 264 THE STORY OF FOODS are brought to the canneries are given a thorough washing with salt water. They are then cooked whole by steam in big steel retorts, or boilers. When the fish are thoroughly cooked, the skin, bones, and dark meat are easily separated from the white, which is packed in tins and again cooked. Some Italian and French tunny fish are packed in olive oil but this is sold mainly to native Italians in this country. Sardines. By choosing a box of French sardines packed in olive oil, one customer at the fish market drew a contribution from the warm waters of the Copyright, 1917, by Keystone View Co. Sardine fisheries on the coast of Yezo, Japan. After the oil is pressed out the waste is sent to the other islands to be used as fertilizer FISH FROM HOME AND FOREIGN WATERS 265 Mediterranean. On the same shelf were boxes of Norwegian sardines packed in tomato sauce. These are a little fish known as "brisling." American sardines packed in cottonseed oil and in mustard dressing were also on sale at the market. These are a much cheaper grade of sardine, produced for the trade that cannot afford the more expensive grades. The best sardines are those packed in olive oil and shipped from France. Portugal also sends us sardines in olive oil, but these are not as popular as those of the French pack. The sardines caught by American fishermen in the Atlantic Ocean are found off the coast of Maine. In California, a large industry has been developed in the packing of sardines. They are packed in olive oil, in tomato and mustard sauce, and are also spiced. At first the packers called these fish mackerel, but the government found them to be really a genuine pilchard, which is the same as the sardine caught in Portuguese waters. Japan is pushing ahead in the sardine industry to a notable extent. A Brittany catch. Now open your geography, and on your map of Europe find Brittany in France. From here come the world's finest sardines. If we were to journey to Brittany, we should find many large canneries, with many men, women, and chil- dren busily at work preparing the sardines for our tables. The best fishing months in the Brittany waters are September and October. Large quantities of bait in the form of salted cod eggs and of other fish eggs mixed with flour, are thrown into the water about the nets in order to attract the sardines. The FISH FROM HOME AND FOREIGN WATERS 267 fishermen try to get their catch to the cannery as soon as possible so that the fish will be in fresh condition when delivered. Usually they are able to deliver them to the cannery within two or three hours after they are caught. When the fish reach the cannery their heads and insides are removed, and the bodies thrown into large vats of strong brine where they are left for an hour. They are next put into baskets and washed in fresh or salt water to remove the loose scales, dirt, and undissolved salt. Then they are dried, in the open air if possible. For open-air drying, the fish are arranged by hand, in wire baskets or trays, each holding about one hundred and fifty medium-sized fish, and set on wooden frames or racks. The fish are placed with their tails up, so that the water may run out. They are left to dry for about an hour and then taken, in the same baskets, to the cooking rooms. There they are immersed in boiling oil. They are allowed to cook in this oil for from two to four minutes, after which the oil is drained off and the fish are taken to the packing room. They are next packed in cans, the best sardines with the highest grade of olive oil, and then cooked again in boiling water. Sardines are also packed in other ways, but this one method will enable us to form an idea as to how these fish are prepared for market. Sardellen. The next customer at the fish market was an old gentleman, who looked as if he were either a foreigner or a man who had traveled widely. He asked for sardellen. What are sardellen? They are a small fish of the 268 THE STORY OF FOODS herring family. They are caught in the Zuider Zee, spiced, and put up in Holland. Sardellen are very expensive. They are sold in small hardwood, hand-made kegs for $1.25 a keg. The kegs hold from one and a half to two pounds. A peculiar thing about the sardellen is that the longer they remain in the kegs the more valuable they are. This is probably the only packed fish that becomes more valuable with time. Sardellen are used by chefs for flavoring steaks. The Hollanders soak them in milk for about twenty minutes and then eat them uncooked in sandwiches. All of this teaches us that the herring family supplies us with many delicacies, affords work for many thousands of men, women, and children, and in some countries practically replaces meat on the family table. Mackerel from northern seas. Another cus- tomer at the market, a little girl, bought a pound of mackerel and again sent us back to the waters of the North. While our own fishermen catch great quantities of this fish off Nova Scotia, we buy many million pounds from other countries each year. In one year we imported more than 10,000,000 pounds of mackerel from Norway alone. We also import mackerel from England, Ireland, Canada, and the Netherlands. The Norwegians catch their mackerel in the Skager-Rak. Note on your map how far this is from where the Americans fish for their mackerel. The mackerel is a great traveler. In 1884 and 1885 the United States produced 500,000 barrels of mackerel. Then the mackerel swam north- ward and disappeared from our waters. No one FISH FROM HOME AND FOREIGN WATERS 269 knew where they went. The fishermen, thrown out of work, scattered and some of them went West. At that time the mackerel were brought into the market fresh instead of being salted on the boats, as they are now. By and by the mackerel returned from their long northern journey, to find no fishermen. But gradually mackerel fishing again became important. The Norwegians claim to have the best mackerel because they cure them immediately, and they are whiter than the Scotch mackerel, which are allowed to remain unbled until they turn a darker color. But from Ireland we get a white mackerel as choice as the Norwegian. This is because the fishermen use small boats, allowing their nets to drag out behind them. At one end of the net is the boat and at the other end a buoy. The catches are made at night and the fish brought to shore early in the morning, when the women cut them up and pack them in salt. The Norwegian fishermen travel with a school of mackerel and as fast as they catch the fish they bleed and cure them right in the boats. The men in the boats will have as many as half a dozen lines apiece trailing in the water. There is a very fine small mackerel put up in tins by the French. It is a trifle larger than the ordinary sardine and is packed in olive oil. We also receive canned mackerel from Holland and Scotland. American mackerel. The common mackerel, which is a very beautiful fish, appears in enormous schools swimming northward off the coasts of Vir- ginia and Maryland. The fisherman takes his toll from these schools as they proceed toward colder 270 THE STORY OF FOODS waters. They have been traced as far north as Labrador, where they have disappeared. How much farther north these fish go, no one knows. The American mackerel is caught mostly in drift or train nets, but single nets are also often used. Fresh mackerel is in season only from April to November, but the greater part of the catch is salted, smoked, and canned. Mackerel is also pickled and spiced. In Europe the best mackerel is caught off the coasts of Norway and Ireland, and in this country off the coast of New England. The Norwegian mackerel is caught with hook and line. The Scotch mackerel is caught with seines, that is, nets with buoys attached. At night the nets are set, the fish swim into them, and in the morning the hauls are made. Sometimes mackerel attain a length of twenty inches, but the mackerel of average market size is about twelve inches, and the average weight from three quarters of a pound to a pound. Codfish. Another patron of the market, a little girl with flaxen hair and big blue eyes, bought three pounds of lutefisk. Swedish lutefisk, vaakerfisk, zartfisk, winterfisk, and Italian roundfish are all made from stockfish, which is dry-cured codfish. Codfish are caught off the banks of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia and in the Arctic waters along the far northern coasts of North America and Europe. Cod ranges in size up to one hundred pounds. A common length in codfish is two and a half to three feet. While the greater proportion of codfish is salt- pickle cured, yet there is a considerable amount of it used fresh. It is caught with both nets and lines. On account of its large size and the stormy waters FISH FROM HOME AND FOREIGN WATERS 271 it inhabits, fishing for cod is a fascinating but a very dangerous occupation. Codfish is cured as soon as possible after catching. The fish are first split from head to tail and then cleaned of all traces of blood by repeated washings in salt water. After the water is drained from them they are placed in vats and covered with salt, where Brown Bros. Filling up the boning tables. Preparing codfish for the market they are left until cured. When cured they are washed and brushed to remove the salt and then put in the sun to dry. We import large quantities of codfish from Canada and the Scandinavian countries. From the same waters as codfish come haddock, hake, and pollock. The anchovy. One of the most interesting of all fish is the little anchovy, which, when put up in bottles, usually finds its way into wealthy homes. 272 THE STORY OF FOODS The genuine anchovy is caught in the Mediterranean Sea and packed in France and Italy. It is a very small fish and is packed in olive oil and put up in cans and handsome ringed bottles. The Italians also pack anchovies in salt and put them up in large tins containing from one to twenty-five pounds. In France, anchovies stuffed with small red peppers are also put up in ringed bottles. The Germans import them to make anchovy paste, which is put up in tubes and shipped to all parts of the world. England also makes this paste and puts it in little stone jars. This anchovy paste is used chiefly for sandwiches. The ancient Greeks prepared a sauce from anchovies which was known as "garum." The fish known as the Norwegian anchovy is entirely different from the Mediterranean anchovy. The Norwegian anchovy is not an imitation of the Mediterranean, for it has been in use in Norway for many years. The original Norwegian anchovies, sold in pails and small barrels, were spiced "bris- ling/' the same product as that put up in Holland. Besides pickling and spicing them, the Norwegian canners now tin their product in olive oil, oyster, tomato, and wine sauce. Caviar. Another product, which goes with the anchovy into the homes of the rich, is caviar, which is put up in small jars or tins. Genuine caviar is the salted roe, or eggs, of sturgeon caught in the Caspian Sea. Not many years ago this product was made from the sturgeon caught in our own inland lakes. As the supply of sturgeon has become exhausted, some American packers have resorted to obtaining roe from domestic fish caught in the rivers and inland lakes of the South, such as FISH FROM HOME AND FOREIGN WATERS 273 spoonbills, buffalo fish, and catfish. But this roe is not large, nor has it the fine flavor of sturgeon roe. The finest quality of caviar is that from the beluga, the " great white sturgeon" of the Russians, largest of all sturgeons. This fish attains a length of twelve or fourteen feet and weighs more than a Preparing caviar. The sturgeon roe is rubbed lightly through a seive to remove the fine tissue enveloping the eggs. Then it is salted and put in tins or jars ton. A single ''cow" or female fish has been known to give three hundred and seventy pounds of roe. But these large fish are becoming extinct and the average beluga now caught is much smaller. Practically all Russian caviar is handled by Ger- man merchants, who export it to all countries. In 1914 the supply was large and the Germans bought almost all of it, but throughout the European War its export was impossible. 18 274 THE STORY OF FOODS Lobster. The last sale observed at the fish mar- ket was a pound can of lobster. By many people the lobster is considered the most delicious of all sea food. Enormous quantities of lobsters are con- sumed in the fresh state and when used in this way they are usually sold alive. Lobsters are caught in traps known as lobster pots, and are brought to market alive. They are found all along the Atlantic coast, from Delaware to Labrador, but the coasts of Maine and Nova Scotia furnish the largest yield. Lobsters sometimes attain a weight of twenty pounds. Breeding the lobster. It is said that only about one lobster out of every 5,000 will reach maturity, but as the large lobsters lay as many as 40,000 eggs at a time, it is unlikely that the family will become extinct. Also the government has adopted "sea nurseries" where artificial propagation has proved successful. According to the statistics of the United States, the lobster industry of this country in one year amounted to almost $2,000,000. The volume varies from year to year. A peculiar thing about a lobster is that it grows only during the period after it has cast its shell and while the new one is forming. But during this period its growth is marvelous. This is nature's way of offsetting the hard shell which envelops it, as that will not stretch and naturally the young lobster must do its growing while it can. So the lobster must make its growth while it is free from the shell or before the new shell is sufficiently hardened to prevent growth. Lobsters are continually fighting each other. During their combats, it is quite common for one of the fighters to lose a leg or a claw. This will be FISH FROM HOME AND FOREIGN WATERS 275 replaced by a new growth, which, however, will be smaller than the original. In spite of the enormous quantities of lobsters caught at home, we buy yearly from other countries — chiefly Canada — about 6,000,000 pounds of fresh lobster. A very small amount comes from Europe and Asia. For the benefit of the people in parts of the country where fresh lobster is not available, and for the convenience of those not wishing to cook the lobster themselves, many thousand cans of this delicacy are put up in this country every year. A limited amount is also imported from Europe and British South Africa, while large quantities are imported from Canada. In one year, for instance, Canada, besides its usual shipment of fresh lobster, furnished us with almost 3,000,000 pounds of the canned article. Crab meat from Japan. One cannot consider the lobster without mentioning its first cousin, the crab. Crab meat, especially that of the Japanese crab, is very much like lobster. When the first Japanese crab meat appeared on the American mar- ket a few years ago, it was hailed with delight. We now receive many thousands of pounds from the Japanese each year. This is packed in one-pound tins. Crab meat may be served in a variety of ways. The terrapin. You have already learned so much about ocean delicacies that you probably will not be surprised to learn that perhaps the most expensive meat eaten to-day — that of the terrapin — comes from the sea. But it will no doubt surprise you to learn that this meat was once considered practically worthless and was therefore fed to slaves and the 276 THE STORY OF FOODS lowest grade of laborers. The terrapin belongs to the turtle family. It is a small turtle, ranging from three to nine inches in length, and yet a single one sometimes sells for eight dollars, although the usual price is considerably less. A peculiar thing about the terrapin is that only the female is con- sidered good to eat, the male being practically without value. Chapter XVII THE HANDLING OF FRESH FISH Summer-caught fish. Fish caught in our rivers, lakes, and seas that are to be sold fresh, or uncured or canned, are divided into two classes: summer caught and winter caught. Summer-caught fish are sometimes frozen before shipping, though the gen- eral practice is to put them promptly into boxes filled with cracked ice for shipment to the various markets throughout the country. They are carried in special fish cars designed to keep the ice in the boxes from melting. These cars, which are known as fish refrigerators, also are iced, especially if they are to travel a considerable distance. When ice-packed fish are received at the markets they are distributed to the various retail stores for sale to the public. Sometimes more ice-packed fish are received than can be sold immediately, and the surplus is sent to the cold storage plants to be frozen. In this condition the fish can be kept indefinitely. When the surplus stock of ice-packed fish is re- ceived at the cold storage plant, the fish are dipped into water and passed into a "sharp freezer," with a temperature of about ten degrees below zero. There the fish are allowed to remain until frozen stiff. Then they are removed to the storage rooms, which are also kept at a temperature below freezing. The small fish are placed in pans and frozen in quantities, whereas the larger fish, such as the hali- but, are frozen singly. After being frozen, the fish are "glazed" by being dipped into water. The 277 278 THE STORY OF FOODS intense cold of the frozen fish causes a thin ice to form over them immediately, thus doubly insuring their preservation. The best known of the summer- caught fish are the salmon, halibut, pickerel, trout, whitefish, cisco, bass, and mackerel. Winter-caught fish. Then there are the winter- caught fish, which are frozen at the time of catching. In the Northern States, especially in North Dakota and Minnesota, the problem of handling and storing fresh fish is simplified by the assistance of Jack Frost. During the winter months peddlers cover the countryside selling frozen fish from their wagons. These peddlers often dispose of hundreds of pounds of pike, pickerel, perch, and bass a week, the Glazing small frozen fish in tanks in the freezing room of a wholesale fish market. The thin ice which forms on the fish when dipped in water makes their preservation still surer customers buying large supplies at a time, because the fish can be kept until the cold weather breaks. THE HANDLING OF FRESH FISH 279 It is not unusual, for instance, for a small country hotel to order from three hundred to five hundred i— Brown Bros At a summer-caught fishing plant. Trout taken from the waters of the Great Lakes are being dressed for market pounds of fish. In a certain North Dakota town one peddler thus handled four cars of frozen fish in a single season. His supply was kept in an old wood- shed and peddled throughout the country. While winter-caught fish are secured in practi- cally all the lakes throughout northern Minnesota, yet a great percentage of them come from the Canadian Great Lakes: Manitoba, Winnipeg, and Winnipegosis. The fish consigned to the towns in North Dakota and Minnesota are transported in ordinary freight cars, but for shipping great quan- tities of frozen fish throughout the United States, the special fish refrigerator cars are used. In this 280 THE STORY OF FOODS way, frozen fish may safely be shipped even to the warmest states of the South and arrive in perfect condition. When the fish reach their destination, they are, of course, immediately sold or placed in cold storage. Let us imagine for an instant that we are up north among the Great Lakes of Canada, out on the ice with the fishermen. We would be sheltered from the driving wind by small tents and snow walls or even snow houses, toiling side by side with the French Canadians and the husky Swedes. We Frozen fish in a cold storage plant. Large fish not to be sold at once are frozen singly and in this way may be kept indefinitely would do our fishing almost entirely with nets, though great quantities of fish are caught with hook and line, and many are speared. Although it would be bitterly cold out on the ice, THE HANDLING OF FRESH FISH 281 yet we would get enough exercise to keep us from becoming numb. For it would take all our energies to handle the nets, keep the ice from forming over the airhole through which we would fish, prevent the fish from becoming imbedded in the ice while freezing, and pack in boxes the fish already frozen. The local dealers would haul away great wagon- loads of unpacked fish, but the frozen fish would be shipped in large boxes to the various large cities in the United States. Then we would see these boxes loaded into large sleds and hauled to the nearest railway station, where they would be placed in refrigerator cars. If bound for the warm Southland, these cars would be iced at a northern shipping point, and their iceboxes kept filled with ice and salt until they arrived at their destination, with the fish frozen as stiff as when placed in the car. A snowfall makes it much easier to handle the fish, as they are allowed to freeze in the fresh, crisp snow, which need not be removed in packing. Marketing salt water fish. The principal salt- water fish marketed fresh are the halibut, the sal- mon, and the herring. A hundred-and-fifty-pound halibut, for instance, is caught in Alaskan waters, hurried to a local packing station, boxed in ice, and carried in a fast steamship to Seattle. There it is re-iced, transferred to a fish refrigerator car, and shipped east. If consigned to Chicago, this fish could be on sale at a retail market in that city within a week after it was caught, or could reach the market in any eastern city twenty-four hours later. Chapter XVIII THE STORY OF THE SALMON A common all-round food. No doubt canned salmon seems to the average American boy or girl one of the most common and uninteresting articles of food that could be mentioned. Its use is almost universal. No grocery is so small, so poorly stocked that it does not carry at least a small supply of canned salmon. If you could search the shelves of any cabin far away from a railroad or a store, you would be almost sure to find there a few cans of this fish laid by for an emergency. And what camping outfit would be complete without its supply of canned salmon? Yes, salmon is certainly common in the sense that it is to be found almost everywhere. But in many- ways it is probably the most interesting and the most useful fish the sea furnishes to man. You have eaten it scores of times without giving a thought to its real value to the world or to its thrilling life story. Now suppose salmon were suddenly cut off from the world's food supply; the result would be a calamity felt in almost every home. Literally mil- lions of people are fed by the salmon fisheries. Neither the rich nor the poor have much to eat that is more wholesome than this familiar food — a food which comes to us not in its original form but cut into pieces and packed in a tin can. This fish in its natural state is entirely unfamiliar to most of those who eat it. Of the millions of boy and girls who have become acquainted with salmon at their 282 THE STORY OF THE SALMON 283 own tables only a few thousand have any idea of how the fish really looks. The next time you taste this dainty pink morsel you will no doubt have a keener appreciation of this well-known food. For you will have learned some- thing of the life history and habits of this wonderful fish — something of his wanderings, his struggles, and his final dramatic journey taken in response to a com- pelling law of nature. The story will seem all the more vivid if we give him a name and think of him as an individual and not merely as one of a million almost exactly alike. Chinook, a salmon king. Chinook was a salmon king — a big, handsome, bright-eyed, elastic fellow, weighing about sixty pounds. He was king of the Oncorhynchus tribe and larger than any of his fellows — the Sockeye, the Humpback, the Coho, or the Chum or Dog Salmon. His tribe lives in the Pacific Ocean, Puget Sound, and the rivers of Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska. He has a cousin in another tribe, the Salmo family. His cousin's common name is Steelhead and he is also known as the Salmon Trout. Steelhead is now found in other waters, having been transplanted from his native Pacific to the Great Lakes and northern rivers of America and the rivers of Europe. He is caught by fishermen with hook and line. Chinook was born far up a big river where the water sparkled and flashed in the sunlight and rushed madly over cool stones. When he was four months old he started to swim down the river to the ocean. He belonged to a numerous family — four thousand brothers and sisters. But now only about half of them were left and his parents had both perished. 284 THE STORY OF FOODS The Chinook family had many enemies who de- stroyed the defenseless young salmon. Chinook had A scene on the Columbia River, one of the greatest salmon streams in the world had many narrow escapes and as he saw his brothers and sisters snatched away by the score, each day he grew more wary, more resourceful. When at last the family reached the salt water of the ocean, it had dwindled to less than five hundred. But now the young salmon were active swimmers and better able to care for themselves. THE STORY OF THE SALMON 285 For three years Chinook enjoyed a wild, free, dashing life. But in the fourth year nature called him to the spawning grounds and with multitudes of his kind he set out on his great adventure. In obedience to nature's law, he sought the river of his birth. When that was found he swam swiftly upstream, heeding nothing and driven by a force that allowed no pause. Neither he nor his com- panions stopped to eat, but pushed steadily forward. As the river narrowed and became more rapid the journey grew more perilous. There were many swift currents to fight, many jagged rocks to avoid, many riffles to ascend, and many little falls to leap. Nothing but death could stop them. At last they came to a high fall over which the water leaped, roaring wildly. Once, twice, three times Chinook tried to leap it, but each time he failed. Again and again he made a brave dash until at last, thrown back bruised and exhausted, he was too weak to try again. Just then he made a discovery. Up one side of the big dam which blocked the way he saw a "fish ladder." The ladder had been placed there so that the fish return- ing to their spawning waters might not kill them- selves trying to leap the dam. Up this ladder flashed the fish, speeding toward the little fresh-water lake that nestled in the tree-covered hills before them. On their way up, King Chinook and his brothers had met thousands of other pilgrims who were also returning to their native waters in large schools. Many of these fish were now swimming quietly in the clear, cold snow water of the lake. Finally Chinook chose a mate. But to keep her he must first fight many a fierce and bloody battle 286 THE STORY OF FOODS with other valiant warriors. When at last Chinook and his mate reached the spawning grounds they Copyright, 1917, by Keystone View Co. A "fish ladder" on a salmon stream in Oregon. By such ladders, salmon on their way up the river are helped over jails and dams were both weak from the long journey and from fasting, for they had eaten nothing since they left the ocean. While his mate rested, Chinook dug a hollow or nest in the gravel with his snout and tail, adding many more wounds to those already received in battle. His mate placed her eggs or spawn — three or four thousand of them — in the nest. Now their task was done, for the cool running water would hatch the eggs without further aid from them. Then THE STORY OF THE SALMON 287 side by side they drifted tail foremost down the river until death claimed them. Yearly millions of salmon return and take part in a tragedy similar to that of Chinook and his mate, for all the salmon of the Oncorhynchus tribe die soon after spawning. Hatcheries increase salmon supply. When the salmon had only the Indians and their natural enemies to contend with, nature was easily able to maintain the supply. But the white man came, dammed the rivers, built irrigation ditches, and began to fish in ways that threatened the extinction of the fish. Therefore the United States govern- ment found it necessary to help the fish by putting up hatcheries where millions of young are hatched and protected until they are given a good start in life. Many salmon hatcheries have been built by the federal government in Alaska, California, Oregon, and Washington. The state governments on the Pacific coast are also maintaining hatcheries. These hatcheries have not only prevented the serious falling off in the number of salmon but have actually in- creased the supply. In Washington alone, there are twenty-two salmon hatcheries from which more than 100,000,000 young salmon are turned out every year. It requires fresh running water of an even tem- perature to hatch the eggs. So the hatcheries are usually built near the spawning grounds, and are so constructed and located that running water con- stantly flows through them. About four months after the eggs are taken to the hatcheries, the young salmon are nearly three quar- ters of an inch long. They are then known as 288 THE STORY OF FOODS "fry" and are considered ready to be let loose. After they are turned out into the streams they soon Brown Bros. A fleet of salmon (rollers off the coast of British Columbia. A (roller's catch of salmon often amounts to six or seven hundred fish in a day make their way to the ocean. Often, however, they are kept in nursery ponds where they are fed until they are much stronger and better able to protect themselves from their natural enemies in the streams. The little salmon seek the ocean and experience the same dangers as did Chinook. In their fourth year, they make the same exciting pilgrimage up the stream of their birth, and on the way they are either captured for a cannery or finally reach the spawning grounds to breed and die. Trolling for salmon. We now come to the task of catching these fish. We shall find the camps of the fishermen known as trollers near the Salmon Banks, so called because that is where the salmon feed. Many fishermen live on their boats during the fishing season. Should we go with a trailer we THE STORY OF THE SALMON 289 should see that he has several poles sticking out from his boat. To each pole are attached two or more lines provided with spoon hooks. Hooks baited with small fish are also used. The troller's catch often amounts to six or seven hundred fish in a day. But his life is not all sunshine, for in stormy weather his position is perilous. At times, too, he is unable to locate a school of fish and, after days of fruitless toil, is obliged to return to the shore stations empty handed. Fishing for salmon with gill nets. The fishermen stretch their great nets squarely across the channel or river mouth on the incoming tide. Then as they Gill nelters and purse seiners in harbor. The purse seiners, in their swift motor boats, chase a whole school of salmon, encircling the fish with a huge net rush swiftly forward the oncoming salmon poke their heads in the meshes and are caught by the gills. 19 290 THE STORY OF FOODS Taking salmon with a purse seine. Quite the most exciting and one of the best ways of catching salmon is with a purse seine. This really means chasing a whole school of salmon in powerful motor boats and encircling the fish with a huge net. This net is often five hundred yards long and seventy feet deep. It is closed by pulling the ' ' purse line ' ' at the bot- tom in the same way as an old-fashioned purse is closed by pulling the "puckering strings" at the top. This great net is kept in a vertical position by means of cork floats at the top and weights and iron rings at the bottom. The "purse line" runs through the iron rings at the bot- tom and the net is drawn tight after the fish have been encircled. Sometimes a single haul will take as many as 3,000 fish. The Columbia River "fish wheel." On the Co- lumbia River another very curious and interesting device, the "fish wheel," is used for catching salmon. It usually consists of a shallow boat, at one end of which is a wheel about twelve feet high. This wheel, which really resembles nothing so much as a garden hose reel, is fitted with a belt of fish net. The fish are caught in this net and as the wheel revolves are brought to the surface and dumped into the boat. Stationary or fixed fish wheels are also operated Copyright, 1917, by Keystone View Co. Fish wheel on the Columbia River, Oregon THE STORY OF THE SALMON 291 at certain points along the shore. These station- ary fish wheels are larger than the floating ones. Trap or "pot" fishing. The largest catches, how- ever, are made with traps or "pots." The salmon trap is composed of wire netting or tarred webbing stretched on piles or posts leading from a point where the fish are expected to come on their way to the spawning grounds out to the "pot." This "pot" is entirely inclosed with netting except at the mouth, or opening, by which the fish enter. The general plan of the trap is like that of the "deer drive" made in early days by pioneers on the western frontier — a device about which nearly every boy has read something. The trap is so made that the fish are steered into the "pot" by the wings of the "leads" or webbing. When once the salmon enter the trap they seldom if ever escape. When it is time to collect the fish, the cannery "tender" or tug brings a fish scow, which has been scrubbed clean with salt water, and A salmon trap or "pot." By this method are made the largest catches from fish on their way to the spawning grounds places it alongside the "pot." An immense "brail" or dip net operated by a power winch, or windlass, 292 THE STORY OF FOODS is carried by the tender and with this the fish are dipped from the "pot" and dumped into the scow. This barge or scow is usually made to hold at least 15,000 fish. As fast as one trap is emptied the barge is moved on to the next and the process Brailing salmon. The fish are scooped out of the "pot" with an immense brail or dip net and dumped into a scow repeated. In trap fishing it is not unusual for as many as 10,000 fish to be taken from one "pot" in a THE STORY OF THE SALMON 293 single day. Of all devices for catching salmon the trap is undoubtedly the surest and secures the greatest harvest. Canning the salmon. After the salmon are caught they are carried as quickly as possible to the can- neries that are always built at the water's edge. The fish are at once transferred to the butchering room. Here, by the old-fashioned method, a gang of twenty to forty Chinamen or other Orientals — the number varying according to the size of the cannery — open and clean each fish and cut off its fins and head. Then the salmon are dropped into a trough of running water to be scoured by other Chinamen. This old-fashioned method is now sel- dom used except by the smaller canneries unable to afford modern machinery. In all of the larger canneries, the Chinese butcher has been crowded out by a machine known as the "Iron Chink." This machine is able to do the work at the rate of fifty fish a minute. After the fish have been scoured a second time they pass under circular gang knives and are cut into pieces suitable for canning. In most factories the salmon meat is packed into the cans by machinery. In a few, however, this work is done by young women. Each can contains one pound of fresh salmon and a quarter of an ounce of refined salt. If smaller cans are used, salt in the same proportion is added. Nothing goes into the can besides the salmon and the salt. The cans of salmon are weighed and sealed by automatic machines. They are then covered with hot water as a test for leaks. If a can sends up a bubble it is instantly removed and resoldered while still hot. 294 THE STORY OF FOODS In what is called "old-style processing," the cans are next placed in retorts and cooked in live steam for about forty-five minutes at a temperature of 220° under a pressure of about twelve pounds. Then a small hole is made in the top of each can to allow any surplus steam, gas, or water to escape. A load of ten thousand salmon. The result of a single day's trap fishing This hole is closed with solder while the can is still hot. The cans are returned to the cooking retorts THE STORY OF THE SALMON 295 and given a second cooking for one hour, at a tem- perature of 240°. They are then cooled and tested, Feeding salmon to the "Iron Chink." _ This machine, which has largely displaced the Chinaman in the canneries, can cut and clean fifty fish in a minute after which they are dipped in lacquer and labeled. The solderless or "sanitary" can is fast pushing this old-style can out of use and therefore in many cans you will not find this second soldered vent hole. Under the new method the surplus fluids and gases are allowed to escape in the heating process before the top is sealed tight. The cooking in the retorts then lasts for ninety minutes at a temperature of 240°. This softens the bones and completes the sterilization of the fish so that with anything like proper care it will "keep" almost indefinitely. Put up in this way salmon fully meets the high standard for wholesomeness set by the national pure food 296 THE STORY OF FOODS laws. Inspectors in the employ of the federal gov- ernment examine the output of every salmon cannery. Packing salmon in tins. In most of the larger factories this slow method of packing the fish by hand has been replaced by modern machinery Other ways of preserving salmon. Not only are canned salmon shipped from the Pacific coast, but THE STORY OF THE SALMON 297 fresh salmon as well are distributed throughout the whole country. Salmon are also frozen, smoked, pickled, and mild-cured. In the mild-cured process the fish are put in a weak brine and packed in tierces or casks containing about 800 pounds each. The mild-cured are the Chinooks and the Cohoes or silver salmon. Some of the mild-cured fish are sent to Europe and there smoked. Some are also smoked in Chicago, and other cities in this country. Many American boys and girls work in the large canneries on the Pacific coast and thus help in the support of their families. Supply and distribution. The chief sources of our salmon supply, in the order of their output, are: Alaska, Puget Sound, British Columbia, the Colum- bia River, and northern California rivers. About half the salmon pack is consumed in the United States and more than three fourths of the remainder in the United Kingdom, Australia, South America, and the Philippine Islands. In one year $14,500,000 worth of salmon was canned in Alaska; $18,600,000 worth in the Pacific coast states; $9,000,000 worth in British Columbia; making a grand total of $42,100,000 worth of salmon canned on the west coast of North America that year. This supply would allow about four pounds of salmon to each man, woman, and child in the United States. If the cans were placed end to end they would make a belt that would encircle the earth, with enough to spare to stretch from New York to San Francisco. Every year the salmon industry uses 100,000,000 fish, each weighing from three to twenty-five pounds or more, some of them measuring nearly five feet in length. 298 THE STORY OF FOODS Within the last few years, several salmon can- neries have been built on the Pacific coast of Siberia, but as yet the quantity of salmon packed there has not been great. The principal species of salmon packed in that country are the Humpback and the Chum. Canned salmon is recognized as an excellent food for soldiers, and during the Russo-Japanese War immense quantities of Chum salmon were bought by the Japanese government for the use of its fighting men. In the early part of the great European con- flict, Canada furnished 25,000 cases of tinned pink salmon to the British army. The diet of the United States army and navy includes a liberal allowance of canned salmon. Chapter XIX OYSTERS The oyster a general favorite. One of the oldest foods known to the human race is the oyster. His- tory has it that primitive man to a great extent depended upon the oyster and other shellfish for his food. While Canada, Holland, Italy, England, Belgium, Japan, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Nor- way, and Russia have all at some time or another counted oyster fishing among their industries, France and the United States are the only countries where it has reached large proportions. Of these two countries, our own maintains by far the more exten- sive oyster beds. We are all fond of this wholesome food, which neither abundance nor cheapness can make common. Whether placed before us stewed, fried, steamed, or raw on the half shell, there are few of us that can withstand the appeal this shellfish makes to our palates. And in Europe, the land of delicacies and of epicures, we find the oyster almost supreme. The Parisian queen of fashion gives the oyster first place on her elaborate menu; the English hostess at the country place features this fruit of the sea at her week-end dinners; and the frugal wife of the Dutch peasant gives it the place of honor at her simple table. The American oyster abroad. We export many thousand gallons of shelled or " shucked" oysters and many thousand bushels of unshelled oysters 299 300 THE STORY OF FOODS each year to Europe and to other parts of the world. One may purchase Chesapeake Bay oysters in rtesy of U. S. Bureau of Fisheries An oyster fleet off the coast of Chesapeake Bay Russia, France, South Africa, Japan, Australia, or any other country where there is wealth enough to allow men and women to satisfy their taste for foods brought from a long distance. It is usually conceded throughout the world that the oysters of American waters are the finest grown anywhere. In many parts of Europe the most discriminating diners request that they be served American oysters and will accept as substitutes for these only the small, delicate product from the Dutch waters. Nationalizing the oyster. Few changes that have affected our national food supply in recent years are more important or wonderful than the nationaliza- tion of the oyster. There are men who can recall the time when fresh oysters were a rare delicacy to the inhabitants of this country, except along the OYSTERS 301 seashore. To-day they are obtainable any time in the season almost anywhere in the United States, and at a price that puts them within reach of persons of the most moderate means. This has been made possible through the great progress made in the methods of handling and shipping oysters so that they may be carried far inland without spoiling. Copyright by Underwood Here the salt is made from brine secured by digging wells boiled and the salt thus removed, or it may be evaporated in the sun. In some countries great 460 THE STORY OF FOODS shallow beds are scraped out in the sand of the sea shore and when the tide goes out the sun evaporates the water, leaving a deposit of dry salt in the beds. This method is employed extensively in France and other European countries. In Utah we have Great Salt Lake, where many thousand carloads of salt are gathered each year and shipped to various points throughout the coun- try. There are also salt marshes in many parts of the country, and flowing salt-water wells. The ground about these wells is carpeted with a thick crust of salt. Very likely you will be inclined to ask why all animals — both human and dumb — require salt. The answer is that salt contains two elements Loading rock salt in an underground chamber of a salt mine which are very essential to the processes of diges- tion. These elements are sodium and chlorine. SALT 461 The history of salt. Like some of our other foods, salt has an honorable history. It is given a worthy Jrown Bros. Salt awaiting shipment on the vast beds near Salt Lake City, Utah place in the Bible and in histories and was one of the chief articles of trade carried by early caravans that crossed the deserts and wild countries of the ancient world. And salt did its share in the making of history during the Roman rule: in Rome a cer- tain street was named the Salerian Way because it was there that salt dealers lived. The Romans worked the salt mines of England at the time of the invasion. Venice, too, was noted for her salt works, which had much to do with the upbuilding of her powerful fleet of commercial and fighting boats. In Russia there are great salt fields where both men and women spend most of their lives in hard and cheerless toil. Many children contribute their 462 THE STORY OF FOODS labor to this industry in practically all European countries. Other uses of salt. You know, of course, that salt is necessary for many purposes besides that of flavoring our food. For example, it is used exten- sively for preserving hides; as a preservative of food it is invaluable; in refrigeration, in chemistry, and in medicine it has a wide use. Our importation of salt. In spite of the fact that we have more salt in our own country than we can ever use we imported more than 275,000,000 pounds in one year from England, the British West Indies, Italy, Spain, and the Dutch West Indies. You have no doubt learned by this time that there are people in the United States who insist upon having im- ported foods, and even imported water. And there are people in other countries who ignore their own foods and import ours. Of course in many cases there are reasons for this expensive exchange of products that do not appear upon the surface of the transaction; on the other hand, it is often the result of an ill-founded whim without any good reason. Chapter XXX TEMPTING TABLE DELICACIES The delicatessen. There is probably no other place, outside of a great wholesale grocery, where you may get, at almost a glance, so sweeping a view of the geography of foods as in a thoroughly modern delicatessen store. This is because these fascinating little food shops specialize to a large extent in the delicacies of foreign lands. As its name suggests, the delicatessen is a place of delicacies, of dainty and unusual foods displayed to stimulate a sated and, perhaps, jaded appetite. As we enter the delicatessen store we are at once attracted by the cleanliness and the sanitary condi- tion, not only of the store and its employes, but of every package, glass, jar, and bottle in the place. Here cleanliness reigns supreme, for nothing so surely tends to discourage appetite as uncleanli- ness and disorder. Everything in a high-class delicatessen store is so temptingly displayed and so clean that it makes one feel confident that whatever he buys there will be of the best. Under the marble slab upon which are ranged the cold meats, the ammonia coils glisten with frost and lend a crisp freshness to everything near them. The cakes, breads, and pastries are placed in airtight glass cupboards and handled only when necessary, and then with the greatest care. The tiny glass kegs, or jars, which hold the pickles are as sweet and clean as constant scouring can make them. The whole store shines. 463 464 THE STORY OF FOODS If you live in a large town or city and are familiar with the stock of a first-class delicatessen store you A fine display of olives and pickles on the shelves of a high-class delicatessen shop will know, at first hand, something of the labor, money, and taste expended in order to prepare and display foods in a tempting manner. Many delicacies have been introduced to awaken the relish for food. Each year finds many new kinds of these fancy foods on the market. We draw a supply of these from practically every country in the world. Let us look at the map again and see just what countries furnish us with some of the most curious and interesting of these special temptations to the flagging appetite. From the four corners of the earth. Draw a line from your home to New York City, from there to London, and thence straight to Calcutta, India. If your parents are lovers of chutney, the famous East India relish, and are in the habit of keeping it on their table, you may look at the bottle with a new interest as you realize that it has actually traveled TEMPTING TABLE DELICACIES 465 the route that you have marked out. Draw another line from your home to France/ It is from this country that we get cretes de coq, or cocks' combs, which are used for garnishing, and from France we also receive many fruits in sirups and glace, includ- ing brandied rosebuds and candied chestnuts. From Spain and Portugal we get both fresh and candied or glace grapes. Russia sends us caviar (roe or fish eggs). From England we get many sauces and rel- ishes; from Germany come various young vegetables canned. Westphalia, Germany, supplies us with Westphalian ham and bacon, and Hungary furnishes famous and expensive sausages known as salami. All these foods are prepared and shipped across the waters to tempt the palates of those who like fancy foods at fancy prices. Products of many lands. Now suppose we name a few of the appetite coaxers that may be found in a first-class delicatessen or fancy grocery department. Here is a Hanover tea sausage from England, and next to it is a dainty sausage from Bohemia. That small white jar contains orange marmalade from England and beside it stands a bottle of pickled black walnuts from the same country. There are bottles of mixed fruits from France and guava jelly from the West Indies. Here are the famous date- nut butter from Persia, ginger in sirup from China, and crystallized ginger chips from England. There are tin boxes of biscuits, cakes, cookies, and all sorts of fancy pastry from England, Austria, and France, packed so as to be in perfect condition when opened. Next to the end is a row of bar-le-duc from Bar-le- Duc, France. On the shelf below are several jars of brandied peaches from our own New York state 30 466 THE STORY OF FOODS and next to them are preserved figs and pickled figs from California. Those plump, delicious candied cherries come from France, and the apricot pulp is from Spain. There are some kumquats, or Japanese oranges, in marmalade. Near by are boxes of maca- roni and vermicelli from Italy. There is some arrowroot from the Bermudas and alongside are tangerines packed in Spain. On the vegetable shelf we see some tomato paste, Eighteen articles from a delicatessen used in making an "International Salad" a concentrated food, which comes from Italy. There are some cans of tiny white turnips from Belgium, cans of spinach from France, and a small bottle of choice pimiento peppers from Spain. From Italy we also get olive farcies, or olives stuffed with anchovies. Those at the end of the shelf are from France. That can of paprika pepper is from Hun- gary and the bottle of tiny pearl onions hails from Holland. The cans of small carrots are the product of Belgium, and the peas, of Belgium and of France. TEMPTING TABLE DELICACIES 467 The corn on the ear in that bottle came from Ger- many and those capers, the flower buds from the caper bush — used for pickles, garnishes, and sauces — were sent from France. Holland furnishes the cans of cauliflower, and the jars of tiny lima beans were sent here from France. So, too, were the artichokes alongside them. There are some canned brussels sprouts and some cepes, or wild mushrooms, all from France. That jar of imported honey was made from flowers growing in Switzerland, on the slopes of the Alps. The truffle hunt. There is an interesting story connected with that can of truffles. The truffle is a variety of fungus and is possibly the most curious and least understood of any of our foods. Although it has been eaten for hundreds of years, man has never been able to produce it at will. It grows in clusters a few inches below the surface of the ground, much like potatoes, but has neither foliage nor roots of any kind. It is one of the most expensive of all foods, sometimes selling for as much as four dollars a pound. The truffle is round in shape, about the size of a walnut, although sometimes much larger, and is usually blackish gray in color, netted with fine white veins. It is commonly found in forests of oak and beech trees. The most famous variety comes from the French province of Perigord. Truffles absorb so much of the vegetable food ele- ments of the soil that nothing can thrive near them save the trees which give them the required shade. Although oaks and beeches in Perigord are indica- tions of "truffle ground," the task of finding these almost precious little globes of fungus is by no means an easy one. As no part of the truffles themselves 468 THE STORY OF FOODS shows above the ground, they are usually located by trained dogs or pigs, that scent the peculiar odor of XUKCTMl "" -IPl* * JlilfltiJSllR' . Jr£v&tu$. . ■ ** , ..;_. . ,; '■& m.'i^y^ ir Jj ^imm ^S^ppSKv" *' i > •*, #*5B fl| teyr :l * A ; '• ■'•'♦- "'"-_• . ^ I A French peasant and his pig out on a truffle hunt the truffles and start digging for them. Truffles are also found in England, Germany, Italy, and occa- sionally Spain, but France is the main source of the world's truffle supply. There is something almost absurd in the picture of a French peasant plodding alongside an anxious pig snuffing his way through the forests of Perigord, or as it is now known, the Department of Dordogne. Although the pig loves the taste of truffles, he has no chance to indulge it, as his master carries a hoe or spade with which he digs up the truffles as fast as the pig finds them, and puts them in the sack which usually swings from his shoulders. The pig, however, does not go unrewarded. The peasant always carries a sack of food for the animal, and TEMPTING TABLE DELICACIES 469 when the pig locates a truffle he immediately taps him on the back with a stick and gives him a small bit of the food as a substitute for the fragrant truffle. Truffles come to us in cans *and bottles and are used mostly for garnishing and flavoring. The choice portions of the truffle are very expensive, but the parings from peeled truffles may be bought at a moderate cost and are very good. A tiny slice of truffle will flavor a whole dish of food. Rare and unusual foods. If you look over the dainties in a delicatessen of the most "fancy" kind you may possibly find a can of kangaroo tail that has come to us all the way from Australia. There the natives eat kangaroo meat as Americans eat Brown Bros. French women cleaning truffles. As the tubers are rough or warty, the workers use stiff nail brushes beef, but they ship us only the choicest portions of the tail meat, which is considered a rare delicacy. 470 THE STORY OF FOODS Sorrel, or acid weed, is imported from France and used like spinach. Breasts of ptarmigan, a small bird of the grouse family found in Arctic America and in Norway, come to us put up in cans. Side by side in the delicatessen store one may find meat balls from Norway and pates de foie gras, or potted goose liver, from France and Germany. If you could see a French farm devoted to the produc- tion of this delicacy, you would think the sight a very strange one. You would find scores, even hun- dreds, of goslings kept in long rows of tiny pens, each compartment just large enough to hold a single fowl without giving it any chance whatever for exer- cise. The purpose of this restraint is to cause an enlargement of the creature's liver — a natural result of overeating without taking a normal amount of exercise. - These goslings are stuffed from early infancy until they are mature geese. They enjoy less liberty than a prisoner in his cell. It is not uncommon for a liver produced by this course of feeding to be five times its natural size. These livers are then baked and put through a screening or pulverizing process and packed in quaint cream-colored tureens of earthenware ready for individual service to the American consumer. Naturally they are expensive, a small one costing probably about two dollars at an American hotel or restaurant. Some whole goose livers are imported in tin cans. These are used by hotels and are garnished and flavored in many different ways. America is now beginning to meet the demand for this delicacy, one large poultry farm in New England being a pioneer in this line. On this farm the goose livers are parboiled, baked, forced through TEMPTING TABLE DELICACIES 471 a fine screen or grater, and then packed in large crocks. Its trade is chiefly with hotels and delicatessens. We also secure from France canned tunny fish; saucisson de foi gras, or sausage of goose liver, which is made of liver cut into small pieces, pistachio nuts, and pieces of truffle, thoroughly cooked and put up in cans ; goose breasts and wings smoked, and the skin of the roasted goose. This latter product comes from Germany also. France supplies us with preserved rose leaves, and Germany with preserved rosebuds. China contributes noodle soup and birds' -nest soup. This birds'-nest soup is a famous oriental dish made from the jelly-like substance found in the inside of the nests of certain kinds of swifts, or swallows, j These nests are built upon the face of cliffs and it is extremely dangerous work to collect them. How far the prosperous Oriental in America Swallow nests built on the face of a tall rock. These nests yield the substance from which birds -nest soup is made is willing to go to satisfy his taste for a rare delicacy in the form of soup is shown by the fact that this 472 THE STORY OF FOODS tidbit costs from seven to thirty dollars a pound at wholesale, a really good grade costing fifteen dollars. This is generally used in combination with chicken breasts and a fine quality of ham. The "yen wai," or edible birds'-nests, as prepared for export looks much like cakes of fluffy white wax. The nests are found in many of the islands of the Indian and Pacific oceans. Bottles of mixed fish come from Italy and contain tunny fish, olives, olive oil, pickles, spices, peppers, sardines, onions, and capers. We also import many kinds of after-dinner candies from Old World countries. Vienna probably sends us as great a quantity as any other foreign city. Foremost among these candies are those with true fruit hearts, which are in great demand. Home foods. Besides the imported delicacies named there are many kinds of American dainties to be had, such as cheeses, bottled fish, and canned fish, of which you have already been told. Many kinds of excellent American sausages and meats are displayed. Among these are cooked foods, such as fresh roast beef, roast pork, boiled ham, and veal loaf. The delicatessen a friend in need. Almost all large department and grocery stores now have their delicatessen departments. While the original idea of the delicatessen was that it should be a shop of delicacies, it has now become a convenience store, a place where the busy housewife may buy a cooked or "ready-to-eat" meal. In the large cities, the little delicatessen shop "around the corner" is a great help to the tired flat dwellers and all who wish to reduce housekeeping cares to the lowest possible point. It has many a TEMPTING TABLE DELICACIES 473 time saved the day for the hostess who has found herself face to face with unexpected guests. It does away with the necessity for carrying a supply of delicacies and cooked food in the refrigerator or icebox. A telephone call will bring a steaming dinner or cold lunch to one's door in short order if a thoroughly modern delicatessen is at hand. An up-to-date delicatessen will generally have on hand, for hurry-up calls, steaming pots of soups and vegetables, with hot roast beef, pork, or mutton. Even hot tea, coffee, and cocoa may be ordered there. Cold dishes and salads are their staples. Cold baked macaroni, cold beef, cold pork, cold mutton, veal loaf, cold boiled ham, potato salad, deviled eggs, cold roast chicken, baked pork and beans, num- berless salads — both vegetable and fruit — cakes, cookies, pies, sauces, puddings, brown bread, white bread, whole wheat bread, bran bread, graham bread, corn bread, are all ready for instant delivery. Besides all these there are shelves upon shelves of canned soups, vegetables, fish, meats, and fruits, ready to eat at a minute's notice. Ice creams, cold drinks, and ices are the delicatessen's specialties. Specializing in foods. Some delicatessens special- ize in the tempting foods of certain countries. One of these stores in Chicago claims to be able to fur- nish the German anything he has ever eaten in his old home across the water. Another delicatessen specializes in French foods, and its supply and methods of handling the food would surprise you. It has a little cafe in a side room where one may secure a dinner entirely of French foods, cooked by a French chef and served by French waiters. Almost 474 THE STORY OF FOODS every large city has its Chinese delicatessen with a chop suey restaurant and curio shop combined. In fact, it would scarcely be too much to say that if you were to explore any big city you would find there a delicatessen shop, the stock of which represents the special taste of some one foreign nation. All the delicatessens together would form an exhibition of the foods or delicacies favored by every foreign nation represented in the population of that city. This does not mean that each delicatessen store is devoted exclusively to the foods of any one nation, — this occurs in only comparatively rare cases, — ■ but that the average delicatessen tries to keep on its shelves a fairly representative stock of delicacies from every civilized country. Chapter XXXI WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES The wholesaler and his co-workers. The whole- sale grocery house is about the most fascinating place to which you could possibly pay a visit. As we explore its wonders we cannot help saying to our- selves, "If every man, woman, and child who has helped to grow, to harvest, to prepare, to pack, and to carry the foods under this roof were suddenly to appear before us, we should look upon a strange and interesting sight, for we should see a great throng of people belonging to almost every race on the face of the earth." Yes, nearly every country, nation, and tribe would be represented in that strange crowd. Even the inhabitants of the far-off islands of the sea would have a place in that queer gathering. Suppose we should see that amazing throng of workers from the four corners of the earth in one great procession passing slowly before our eyes. How much more vivid would be our understanding of the wholesaler's task of providing our tables with the wonderful variety of delicious foods common to-day in most American homes. Beyond doubt that strange com- pany of toilers would lead us to wonder how it is possible for us to buy our foods at so small a price — foods far greater in variety, finer in quality, cleaner, and more wholesome than kings could com- mand only a century ago. The wholesale grocery a manufacturing plant. There is a common notion that the grocery jobber 475 476 THE STORY OF FOODS or wholesaler is a middleman in the strictest sense of the term, that he receives a general assortment of Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. Among the wholesaler's co-workers, who help harvest the foods later assembled under his roof, no race is more interesting than the young Tamil tea pickers of the Ceylon plantations food products at one door of his plant and sends them out at another in practically the same condi- tion in which they came in, and that for the mere matter of passing the goods through his hands he exacts a fat toll from the public. The merest glimpse of what goes on inside a great wholesale grocery is sufficient to destroy this idea and show WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES 477 its utter absurdity. As a matter of fact, in its every- day practice, a representative wholesale grocery is a manufacturing plant. The extent to which foods are worked over into new forms more acceptable to the consumer is not known or even thought of by the average person. Nor does the average retail grocer have any adequate idea of the amount of hard physical labor put into the cleaning, changing of forms, and mixing of foods into combinations to suit the varied tastes of the public and to meet the requirements of the national and state laws regulating the purity, cleanliness, and labeling of all food products. The reason why the real work of the wholesaler is so little understood or appreciated is plain when it is remembered that the general public seldom sees the inside of a big food jobbing house. Even the retail grocer, who is the connecting link between the wholesaler and the consumer, is almost a stranger to the real work of the wholesaler. And the reason for the retailer's lack of knowledge is that, as a rule, he comes in contact only with the selling end of the wholesale establishment and does not see what is going on "behind the scenes." The big wholesale grocery is really the very cen- ter of one of the most vital activities in the study of world-geography — the gathering of foods from all the countries of the globe and the distributing of them, in much improved forms, to the people of a state or a group of states. As a situation from which to study practical geography there is probably no other place in the world quite so well adapted as is a wholesale grocery. By practical geography, we mean the kind that throws a searchlight upon the real and 478 THE STORY OF FOODS important transactions in the world's trade, thus giving us an illuminated, world-wide view of the great currents and tides of international traffic in the things most necessary to man's life, health, and comfort— FOODS! Changing food forms. Because the plain, hard, physical labor performed by the wholesale grocery Grinding coffee. This is one of the lighter processes of changing food forms carried on in the city plant of a wholesale grocery house house in the way of cleaning and refining foods is so important, let us confine our attention at the outset to the work the wholesaler puts upon them as they pass through his hands. Later we shall look at the other form of labor which the jobber is called upon to include in the service he gives for the toll he takes. For the present, let us take a trip through the wholesale grocery with eyes alert for only one thing: the changes which foods in the wholesale WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES 479 plant undergo to make them more attractive and convenient for distribution. In the first place, the larger wholesale grocery houses, particularly those located in the business centers of big cities, are obliged, for the sake of economy, to maintain two separate plants. In both plants a certain amount of work is done in cleaning, refining, and otherwise changing foods. The plant in the center of the city is devoted mainly to distributing rather than to manufacturing. Here only the lighter processes of cleaning and changing of food forms are carried on. By far the larger part of this kind of work, especially its heavier and less interesting processes, are carried on at the other plant, commonly called the factory. Usually this plant stands either on the outskirts of the city or in some small suburban town having extensive shipping facilities and a sufficient supply of the right sort of labor. But if the wholesale house is not located in a large city, you are almost certain to find the dis- tributing and the manufacturing activities of the establishment carried on under one roof. This is sometimes true of grocery jobbing houses situated even in the large cities, although the tendency is to separate these two branches of work in the manner indicated. The wholesaler's work varies with the seasons. When you come to think about it, you will realize that it is clearly impossible for you to get more than a mere suggestion of the variety and scope of the work which the wholesale grocery puts upon foods, unless you go through the plant as often, perhaps, as once a month. The reason for this is that foods are seasonal to a peculiar degree — a fact which is 480 THE STORY OF FOODS continually being reflected in the change of work going on in the wholesale house from week to week. Courtesy of U. 8 Dept. Agr. Sorting a big shipment of figs in a Smyrna packing house. On arriv- ing at the wholesaler's these Jigs must be cleaned and repacked before they are put on the market Almost every food brought from a foreign country arrives at about the same time each year. If you were to walk through the plant, for instance, just after the big shipments of figs had arrived from Smyrna, you might be inclined to think that a large share of the wholesaler's work was the cleaning and repacking of figs. But if you made your visit a month later, you would probably not see any figs at all in the packing room. Therefore, you may be sure that no matter how often you may make a geographic pilgrimage to the wholesale grocery house, you will find some new work in progress in the packing rooms which was missing from the scene when you were there before. A glimpse inside a wholesale house. Here is a glimpse of the actual work being done in one of the largest wholesale grocery houses in the Middle WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES 481 West — a house having an auxiliary plant in a large manufacturing town near by where all the heavier In the laboratory of a wholesale house in the Middle West. .. The chemist plays an important part in preserving foods and changing food forms in a great grocery house work is done. The wholesale house proper is not far from the central part of the city and is the head- quarters of the selling, accounting, distributing, and administrative branches of the big enterprise. Preparing prunes for the grocer. A large part of the top floor of this marvelously equipped whole- sale house is given over to the work of cleaning, sorting, and packing prunes, figs, currants, and almost every other kind of dried fruit. Here we see men handling great cakes or cheeses of prunes, opening the original packages, breaking up the big solid masses, and putting them into a hopper from which they are automatically fed into a vat of boiling water. After remaining there for an instant they are lifted on a revolving screen and dropped into 31 482 THE STORY OF FOODS another vat. This process is repeated six times. As the prunes come out of their sixth and last steaming bath they are not only well cleaned but are also immensely improved in appearance. This extreme care and thoroughness illustrates the progressive tendency of modern food manufacturers who are apparently alive to the value of making their prod- ucts not only scrupulously clean but attractive as well. The processing to which the prune is sub- jected certainly gives it an appearance which makes an unfailing appeal to the eye of the consumer. The remarkable machine in which many kinds of whole dried fruits are washed is capable of cleaning 30,000 pounds of prunes a day. After their last bath, the prunes are automatically In the packing room of a wholesale house. Packing high-grade prunes for the retail grocer's display emptied upon a moving screen which acts as a con- veyor and at the same time dries them by shaking WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES 483 from them the last lingering drops of water. The conveyor dumps its burden into a clean bin where Fruits packed for thz retail grower. These boxes of dried fruit have been "faced" to give them an attractive appearance when displayed the fruit is shoveled into boxes which follow each other in quick succession on the platform of a pair of scales. Prunes above the ordinary grade are generally packed by girls, who put them into the boxes in orderly tiers so that they may make a pleas- ing and attractive appearance for display when the box is opened in the retail grocery. Sometimes only a few layers at the top of the box are arranged in this way, all the prunes underneath being put in loosely. This is called "facing." Currants from Greece. On this same floor are other machines, constructed along similar lines, which are especially designed for the cleaning of immense shipments of currants from Greece. A man about to break open one of the original packages pointed to the word "Cleaned" branded upon the side of the package. He laughingly explained that this was stamped on the package by the American Consul or his deputy. While the currants were undoubtedly cleaner than those sent to other coun- tries, they certainly did not come up to our present American standards of cleanliness in the matter of 484 THE STORY OF FOODS foods. We learn that this particular shipment of currants being cleaned came from Patras, Greece. Cleaning and seeding raisins. Raisins receive a little different treatment, being given what may be called a Turkish bath. First they are placed in a room almost as hot as an oven and allowed to remain there until dry, at least on the surface. Next they are placed upon sieves in an automatic machine where they receive a violent and thorough shaking which frees them from dust, dirt, and sand. Then they are given a hot bath, after which those to be sold as seeded raisins are sent to the seeder. This machine, though small compared with that used in the raisin factory, will seed 300 pounds an hour. This machine is only one among many other ingenious devices that make up the equipment to be found in the modern wholesale grocery. Foods cleaned by hand. As we pass along in this large room we notice several girls standing, or sitting on stools, at a row of sinks. These girls handle the various nuts and dried fruits which can be cleaned to better advantage by hand. At present they are cleaning a consignment of large almond meats from Valencia, Spain. One of the workers tells us that the house also obtains almonds from Italy and California. A favorite from the tropics. Of all the dried or cured fruits that are brought to us from foreign countries probably none is in more urgent need of a good hot bath and similar attentions than dates. Dates begin their long journey in a torrid country on camel-back, continue it on a freight train, and are then perhaps stacked on the deck of a tramp schooner with the fierce sun beating down upon them. Next they are transferred to a regular ocean liner WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES 485 and finally reach the wholesale house with the sticky, sugary sirup oozing from every crack and crevice of the original package. This oozing begins in the oasis where the dates are grown. It continues throughout the trip across the desert, on wharves and docks, on the decks and in the holds of the vessels, in freight cars, and at every step of the long pilgrimage. By the time the package reaches its destination it is literally encrusted with a thick covering of combined sirup and dirt of about the consistency of tar. While the dates inside the package are consid- erably protected, still the dust and dirt penetrate to them. This is true only of bulk dates, and not of those packed in small and tightly sealed boxes before they leave Arabia. The process of cleaning dates is not essentially different from that of washing prunes, except that hot steam as well as hot water is used. As we pause at the elbow of a girl who is seeding and stuffing dates, and note the skill that is required to get the seed out without taking any of the meat along with it, we are greatly impressed by the pains- taking care with which this delicious food is pre- pared for our consumption. Making a reputation in the coffee trade. The coffee room is one of the most important places in any wholesale grocery house; this is not only because coffee constitutes an important commodity in the wholesale and retail food trade but also because the average consumer of coffee is probably more partic- ular about it than about any other article in his whole range of foods and drinks. Another consideration which emphasizes the importance of the coffee room WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES 487 is the fact that high quality in coffee, as the consumer sips it from his cup, is far more a matter of success- ful blending and roasting than it is of choosing just the right raw material, or natural berry. But it must not be understood that there is not a decided difference in the characteristics of the coffee beans or berries from the various coffee-growing localities. Any master of the art of blending and roasting can take a coffee which in itself would not make a pleasant drink and, by his clever and skillful blending with other varieties, produce the basis of a brew that will win high praise from the most exacting coffee drinker. This is admitted by coffee experts gen- erally and it is therefore easy to realize that the work done in the coffee room must be of the most expert and dependable character if the house is to make a notable reputation on its coffees; and this is usually what it tries to do if it is wide awake and progressive. Preparing coffee for the trade. The first thing done in the process of cleaning the raw bulk coffee berries is to send them through the separator. This machine operates on about the same principle as an old-fashioned fanning mill, or small grain separator. It consists of several rapidly shaking screens, and as the coffee passes over these the sand and dirt fall through the mesh while the chaff and dust are carried away by air suction. The coffee is dropped from the separators into the bins from which it is drawn for blending. After it has been blended, the coffee is elevated to the roasters where it is roasted for from fifteen to twenty minutes. The more modern roasters are so ar- ranged that a small stream of coffee is constantly trickling through an opening from which the expert 488 THE STORY OF FOODS in charge of the roasting may at any moment draw a sample. This he does frequently. From the roasters the coffee is dropped into a bin or bins below. It is on its journey from the bin to the compartments tapped by the sacking chutes that the coffee is freed from small stones and other particles too large to pass through the mesh of the separator's screens and too heavy to be carried off by air suction. This bin is really a big hopper {A-A), from the bottom of which a large pipe or conduit leads off at a downward slant, ending in a smaller bin (B). The pitch of this pipe is just sufficient to keep a stream of coffee moving steadily along. From the j. m i lil^|H^f Mm !i «piit'Jfei '''W -\4Pi ?' J 4 •T> t i . - f - 'J Y; Kv« ' ' Coffee roasters in a great wholesale grocery top of the smaller bin, into which the slanting con- duit — along which the coffee is carried by the force WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES 489 of its own weight — empties, is a pipe (D-D) which leads to the big storage bins above. Through this pipe moves an upward suction of air, whose strength is so regulated that it is just sufficient to pull up the coffee beans, which have been lightened by roasting. At the same time, this air current allows the small stones and other heavier particles to slide along the remain- der of the slanting chute and drop into a still smaller bin (C). If the coffee is to be ground and sent out to the trade in sealed cans or airtight pack- ages, the hopper containing the blend will feed direct to the grinding machine. A coffee-grinding machine of large capacity is capable of turning out 1,000 pounds of ground or steel-cut coffee a day. It is well to remember, however, that only about 10 per cent of the coffee sold is ground in the wholesale house. This is because ground coffee loses strength unless it is in airtight packages, and consumers usually wish to have the coffee berries remain whole as long as possible. By far the greater part of the coffee used is ground by the retail grocer for each individual customer. Unground roasted coffees are commonly sent out How coffee is carried to storage compartments by air suction 490 THE STORY OF FOODS to the trade in drums that resemble in appearance small barrels or casks. These are also tightly sealed. In the packing room of a wholesale house. Here ground coffee for the retail trade is being put up in airtight containers Many retailers carry a small stock of unroasted coffees, which are sent to them in sacks, as it is not considered necessary to keep unroasted coffees in airtight packages. Spices. Now for a glance into the room where the wholesaler prepares his output of spices. Unless you have been in such a room, you may quite natu- rally imagine that the fragrance of the spices would be decidedly pleasant, but that is not true. When the spices are being ground they give out an aroma altogether too strong and pungent to be agreeable. It is even quite disagreeable to stay for any great length of time in the room where cinnamon is being ground, and this is the least offensive among all the spices. Usually each spice grinder is able to WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES 491 turn out from 500 to 600 pounds of ground cinna- mon, cloves, or pepper a day. ''That is what we call broken Cassia cinnamon,' ' explained the man in charge of the spice-grinding machines. "It is the kind that is almost invariably ground. Of course we also carry the fine Batavia cinnamon which is sold to the retailer unground or in what we call 'sticks/ " It is interesting to study the native materials used as wrappings for original packages from remote places, like the Moluccas (Spice Islands) and other islands of the South Seas, where most of the spices are grown. Cinnamon, for example, comes in packages containing about 100 pounds. The outer wrapping is Brown Bros. In the workshop of a South Sea island plantation. Here the native islanders sort and prepare stick cinnamon to be packed for shipment to the world's markets of rushes or bamboo. Each kind of spice usually has its own particular style of package and wrappings. 492 THE STORY OF FOODS In spite of the fact that automatic scales are used to weigh the spices for the little packages or boxes in which they are to be sealed, the amount of work involved in putting the spices into their final con- tainers is by no means small. Pulverized sugar. The grinder that turns out pulverized sugar is a curious type of mill. Instead of having stones, burrs, or rollers to reduce the granulated sugar to the finer pulverized form, this clever device is so constructed that it forces the sugar crystals themselves to do the work of grind- ing by their friction against each other. An inter- esting feature of the pulverized sugar room is the nervous battery of bolters by which this finely powdered sugar is screened. The bolters are huge sifters covered with bolting cloth of varying degrees of fineness, through whose meshes the powdered sugar passes. Baking powder. The baking-powder mixer is simply a long cylinder inside of which revolves a corkscrew mixer or "agitator," which stirs and blends the ingredients of baking powder with systematic thoroughness. Tastes in tea. We cannot explore a large whole- sale grocery house for the particular purpose of learning just how much work the wholesaler puts on the foods he gathers from far and near before he passes them on to the retailer, and fail to visit the room in which teas are blended. While it is true that certain blends of tea are commonly used throughout the whole country, on the other hand it is hardly too much to say that many communities have developed individual tastes in tea. Perhaps one town will demand a special blend, which no WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES 493 other place in the territory of that wholesaler re- quires. Very many times this is due to the An important work. Labeling special blends of tea that have been put up in convenient packages for the retail trade nationality of the inhabitants of the community. For example, a retailer in a locality largely settled by Russians would naturally carry a heavy black tea of a blend to be drunk with only a slice of lemon in it. On the other hand, a retail store- keeper in a typical New England town would be very sure to sell much more green tea than black. Again, this local taste is undoubtedly often fixed by what may be called social accident. For in- stance, some society leader in the town has a decided preference for a special blend of tea and is not backward about talking of its merits. Those of her friends who are inclined to follow her lead will scarcely fail to ask their own grocers for the brand of tea she serves. 494 THE STORY OF FOODS But no matter how each community may have arrived at its preference for a certain kind of tea, the fact remains that the tea blender in the wholesale house must be able to keep close tab upon these various local preferences and so mix his materials as to satisfy each particular taste. In order to do this with the highest degree of success, he consults as frequently as possible with the traveling salesmen of the house and carefully considers with them the tea taste of each town in their territory. This information is all systematically recorded. The tea blender in the big wholesale house is essen- tially an artist in catering to individual and com- munity tastes in an article about which people are uncommonly exacting and sensitive. Therefore, his task is not an easy one. But it should not be in- ferred that every community demands an individual blend of tea not known and marketable in other towns; it is true, however, that many communities do demand an individual blend. Extending the olive market. Now let us take a look into the olive room, which is quite likely to be in the basement of the wholesale house unless the packing is done at the " factory." Indeed, you will probably find that nearly every wholesale grocery which maintains a separate factory handles olives there and in its main establishment also. Practi- cally all our green olives come from Spain. The Spaniards put them up in huge hogshead-like casks called " pipes," containing from 160 to 180 gallons of olives and brine. Only a very few retailers are able to handle olives put up in these big origi- nal packages. Consequently the wholesale grocers have the task of opening up the casks, grading and WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES 495 washing the olives, and repacking them in smaller and more convenient and attractive containers. In the basement of a wholesale grocery house. These huge ''pipes 1 or hogsheads contain olives from Spain waiting to be graded, washed, and bottled The grading and packing are done because the American consumer buys, in the matter of olives at least, on the score of appearance. If he feels he can afford the best he insists upon having a bottle of big, fat, selected olives for which the merchant is obliged to charge him a corresponding price. The consumer who must be careful in his expendi- tures goes to the other extreme and buys the smallest olives. If there is any actual difference in quality or taste between these two extremes it is usually too slight to be noticeable. By this process of grading and repacking bulk olives, the varied tastes and demands of consumers may be met at prices 496 THE STORY OF FOODS they can afford to pay. At the same time the jobber extends his own olive market and that of the Packing olives in a wholesale plant. Stuffing and packing olives in the attractive forms offered by the retailer are laborious processes and require deft and well-trained fingers retailer beyond the limit that would be possible if the ungraded bulk olives were put upon the market just as they are received. The stuffed olive is highly suggestive of the alert- ness with which the wholesale food merchant watches for an opportunity to put more work instead of less upon the materials that come to his hands, in order that they may make a still wider appeal to public taste. Not many years ago the stuffed olive was unknown; to-day almost every retail grocer in a town of any considerable size carries this delicacy as a staple. The wholesale grocer, looking for something new to make a fresh appeal to the fastidious consumer, WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES 497 tried a combination of the green olive and the sweet red pepper called pimiento, both imported from Spain. The result was so satisfactory that the idea proved to be little short of an inspiration. The work of removing the stones from the olives and insert- ing the little rolls of pimiento flesh is usually done by girls, as is also the packing of olives in bottles. Both are laborious processes and require deft and highly trained fingers to do them well and swiftly. As far as possible, the girls handle the olives either with little tongs or with forks, refraining from touching them with the fingers except when it is absolutely necessary. If in packing the olives any have been touched with the fingers, they are again washed before the final brine is poured in and the bottle sealed. This seems to be the rule in the olive rooms of all houses where olives are packed. Work in the factories. Where a wholesale food house maintains a separate factory, the work done there is more strictly manufacturing. In these factories, making jellies, jams, and preserves, putting up pickles, sauces, relishes, salad and meat dressings, and preparing nut butters of all kinds are only a few of the activities that the visitor may see at almost any time. Along one side of the factory you may see a long line of steam- jacketed kettles and caldrons stand- ing on a concrete platform, each kettle being so equipped that it may be mechanically tilted with the greatest ease by means of a lever. These huge kettles are of varying sizes and are employed in cooking almost every kind of food product manu- factured in the plant. At one time you may find practically all the large kettles devoted to cooking 32 498 THE STORY OF FOODS ketchup, while at another time they may be filled with beans. The factory is probably never more Where preserves, jellies, and jams are made. Transforming peaches into preserves in the great kettles or caldrons at the manu- facturing plant of a wholesale food house savory than when some of the kettles are devoted to making confections composed mainly of maple sugar or maple sirup. A word to the wise. Please remember that in this hurried trip through the wholesale house — with just a peep through the door of the special factory where canning and preserving and pickling are the main lines of activity — you have followed only one single line of observation. That is, you have seen only what the wholesaler does to the foods which he sells to the retail grocer and the work required to make them more acceptable to the consumer from the standpoint of attractiveness, of convenience, of cleanliness, and of wholesomeness. WHAT THE WHOLESALER DOES 499 Do not imagine for a moment that all of the work bestowed upon foods and food materials in the whole- sale house has been even hinted at in these pages. The pains the jobber takes to make foods more acceptable to the public could not be completely described in several times the amount of space occu- pied by this chapter. The information given here is intended rather to stimulate you and your geog- raphy teacher to make a visit to a large wholesale house on your own account and to discover its inter- esting activities with your own eyes, rather than to rest content with the few facts the chapter presents. Chapter XXXII WHAT THE RETAILER DOES The grocer's place in the town's business. Did you ever ask yourself what is the most important business carried on in your community? This is really about as vital a question as you could raise, because the answer forces you to learn the truth about a situation that has become obscured by false notions and traditions. Perhaps the easiest and surest way to get at the right answer to this question is to imagine yourself in a community wholly cut off from all the rest of the world, at least for the time being, and then ask: "In such stress, what business could we least afford to spare? " Only a little thought will be required to convince you that the grocer, or food merchant, would be the one man to whom all eyes would turn in such an emergency. Men and women can wait a long time, if obliged to, for most of the things they buy which are commonly called necessities, but they can wait only a little while for food. They must eat or they will perish! Most of us are in the habit of thinking that the banker, for example, is an important man. So he is. But there are many small towns that get along very well without a bank, using little actual money. Put to the same test every other business and you will soon see that selling foods is the only business absolutely necessary to the community all the time. It cannot be spared, even for a short time, without serious harm. 500 WHAT THE RETAILER DOES 501 Possibly you will say that clothes are quite as necessary as food. The answer is that you could wait much longer for a new stock of clothes than for a new supply of food. The grocer's services varied. The notion is quite common that about all a retail grocer does is to deliver goods over his counter and take money in return for them. It is true that all his activities center around supplying the people of his locality with foods and that his motive for doing this is to make money. On the other hand, he does so much more than merely hand out goods and take in money that it would be a great injustice to him to look at his work in this way and fail to see the real impor- tance of his service to the community. The position of the wholesale grocer who dis- tributes food supplies to the people of his territory may be compared to that of a big bank which sup- plies money, through many smaller banks, to the people of the district in which it operates. The retail grocer is the link in the chain which connects the food producer with the consumer. We may aptly call him the country banker of foodstuffs. The grocer as a banker. But the retail grocer is far more than a banker in food supplies. In many instances he is also a money banker for his cus- tomers because he gives them credit; or, as the common phrase has it, he " carries them" on his financial shoulders. The length of time for which the grocer carries his customers depends largely upon local conditions, upon whether he is located in a city or a country town, and whether the customers get their money from mills and factories or from farms and ranches. The storekeeper in a manufacturing 502 THE STORY OF FOODS town, where the men are paid by the week or month, does not usually give his customers credit for longer than thirty days. But, of course, in times of slack work or in hard times, he is often obliged to stretch his credit over several months. In the country districts, where the storekeeper's customers are mainly farmers, dependent upon their crops, the credits frequently run from harvest to harvest. In dairy districts where farmers get regu- lar monthly milk checks, as in manufacturing towns, thirty-day credits are the general rule. Often this really means that the grocer or retailer actually furnishes a large part of the money on which his community does business. In thousands of cases, grocers are actually paying interest on the money their customers owe them. Suppose, for example, that a storekeeper started in business, as many do, with almost all his capital invested in fixtures and equipment. This would mean, of course, that he would have to buy his stock on credit. Then, if he had to carry his farmer customers from one crop to another, he would soon be forced to borrow money to meet his bills at the wholesale house and thus keep his credit good at the source of supply. In case of a crop failure it is often necessary for the storekeeper to shoulder a double burden of credit and wait until still another harvest for his money. Sometimes this means a year and a half or even two years that the storekeeper must stand behind his unfortunate customers, furnishing them food until they succeed in raising a crop and marketing it. Banking, or financing his customers, is not unusual on the part of the storekeeper but an ordi- nary happening of trade. The storekeeper does not WHAT THE RETAILER DOES 503 intend to do a banking business when he starts out, but circumstances draw him into it. He must do it for his own protection, to hold his trade together, until his customers succeed and pay their bills. Of course there are thousands of farmers and ranchmen who can and do pay their bills at the end of each month, as there are thousands of doctors, lawyers, laborers, and business men who settle their store accounts every thirty days; but almost every storekeeper must act as banker to a large part of his trade. If his customers all paid promptly, the storekeeper would not need to borrow money to carry them along, and would not only save the interest on this money but would be able to pay his own bills promptly enough to save the discount allowed for cash or prompt payment. It is quite natural to ask why the retail store- keeper does not require his customers to pay interest on their overdue accounts, thus offsetting the inter- est he must pay on money borrowed to carry them along. In many cases this is done, but it is not easy to carry out this plan in all instances, because the average storekeeper hesitates to ask a customer to pay interest. And the customer who, under ordinary circumstances, is good pay resents such a request from a storekeeper to whom he gives a substantial trade from month to month. The grocer as a warehouseman. The retail food merchant gives his community still another kind of service which is seldom recognized or appreciated by his customers. He acts as warehouseman, carry- ing reserve foodstuffs in a way that keeps them in good condition, ready to be dealt out in small quantities as they are needed by the consumers. 504 THE STORY OF FOODS He does more than this — he takes the risk of loss by breakage, by shrinkage, by waste in handling, and Where the grocer acts as a warehouseman. Reserve foodstuffs in a great retail grocery ready to be sent out to customers at a moment's notice by the general decay to which many food products are subject. Again, he is liable to loss by decrease in the market value of the goods themselves. This is the penalty he pays for being a food banker. Suppose your mother, like her mother or her grandmother, perhaps, was obliged to buy her stock of groceries and prepared meats for practically a whole year in advance, and not only buy them but store them in the house. Before that year's stock of foodstuffs was used, would not your mother be more than willing to give up all the profit of the retail grocer on those goods if she could only be saved the loss and waste of every kind and the bother of caring WHAT THE RETAILER DOES 505 for them? There is little doubt that the retailer's profit on those goods would seem a small reward for all that she had been obliged to endure to secure the benefits of buying in quantity. A household experiment of this kind would show clearly just how much service the retail storekeeper gives to his customers by acting as a warehouseman and deliver- ing food supplies in small quantities and in fresh condition. Those who are inclined to believe that the retailer takes a heavy toll for his services should bear in mind that the retail grocer's rent or cost of providing a place in which to do business, his payroll for help, his taxes, his insurance, and even the money he must pay out in order to give his customers the long credit they demand by no means make up the total sum of his expenses. He is called upon to contribute to every cause in the community for which popular support is sought — church enterprises, the Fourth of July and other town celebrations, the village band, the high-school baseball and football teams, and all forms of charity. How the city retailer serves the public. Suppose we visit a high-class retail store and see just what the retailer is doing for his money. This is a fancy grocery in a large city — an aristocrat among retail stores. An obliging clerk will personally conduct us through the store. Notice close to the door those crates of French endive. You will see by the label on the box that they were imported from Belgium. Those alligator pears or avocados were brought from the West Indies. Over there on that long porcelain counter are piles of cucumbers, crisp heads of lettuce, 506 THE STORY OF FOODS Brussels sprouts, and many other varieties of gar- den products, all of the choicest. This is no special Brown Bros. In the market of a modern grocery. The vegetables to be found in a high-grade market of this type are choice products received daily from every part of our country display prepared for an unusual occasion, but merely the ordinary stock handled each day in this store. You ask where such wonderful vegetables were obtained. " Throughout the country," replies the clerk. "We have a number of experts in garden truck who visit our gardeners and select the choicest of their stock. About twenty-five gardeners are raising vegetables especially for us and the best of their product is shipped here. In order that we may not be handicapped by unfavorable conditions in any one locality, we are in touch with gardeners in every section of the country, and have buying stations in WHAT THE RETAILER DOES 507 Florida, in Michigan, in California, in Texas, in New York, and all through the Middle West. Our A display of ready-to-eat foods. The pastries and other foods seen on these shelves and in these cases have been specially prepared for this high-class grocery growers raise the vegetables according to our in- structions. We furnish the seed and give explicit directions as to how each product is to be grown. This also applies to much of our fruit. We have a man raising peaches for us who is said to produce as fine a peach as any grown in America. In several states we have melon farmers who send us their finest fruit. "Our store has a woman cook who makes fancy pastry especially for us. Even our crackers are of a special quality. The woman receives fancy prices 508 THE STORY OF FOODS for her pastry, and the cracker company charges a little more for the special crackers. We pay from 20 to 100 per cent extra for the special foods pre- pared for us and also a large sum above the regular market price for everything that is accepted from the gardens, orchards, and fields of our special growers. Even the printer gets a bonus for putting extra care into the printing of our bags, labels, and boxes.' ' The small-town grocery. Now let us go into a typical small-town grocery store and market and see the foods handled there every day. First of all, we see several boxes of oranges and a box of lemons. At home we usually order a dozen oranges and perhaps a half dozen lemons, as we need them. The grocer tells us that the wholesaler ex- pects to sell at least a box of lemons at a time and more than one box of oranges. He also says that the shipper would not think of handling less than a carload of either of these fruits, while the grower expects to sell his entire crop to one buyer. Since few families would care to purchase several hundred lemons or a box or two of oranges at one time, we see plainly that the retailer is necessary in the handling of such fruits. There hangs a bunch of bananas. The retailer cannot buy fewer than a bunch at a time, the whole- saler must buy them by the carload, and the importer by the shipload. Few private families could afford or would wish to buy bananas by the bunch. So again we see how real economy is impossible without the local retailer. Notice the grocer's supply of nuts — walnuts, pea- nuts, pecans, almonds, and Brazil nuts. It would WHAT THE RETAILER DOES 509 not be difficult to store a considerable quantity of nuts in one's home, but on account of their bulk it would hardly be advisable. A hundredweight of nuts is a very small order for the grocer to give a whole- saler, but a hundred pounds of nuts would be both an expensive and cumbersome item for the family larder. We see on the counter a generous supply of vege- tables — all brought in from the outlying truck farms early this morning. The grocer sent his delivery boy for them in an automobile. The boy called at several farms and truck gardens before he found just what he wanted. His speedometer showed that he traveled eighteen miles on that trip. Suppose before we could have string beans, fresh tomatoes, potatoes, and peas, we had to get up early in the morning and travel eighteen miles for them. Surely the retail grocer is a convenience, at least. On the next counter are a number of cantaloupes and osage melons from Michigan. They are espe- cially early ones, too, obtained from the city produce merchant at a fancy price. Our retailer had to buy a crate holding twenty-five of them. One family could not afford to take more than three or four of such melons. Balancing supply and demand. But, perhaps you think that if we were willing to wait a little, we could buy all these things much more cheaply in their natural season direct from the farmers who grow them. Perhaps we could, but it must be remembered that there are many parts of our coun- try where such things cannot be raised. Again, an unfavorable season will cause a scarcity of them in a wide territory. In our home town, the farmers raise 510 THE STORY OF FOODS good fruits and vegetables. But one year, for some reason, we had few tomatoes and very little corn, ■:; : ■ £ 1 ifc- '■ ' v-JL & mm ■ Kg] R^gr . p &* SB»y r >- : - /^^i • mBmwBmWm : fciJKJ : ^X ^4w everyday scene in a high-class retail groceiy. A glance at the fruit section of this grocery shoivs how the surplus products of many localities collected by the wholesaler are utilized by retailers throughout the country and a blight seemed to have struck the cucumbers and melons. Yet a little later the grocers were selling these things at about the usual price and we really did not suffer from any scarcity of them. On the other hand, there were a hundred cabbages raised near here to every one that could be eaten. It looked as if cabbages could be had for nothing, for the truck farmers would have to throw them away. But retailers in other parts of our country would not permit that. The great majority of the cabbages raised in this vicinity were shipped away by whole- salers and bought by the retailers in other states WHAT THE RETAILER DOES 511 where cabbages were scarce. Other communities had a surplus of melons, cucumbers, and tomatoes. So, in effect, through the wholesaler and retailer, the extra cabbages were being traded for the surplus tomatoes, cucumbers, and melons produced by the growers in other localities. Buying from the producer. Sometimes, especially when food prices are extremely high, consumers try to do without the retailer by buying as much as pos- sible of their table supplies from the producer. Per- haps this has been successful in some cases, but on the whole these experiments seem to show that both the producer and the consumer can make profitable use of the retailer's services. Generally when the consumer attempts to buy directly from the pro- ducer, he finds it necessary to pay almost as much for the eggs, the potatoes, or the poultry straight from the farm as the local retailer demands. At the same time he fails to receive many desirable things which the local grocer must furnish in order to hold his trade. Among these things may be mentioned experienced grading, packing, and handling, also credit, and delivery in small quantities at the con- venience of the consumer. If there is one special line of food distribution in which the retailer is indispensable, it is that of selling meats and fish. Were it not for the retailer, the average family would be compelled to go without fresh meat entirely, and the people living inland would find it practically impossible to serve fish on their tables. Buying in quantity. There are many purchases the housewife would find it wholly impossible to make if the retailer — and behind him the wholesaler 512 THE STORY OF FOODS — was not on hand to solve the troublesome problem of quantity buying. Many families, for example, In the cheese room of a wholesale grocery house. Cutting up big wheel-like cheeses into convenient size for the retail grocer like Swiss cheese. But a whole cheese of this kind weighs about 200 pounds. Only the largest retail grocery houses have enough trade to dispose of a whole Swiss cheese within a reasonable time. There- fore, the wholesaler cuts one of these big wheel-like cheeses into quarters or eighths for his various retail customers. In turn, the retailer cuts this section of a wheel into smaller pieces in order to meet the immediate needs of his Swiss cheese customers. For example, he sells Mrs. Smith, who has a large and growing family, two pounds of cheese at a time, and Mrs. Jones, who has no hungry boys and girls to demand Emmenthaler cheese sandwiches, a quarter of a pound. WHAT THE RETAILER DOES 513 If Mrs. Jones could not buy so small a quantity of this cheese she would no doubt be obliged to go without it altogether. And while Mrs. Smith is able to use about eight times as much as Mrs. Jones, she, too, would find it necessary to deny herself this prized article of food if it were obtainable only in big sections, the size of the one bought by her retail grocer from the wholesaler. So the retailer — by pro- viding for the combination of many small purchases —places within reach of his customers many kinds of food they otherwise could not have. Even in so small an item as fowls the work of the retailer is important. Here is an example taken from personal experience. One day we bought a chicken from a dealer who made four cents on the transaction, but to earn that four cents he drove into the country for the chicken, paid cash for it, dressed it, and sold it on thirty days' credit. No doubt his margin of profit in this instance was a good deal below the average. You have already learned that before a great many kinds of foods reach the consumer they must pass through many processes. Of course you also under- stand that it would be impossible for a family to buy its tea, coffee, spices, and similar foods direct from the producers, and that it would be equally impossible for the jobber or the wholesaler to sell direct to the consumer. The wholesaler must handle millions of pounds of food every year and to attempt to sell it in one-pound lots would be impractical and com- mercially impossible. Then, too, the instant the jobber began to sell direct to the consumer he him- self would become a retailer, and would have to carry the retailer's expenses in one form or another and 33 514 THE STORY OF FOODS charge the retailer's prices. At the same time, it would be impossible for him to give the retailer's service. The grocer a local agent. When considering the service of the retailer, it is important to remember that he is really the local representative of the wholesaler, the manufacturer, the producer — and is right on the ground where he can be reached at first hand by every customer to give protection and satisfaction. The grocers profit and loss. It is common to consider the difference between the buying price and the selling price of the foods handled by the grocer, or his gross profit, as a tax on his customers for the service he renders them. After his expenses are deducted there will be a great difference between this so-called gross profit and his net or real profit — which represents his pay for his work, just as the street-car conductor's weekly wage is his pay. But the money or capital which the retailer has invested is really an assistant which demands its wage and gets it too. The retail food merchant must be repaid this outlay with a little extra for profit and for insurance against the risk that he takes. For the fact is, the retailer of foods of any kind is constantly losing money on account of various shrinkages. For instance, it is not uncommon to see a half dozen crates of strawberries sold at less than one third their normal price because the grocer fears that unless he sells them at once they will "go bad" on his hands. Of course, he loses money on such sales, and he constantly faces such conditions. Retailer and wholesaler partners. In a way, the retailer has the wholesaler back of him in the service WHAT THE RETAILER DOES 515 he gives to his customers. How far the retailer can rely upon the wholesaler depends partly upon his character and standing, partly upon how far the wholesaler can afford to back him, and partly upon the local conditions of the trade. Looked at in one way the wholesaler and the retailer are partners. When the retailer finds that he must shoulder an unexpectedly heavy burden in carrying his farm customers over a crop failure, it naturally follows that he must lean still more heavily on the shoulders of the wholesaler. The wholesaler usually makes a reasonable response to this demand for additional credit because the retailer's business pays a profit to the wholesaler. He is therefore vitally interested in seeing the retailer retain his standing, his trade, and his customers. On the other hand, the retailer must bear his own burdens to a considerable extent and keep his standing good with the wholesalers from whom he buys his goods. This means that if he has not capital enough of his own to meet his needs, he must borrow it. Often the retailer is forced to borrow heavily as well as to ask credit of the wholesaler in order to carry his own customers over a period of hard times. THE INDEX Abyssinia: coffee, [map] 380; Mocha coffee, 369; spice, [map] 446; wheat, [map] 38. Acorn: 418; flour for bread, 426. Aden: coffee market, 369; coffee port, [map] 380; tea port, 381. Africa: cayenne pepper, 454; cocoa, 404; dairy areas, [map] 176; dates, 345; date palm products, 107; figs, 105; fruits, dried, imported, 345; harvest time, 39; nutmegs, 453; nuts, 417; peanuts, 421. Alaska: fish, canned, 318; fishing, [map] 266; halibut, 259, 281; oats, 66; salmon, 283, 297; sal- mon hatcheries, 287; transpor- tation in, 35. Alberta: harvest time, 37; wheat, [map] 38. Albuquerque, primitive agricul- ture, 45. Alfalfa: food for poultry, 198; honey, 189. Algeria, ancient methods of har- vesting, 43. Alligator pears: 109, 110, 505; salad of, [illus.] 109. Allspice, 12. Almonds: 12, 418, 508; areas, [map] 446; groves, 417; importa- tions, annual, 417; oil from, 243; orchard in California, [illus.] 418; paper-shelled, 415, 416. Amboina, cloves, 448. America: annual exports of dried fruits, 344; farm machinery in Siberia, 42; packing industry, 207; production of oats, 66; rice grown in, 75; sardines, 265. Anchovies: 259, 272, 320, 466; fishing, [map] 266. "Angelique tubes", 356. Angus cattle, 202. Ankola coffee, 369. Appert's methods of canning, 315. Apples: areas, [map] 94; blossom time, [illus.] 90; canned, 324, 336; crop, in the United States, 91; dehydrated, 359; dried, 12; extract, 364; varieties of, 89; zone suitable for, 89. Apricots: 97; candied or dried, 97; dried, flavor of, 345; drying, [illus.] 346, 347; pulp, 466. Arabia: [map] 266; coffee country, [map] 380; coffee, Mocha, from, 369; date palm, 107; dates, 87, 107, 485; fruits, [mapl 94. Arctic Circle, grain grown, 69. Arctic Expedition, canned food used on, 336. Argentine Republic: coffee-con- suming area, [map] 380; corn, 63, 64; cattle, 236; density of population, 236; fruit, [map] 94; harvest time, 39; meat produc- tion, 206; meat exportation, 230; mutton, 206; nuts, [map] 446; oats, 67; stock raising, 231; wheat, [map] 38; wheat exporta- tion, 46, 47; wheat hauling, [illus.] 49. Arizona: cereal production, [map] 62; dairy production, [map] 148; dates, gathering, [illus.] 106. Arkansas: cereals, [map] 62; dairy production, [map] 148; harvest time, 37; rice, 72. Arrowroot from Bermuda, 466. Artichokes, 127, 467. Asia: an American salesman in, [illus.] 222; fruits, dried, ex- ported to, 345; harvest time, 37; herring, 259; nuts, 417; West- ern, dates from, 345. Asia Minor: fruits, [map] 94; har- vest time, 37; olive native of, 102. Asparagus: 127; bunching, [illus.] 131; canned, 319, 320; dehy- drated, 359; shipping, 24. Assam: tea areas, [map] 380; wild tea, shrubs of, 389. 516 THE INDEX 517 Australia: apples sent to, 91; coconuts, [map] 446; coffee-con- suming area, [map] 380; cur- rants, dried, 354; fishing, [map] 266; fruits, [map] 94; fruits, dried, exported to, 345; harvest fields, [illus.] 52; harvest time, 37; nuts from, 419, [map] 446; raisins, 354; roselle, 120; sheep raising, 231; sheep ranch, [illus.] 232; stock raising, 201, 205; tea- consuming area, [map] 380; tea culture, 393; trade routes from, [map] 20; wheat, 46, [map] 38 meats: consumed per capita, 232; exported, 232; production, 202, 200, 231. Austria-Hungary: coffee-consum- ing area, [map] 380; dairy area, [map] 176; English walnuts, 419; fishing, [map] 266; fruits, [map] 94; harvest time, 37; nuts, [map] 446; prunes, 95; rye crop, 68; spices, 445; sugar beets, 435. Avalon: fishing, [map] 266; tuna fish, 263. Avocado: 109, 110, 505; salad made of, [illus.] 109. Bacon: preparation, 224; West- phalian, 465. "Bagasse", 431. Bahamas: fruits, [map] 94; pine- apples, 115. Baking powder, blending of, 492. Balkhash Lake: 221, [map] 204. Bamboo, 63, 130. "Banana messengers", 29. Bananas: 87, 107, 508; annual importation, 30; areas, [map] 94; dehydrated, 359; plantation, [illus.] 108; ship, 29; shipping, [illus.] 10, 25, 26, 28, 29, [illus.] 33; sugar in, 441. Barbados gooseberries, 114. Bar-le-duc, 465. Barley: 69-70, 246; annual pro- duction of, 69; bread, 70; food value of, 70; harvest in Norway, [illus.] 69; used in coffee substi- tutes, 410. Barscz, Polish, 365. Bass: black, 257; sea, 257; striped, 257; summer-caught, 278; win- ter-caught, 278. Batavia, cinnamon stick, 491. Beans: 13, 127; canned, 137, 324; dehydrated, 359; family, 128; lima, canning, [illus.] 336; oil, 244; pork and, canning, 326; soy, shipping, [illus.] 129; string, 509. Beechnut, oil from, 243. Beef: 13, 229; and onions, canned, 320; broth, preparing, [illus.] 213; capsules, 362; extract, 226; fresh, special cars for, 26; roast, 473; story of, 207. Beefsteak, food value, 252. Bees: 187; frame of, [illus.] 190; hives, [illus.] 189, [illus.] 191; ranch in California, [illus.] 188. "Bee trees", 191. Beets: 127, [illus.] 138; canned, 337; culture, and soil improve- ment, 434; dehydrated, 359; greens, 130; sugar, see Sugar beets. Beet-sugar industry, 434. Belgium: butter, 162; canned veg- etables, 466; cheese, 170; cotton- seed oil, 242; dairy area, [map] 176; endive, 132, 505; harvest time, 37; importations of wheat, 46, 48; oysters, 299; sugar beets, 435; wheat, [map] 38. Beluga, caviar, 273. Bengal quince, 101. Bergamot, 101. Berkshire hogs, 203. Bermudas, arrowroot from, 466. Bern: cheese depot in, 179; dairy center, [map] 176. Berries: 118; canned, 318; dehy- drating, 360; dried, 347, 354. Bill-of-f are : forms of wheat on, 51, 52; with the map, 9. Birds'-nests: edible, 471; soup of, 471; swallows' nests, [illus.] 471. Bismarck herring, 262. Black bass, in Chicago market, 257. 518 THE INDEX Blackberries: 118, 355; see also Berries. Black walnut: 418; growth of, 414. Bladder weed, 258. Blending: baking powder, 492; cocoa, 409; coffee, importance of, 487; honey, 192; milk for cheese, 186; teas, 492. Bloaters: in Chicago market, 257; Newfoundland, 261. Blueberries: 118; dried, 354. Bluefish, 257. Bohemia, the cheese of, 185. Borage, 130. Borer, enemy of oyster, 307, 308. Bouillon cubes: 219, 358; wrap- ping, [illus.] 362. Brailing salmon, 291, [illus.] 292. Brazil: cocoa, 404, [map] 380; coconuts, [map] 446; coffee, see Coffee; fruits, [map] 94; manioc, 135; manioc roots, [illus.] 135; meat exportation, 206; nut area, [map] 446; nuts, see Brazil nuts; peanuts, 421; tea, 393; wheat importation, 46. Brazil nuts: 421, 508; area, [map] 446; cargo of, [illus.] 420; impor- tation, 417, 421; oil from, 243. Bread: acorn, 426; at delicatessen, 473; barley, 70; chestnut, 426; corn, 61; rice, 77; rye, 67; soy bean, 129; see also Flour; Meal. Breadfruit, 111. Breakfast foods: 78-86; after seventeen years in Arctic, 338; cooking, [illus.] 80, [illus.] 83. Brie cheese, 171, 177. "Brisling", 265, 272. British Columbia: harvest time, 37; salmon, 283, 297; salmon trollers off coast, [illus.] 288. British East Africa, two-wheeled wheat cart, 34, 35. British Gold Coast Colony, cocoa, 404. British India, spices, 445. British Isles: apples, [map] 94; apples exported to, 91; coffee- consuming area, [map] 380; fish, annual catch, 254; fishing, [map] 266; fruits, [map] 94; pears ex- ported to, 92; raisins consumed, 351; tea consumed, 384; tea- consuming area, [map] 380; wal- nuts, [map] 446; wheat, [mapl38. British South Africa, canned lob- ster from, 275. British West Indies, salt imported from, 462. Brittany: dairy area, [map] 176; sardine catch, 265. Broccoli, 127. "Broilers", 199. Brussels sprouts, 127, 467, 506. Buckwheat, honey from, 189, 192. Buffalo, packing center, 220. Buffalo: milk used for cheese, 185; used for plowing, 45. Buffalo fish, roe of, 273. Bulgaria: dairy area, [map] 176; harvest time, 37; prunes, 349; wheat, 48, [map] 38. Burbank, Luther, and fruit cul- ture, 123. Burma: harvest time, 39; honey, 192; wheat, [map] 38. Butter: 12; annual production in United States, 162; exportation of, 162; factory in Holland, [illus.] 160; fat in milk, 146; fat in oleomargarine, 227; making, ancient and modern, 159, [illus.] 159; on subway freight train, [illus.] 162; rank of each state in output, [map] 148; renovated, 162; storing, in warehouse, [illus.] 161. Butterfish, in Chicago market, 257. Buttermilk: 149, 160; for "milk- fed" poultry, 198. Butternut, 418. Butter oil from cottonseed stearin, 241. By-products: of meat, 213, 225, 226; of packing industry, 226. Cabbage: 13, 127, 510, 511; dehy- drated, 359; family, 127; mar- keted by wagon, [illus.] 23; seed culture, 142, 144. THE INDEX 519 "Cacao" tree, 403. Cactus : fruits, 113; hedgehog, 114; sugar in, 441; torch-, 114. Caerphilly cheese, 185. Calamatas dried currants, 354. Calcutta, chutney, 464. California : almond orchard, [illus.] 418; bee ranch, [illus.] 188; canned goods, 319; cereals, [map] 62; cherries, 27; currants, 354; dairy production, [map] 148; fig orchard, irrigating, [illus.] 104; figs, 104, 345, 356, 466; fruits, canned, 318; fruits, classes of, 347; garden truck, 507; harvest time, 37; lettuce seed harvest, [illus.] 140; melons, 121; nectarines, 93; olive oil, 238, 240; olive trees, 102; orange grove, [illus.] 98; oranges, 87; oysters, 309; peaches, drying, [illus.] 344; pilchard, 265; prunes, 349; raisins, 350, 354, [illus.] 350; salmon, 297; salmon hatcheries, 287; spinach, 28; trade routes through, [map] 20; vineyards, 116, 117; watermelon patch, [illus.] 120. Calimyrna figs, [illus.] 105. Camel: draft animal, 34, 43, 45; drawing reaper in Siberia, [illus.] 42; milk used for cheese, 165; plowing with, in Palestine, [illus.] 41. Camember cheese, 171, 175. Canada: apples, [map] 94; butter making, 162; Cheddar cheese, 185; codfish, 271; fishing, [map] 266; harvest time, 37, 39; her- ring, 259; lobster, importation of, 275; mackerel, 268; meat pro- duction, 206; oats, 66; oysters, 299; stock raising, 205; Western, range cattle, [illus.] 236; wheat, [map] 38; wheat exported, 46. Cancale: fishing, [map] 266; oyster beds, [illus.] 301. Candied fruit, 356, [illus.] 357. Candied honey, 192. Candle nut, how eaten, 420. Candy: after-dinner, 472; output in America 437, exports, 438; factory inspection, 437. Cane sugar: at factory, [illus.] 432; crusher, [illus.] 431; production in Southern States, 439; ship- ping, [illus.] 429, [illus.] 430, [illus.] 438; sirup from, 433. Can-filling machines, [illus.] 326. Cangany, in a Ceylon tea garden, 393, [illus.] 394. Canned foods: 313-340; in deli- catessen, 473; keeping qualities, 339; meats, 217, 218, 220; oats, story of, 81; on Arctic expedi- tion, 336, 337; vegetables, 137. Canneries : American, annual out- put of, 317; capacity of, 335; clamping lids, [illus.] 327; de- livering tomatoes at one of the, [illus.] 133; number in the United States, 317; trip through, 322-331. "Canners": see "Scrubs." Canning: corn, assorting for, [illus.] 319; food conservation by, 334; harvesting peas for, [illus.] 314; harvesting toma- toes for, [illus.] 323; home, [illus.] 322; home, encouraged by government, 339, 340; indus- try begun, 314; machine, auto- matic", 218; methods of, 326; milk kept by, 332; tins used for, 313; salmon, 293; sweet corn, annual output of, 65; unload- ing salmon for, [illus.] 248; var- iety of foods increased by, 316. Cantaloupe: 120, 509; shipping, 24. Capers, 467. Cape Sheridan, 338. Caprification of fig trees, 105. Capri fig trees, [illus.] 88. "Captains Courageous", fisher- men's life in, 248. Carambola, 109. Cardoon, 130. Carinthia: cheese of, 186; dairy area, [map] 176. Carolinas: herring roe, 261; rice production, 72. Carp, 257. 520 THE INDEX Carrageen, 257, 258. Carrots: 127; dehydrated, 359; in cans, 320, 337, 466; in truck- garden, [illus.] 138. Cars: fresh-meat, 26; refrigerat- or, 23; special, for special foods, 23, 24, 25; tank, 26. Cashew apple, 112. Cashew nut, 420. Cassava, 135. Cassia cinnamon, 453, 491. Catalina Island, tuna fish, 263. Catfish, roe of, 273. Cattle: breeds of. 202; herd of, [illus.] 201; in Germany, 233; in the Argentine, 230, 231; "na- tive steers," 208; raising, 236, 237; range, in Canada, [illus.] 236; rounding up, in the South- west, [illus.] 209; shipment, 25; total head in United States, 229. Cauliflower: 127; canned, 467; dehydrated, 359; seed culture, 144. Caviar: 465; preparation, 272; [illus.] 273. Cayenne (French Guiana) : pepper area, 454; spice port, [map] 446. Cayenne pepper, 454. Celebes: coffee, [map] 380; nut- megs, 452; spices, [map] % 446. Celery: 127; grown in France, 143; in dehydrated salad, 358; in truck garden, [illus.] 138. Central America: bananas, jour- ney, 30, [illus.] 33; coconuts, [map] 446; fruits, [map] 94; nuts, 417. Cepes, canned, 467. Cereal: areas in the United States, [map] 62; drinks, wheat used in, 52; foods, 69, 86; prep- arations for breakfast, 79. Ceriman, 111. Certified milk, 157. Ceylon: cinnamon, 453; cocoa, 404; coffee, 369, [map] 380; fishing, [map] 266; spices, [map] 446; tea, [map] 380, see also Tea. Chakva, Russian tea region, 397, [map] 380. Cheddar, cheese, 184, 185. Cheese: 12, 164; blended milk, 186; buffalo milk, 185; cutting for retailing, [illus.] 512; display in grocery house, [illus.] 170; domestic, 472; European, 146; factories in Wisconsin, 166; fac- tory, interior, [illus.] 165; "for- eign style," 169; goat's milk, 165; hooping, [illus.] 165; hoops, removing, [illus.] 167; horse milk, 165; odd types, 185; rank of each state in value, [map] 148; refrigerator in wholesale house, [illus.] 178; Roquefort, 172, [illus.] 174; Roquefort in cave, [illus.] 172, [illus.] 173. [illus.] 175; sheep's milk, 146, 165; states producing, 166; sources of, 186; varieties, 170, 171, 176, 184, 185. Cheese making, 164-168. Cherimoya, 112. Cherries: 95; assorting for can- ning, [illus.] 335; candied, 466; canned, journey of, 337; dehy- drated, 359; dried, 354; glace, 356; special shipment, 24, 27. Cherry blossom time in Japan, [illus.] 96. Cherry season in Germany, 96. Chesapeake Bay: herring roe, 261; oyster beds, yield, 309; oyster fleet, [illus.] 300; oysters in for- eign lands, 300. Cheshire cheese, 184. Cheshire-Stilton cheese, 184. Chestnuts: 418; area, [map] 446; candied, 465; canned, with sausages, 320; distribution, 414; flour of, 426; water-, 419. Chicago: fish market, 256, [map] 266 : market for cocoa, coffee, and tea, [map] 380; packing center, 219, [map] 204; trade routes through, [map] 20; Union Stock- yards, 209. Chicken: gumbo, 362, [illus.] 331; in delicatessen, 473; relative cost of, 253. Chickens: milk-fed, 153, 198; THE INDEX 521 newly hatched, [illus.] 196; ranch, 195. Chicory: family, 131; in beverages, 411. Chile: apples, [map] 94; coffee- consuming area, [map] 380; fishing, [map] 266; harvest time, 37; nuts, 419, [map] 446; walnuts, 419; wheat, [map] 38. Chilling room in packing house, [illus.] 212. China: bamboo, 130; birds'-nest soup, 471; cassia, 453; coconuts, [map] 446; dates, 107; delica- tessen, 474; endive, 131; fishing, [map] 266; fruits, [map] 94; ginkgo nuts, 419; harvest time, 37; honey, 193; kumquat, 98, 356; litchi nuts, 419; noodle soup, 471; peanuts, 421; raisins, 345; rice, 73, 74; soy bean, 128, 244; spices, 445, [map] 446; tea, [map] 380, see also Tea; trade route through, [map] 20; water- chestnut, 419; wheat, 48, [map] 38; workers in Packingtown, 219, [map] 204 a ncient: harvesting, 43; sugarcane grown, 428; wheat grown, 40; wooden plow of, 44. Chinook, the salmon king, 283. Chinooks, mild-cured, 297. Chocolate: cube, dehydrated, 359; manufacture of, 404. Chosen, soy bean grown in, 244. Chufas, 132, 421, 422. Chum salmon: 283; of Siberia, 298. Chutney, route of, 464. "Cinco", 409. Cinnamon: 12; bark, 442, 453; cas- sia, 491; grinding, 490; harvest- ing, 453; preparing for market, [illus.] 453, [illus.] 491; shipping, 453. Cisco, 257, 278. Citrange, 100. Citron: 100, 101; candied, 356. Citron melon, 120. Citrous fruits, 101. Clams: canned, 337; fishing, [map] 266; in market, 257. Clover, honey-yielding, 189. Cloves: 12, 442, 447; culture, 447; curing, 447; gathering, [illus.] 449; picking, [illus.] 445. Cocks' combs, 465. Cocoa: 402; commerce in, [map] 380; consumption of, 404, 410; curing, [illus.] 407; food value, 410; manufacture, 404-408; sources, 404; uses, 403. Cocoa beans: drying, 408; grow- ing, 405; as money, 409; pods, [illus.] 405; pods, gathering, [illus.] 403; pods, removing from, [illus.] 406; preparing for roasting, [illus.] 409. Cocoa factory, a visit to, 408. Coconut: meat imported, 417; oil from, 243; shredded, annually consumed, 425; world areas, [map] 446. Coconut palms: group of, [illus.] 422; products from, 423. Coconuts: how planted, 422; rafts of, 33, 424, [illus.] 424. Codfish: boning tables, [illus.] 271; curing, 271; drying, [illus.] 262; fishing, [map] 266; how caught, 270; in Chicago market, 257; protein value, 252; relative cost, 253. Coffee: 12; altitude influences, 376; areas, [map] 380; bill for, national, 376; blending, 372, 487; carriers in wholesale house, [illus.] 489; chemical composi- tion, [table] 373; consumed in United States, 410; consuming areas of the world, [map] 380; countries, 369, 370, 375; drying at Sao Paulo, [illus.] 376; drying plantation at Cordoba, [illus.] 372; exporting and importing countries, [map] 380; grinding in wholesale house, [illus.] 478; Java, 373; keeping qualities, 338; loading ship at Santos, [illus.] 367; Mocha, 373; Mocha, a coffee port, [map] 380; pack- ing in containers, [illus.] 490; picking, in Brazil, [illus.] 371; 522 THE INDEX plantation, 370, [illus.] 374; powdered, 359; quality deter- mining trade, 366, 485; roasters in wholesale grocery, [illus.] 488; roasting for flavor, 373; screen- ing, 488; substitutes, 410, 411, 427. Coffee (beverage) : first drinkers, 368; French, 375; hot, at deli- catessen, 473; of nuts, 427. Coho, or silver salmon, 283, 297. Cold storage plant: butter in, [illus.] 161; frozen fish in, [illus.] 280; poultry from, 199. Collard, family of, 127. Colombo: handling tea in, 18; tea port, 18, 381. Colorado: cereal production, [map] 62; dairy production, [map] 148; harvest time, 37; peach orchard, [illus.] 92; picking pears, [illus.] 91; ranch, "Bar Circle Bar" brand, 208. Columbia River: fish- wheel, [illus.] 290; salmon, 297, 318; scene on, [illus.] 284. Condensed foods: 358; usefulness, 362, 364. Condensed milk: 332; rank of each state in output, [map] 148. "Copra" from coconuts, 425. Cordoba: coffee-drying plantation at, [illus.] 372; coffee market, [map] 380. Corinth, 354, [map] 176. Corn: 60-65, 127, 510; assorting for cutting machine, [illus.] 319; bread, 61; canned, 319; dehy- drated, 358, [illus.] 360; ensilage made from, 65; field, 61; food value, 61; green, canned taken on Arctic trip, 336; grinding, Papago Indian, [illus.] 60; in coffee substitutes, 410; kitchen, at Paris Exposition, 61; meal, 61; mush, 13; on ear, canned, 467; poultry food, 198; pre- historic origin of, 60; products from, [diagram] 63; sugar in, 441; sweet, 61; sweet, and toma- toes, [illus.] 137; used by Cliff Dwellers, 60; uses, 61; yield in United States, 61. Corned beef: demand for, 217; preparation at canning plant, 217, 218; tinned, from sealing machine, [illus.] 217. Corn oil: 238, 244; production in United States, 244; cake, 244. Coromandel gooseberry, 109. Costa Rica: banana plantation, [illus.] 108; bananas, annual ex- port, 28; bananas, loading cars, [illus.] 10; coffee, 369; coffee area, [map] 380. Cotton: in Egypt, 242; products from, [diagram] 241; seed, load- ing, [illus.] 240; seed, pulp, for stock food, 241. Cottonseed oil: annual production, 240; exports, 242; imports, 242; manufacture, 241, 242; special cars, 25; uses, 242. "Cove oysters", 301. Cowpea, family of, 128. Cows: breeds best for dairy, 158; Holstein, on model dairy farm, [illus.] 152; Holstein, pure-bred, [illus.] 158; milch, used for farm work, 181, [illus.] 182; milk, food properties of, 146; milk of, for cheese, 146, 165; Swiss herd, on way to pasture, [illus.] 180. Cowslip, use of, 130. Crabapple, wild, one of the de- scendants of, [illus.] 89. Crab meat from Japan, 275. Crabs: 259; canned, taken on Arc- tic trip, 337; fishing, [map] 266; from Pacific coast, 256. Crackers: 12; special, 508. Cranberries: 12, 118; dehydrated, 359; sauce of, on Arctic trip, 337; states producing, 120. Cranberry bog: 118; pickers in, [illus.] 119. Crappies, in Chicago market, 257. Cream: 149; pasteurized, 153; separator in a modern dairy, [illus.] 147. Creamery, handling milk products in, 147, 149. THE INDEX 523 Creamery butter, 161. Cream nuts: see Brazil nuts. Cream of tartar, 13. Cretes de coq, 465. Crusher, sugar cane, [illus.] 431. Crystallized fruits, 357. Cuba: cocoa, [map] 380; coconuts, [map] 446; coffee, [map] 380; fruits, [map] 94; harvest time, 37; honey from, 193; pineapples, 115; spices, [map] 446; sugar from, 438. Cucumbers: 127, 505, 510, 511; pickle factory, [illus.] 329; pick- ling, 330. "Cultch", oyster, [illus.] 306. Currants: 118; Calamatas, 354; dried, 354; drying, treatment for, 347; Grecian, 345, 483; name, 354. "Custard apple": see Avocado. Cyprus: [map] 38, [map] 176; har- vest time, 37; sugar cane grown in ancient times, 428. Dairy: modern, cream separator for, 147, [illus.] 147; special cars for products of, 25. Dairy cows in Wisconsin, number of, 166. Dairy farm: electric milking ma- chine used on, [illus.] 150; inte- rior of up-to-date stable, [illus.] 151; model, 151, [illus.] 152; silo on, [illus.] 64. Dalmatia: dairy area, [map] 176; figs raised in, 104. Dandelion: family, 131; use of, 130. Danube regions, wheat exported from, 46. Date-and-nut paste, 362. Date garden in Arizona, [illus.] 106. Date-nut butter from Persia, 465. Date palm, 106. Dates: countries producing, 87, 106, 345; drying makes market for, 342; grown in United States, 107; importation, 107; journeys of, 484, 485; preparing of, for camel train in the Sahara, [illus.] 486; preparation for trade, 484, 485. Deer on a game preserve, [illus.] 458. Deglet Noor dates, 107. Dehydrated foods: dinner of, 358; preparation of, 359. Delaware, canned fruits from, 318. Delicacies, tempting, 11, 463. Delicatessen: 463; geographical suggestions in, 463; "interna- tional salad," articles for, [illus.] 466; " ready-to-eat " meal from, 472. Denmark: bacon exported, 206; butter making, 162; cheese, 170; dairy area, [map] 176; harvest time, 37; oysters, 299. Department of Agriculture, "meat figures" investigated by, 228. Dessert, dehydrated, 359. Dextrines made from corn, 65. Dog salmon, 283. Dog train carrying supplies in Alaska, [illus.] 35. Dordogne: dairy region, [map] 176; truffles from, 468. D'Orpagon, melon, 122. Dredging for oysters, 311. Dried fruits: 341-357; annual pro- duction in United States, 343; economy in, 342; "faced," [illus.] 483; importance to the Indian and pioneer, 343, 344. Drumfish, enemy of the oyster, 307, 309. Drying: a cheap process of pre- serving, 341; extended use of fruit by, 341. Drying fruit in the sun, [illus.] 348. Ducks, wild, 199. Dulse, preparation of, 257. Duluth: fish market, [map] 266; herring, fresh-water, 261. Durum wheat, 50, 55. "Dust" grade of tea, 397. Dutch: in struggle for spice trade, 448; see also Netherlands. Dutch East India Company, tea introduced by, 383. 524 THE INDEX Dutch East Indies: coffees, 369; spice market, 445. Dutch girls in Holland butter fac- tory, [illus.] 160. Dutch West Indies, salt imported from, 462. Dutch windmill, [illus.] 58. "Earth nuts", 421. East India: carambola, 109; Coro- mandel gooseberry, 109. East India Company and tea cul- ture, 392. East Indian relish, route of, 464. East Indies: cassia, 453; coconuts, [map] 446; coffee, 375, [map] 380; dates, 107; fruits, [map] 94; nuts, 418; red pepper, 455; spices, [map] 446; tea, [map] 380. East St. Louis, a packing center, 220. Edam cheese, 171. Eel, in Chicago market, 257. Eggplant: family, 128 ; gathering, for market, [illus.] 127. Eggs: 12; dehydrated, 358; dev- iled, 473; food value, 253; from poultry ranches, 195. Egypt: coffee-consuming area, [map] 380; cotton, 242; figs, 105; fruits, [map] 94; harvest time, 37; lentils, 134; modern tractor used in, 41; sugar cane, 429; threshing in, [illus.] 44; wheat, [map] 38; workers in Packing- town, 219, [map] 204 ancient: barley cultivated, 69; methods of harvesting, 43; methods of milling, 55; wheat the chief crop, 39; wheat placed in tombs, 40. Egyptian melon, 121. Elephant apple, 101. Emmenthaler cheese: daily out- put of Alpine factory, 180; making of , 179; "weeping," 180. Endive: family of, 131; French, from Belgium, 505. England: anchovy paste, 272; canned goods, exportation of, 320; cheese, 170; dairy area, [map] 176; density of popula- tion, 236; dried fruit exported to, 344; English walnut, 419; harvest time, 37; herring, 259; honey, 190, 193; how fed, 233; intensified farming, 48; live- stock industry, 202; live stock, pedigreed, 205; mackerel, 268; meat supply, 234, 236; orange marmalade, 465; oysters, 299, 310; pork, 203; rice, preparation of, 77; salt, 461, 462; sauces, 465; seed growing, 142; spice market, 445; trade routes from, [map] 20; truffles, 468. English pheasants: 200; flock of, [illus.] 200. English Queen melon, 122. English Stilton cheese, 184. English walnut: 416, 418; areas, [map] 446; native countries, 419; orchard in New York, [illus.] 416, 417; shelling and grading, [illus.] 415. Ensilage on dairy farm, 65. Erfurt: market, [map] 176; seed culture, 139. Ethiopia: coffee area, [map] 380; coffee paste balls, 369. Euphrates River: in wheat area, [map] 38; valley of, wheat an ancient crop, 40. Europe: cocoa annually consumed, 405; cranberries grown, 120; dairy industry, [map] 176; lobster, 275; nuts, 417; rye harvest, [illus.] 68; vegetable seeds cultivated, 138; wheat, [map] 38. Evaporated milk, 332. Exports: apples, 90; apricots, 97 breakfast foods, 86; butter, 162 candy, 437, 438; corn, 61 cottonseed oil, 242; cranberries 120; dried fruits, 344; meat 229; nuts, 417; oats, 66, 67 oranges, 97; oysters, 299, 300 peaches, 92; pears, 92; prunes 95; raisins, 350; salmon, 297 wheat, 46, 47. THE INDEX 525 "Facing": boxes of fruit, 349, [illus.] 483; prunes, 483. "Facings" of tea, 399. "Fannings", grade of tea, 397. Farming, intensified, 48. "Feeders" for beef cattle, 208, 211. Feeding stations for poultry, 196. Figs: 12; Calimyrna, packed for shipment, [illus.] 105; Capri, [illus.] 88; countries producing, 87, 104, 345, 356; drying, 342, [illus.] 342; imports, earliest, 355; orchard, irrigating, [illus.] 104; packing, at Smyrna, [illus.] 355; pickled, from California, 466; preserved, 356, 466; sort- ing, in Smyrna packing house, [illus.] 480; varieties, 104. Filberts, 417, [map] 446. Finland: dairy area, [map] 176; honey produced in, 187. Fish: canned, 316, 318; canning methods, 326; comparative cost, 252; domestic preparations in delicatessen, 472; economy in, 252; eggs, from Russia, 465; freezing, 277; fresh, 277; fresh- water, 259-281; from foreign waters, 259; from home waters, 259; frozen, in cold storage plant, [illus.] 280; glazed, 277, [illus.] 278; how caught in win- ter, 280, 281; ladder, [illus.] 286; market, geographical sur- vey in, 255; meat substitute, 233, 251; mixed, from Italy, 472; nets, drying, [illus.] 254; salt-water, 259, 281; special cars for shipping, 25, 30; sum- mer-caught, 277, [illus.] 279; supply of England, 234; trans- portation, early, in Austria, 31; tunny, 471; wheel, on Colum- bia River, [illus.] 290; winter- caught, 278, 279, 280. Fisheries, sardine, along coast of Yezo, [illus.] 264. Fishermen: life of, in Captains Courageous, 248; offshore, buy- ing from bait 'boat, [illus.] 251; sea, perils, 247. Fishing industry: inherited occu- pation, 249; importance, 254. Flail: hand, 45; threshing with, 44. Florida: canned pineapple, 318; cereals, [map] 62; dairy produc- tion, [map] 148; fresh pine- apple, 115; garden truck, 507. Flounder, in Chicago market, 257. Flour: chief product of wheat, 50; made by prehistoric man, 55; mill, development of, 56; mill- ing, 53; mills in Minneapolis, [illus.] 54 produced from: acorns, 426; barley, 70; chestnuts, 426; corn, 63; lentils, 134; millet, 71; nuts, 426; peas, 134; rice, 77; rye, 68; soy bean, 128; wheat, 50, 53, 54, 55. "Flower" cheese of England, 186. Flower seed: culture, in England, 142; in Erfurt, 139; in Holland, 143, 144. "Flush", picking the, 386. Foodstuffs, reserve, in retail gro- cery, [illus.] 504. Food values: barley, 70; beef- steak, 252; cocoa, 410; cod, 252; corn, 61; haddock, 252; halibut, 252; milk, cow's, 146; potato, [table] 76; rice, [table] 76; rye, 68; salmon, 253; soy bean, 246; wheat, government tests for, 54. Formosa: see Taiwan. Fort Conger, canned goods found at, 338. Fowl, wild, 199, 200. France: anchovy, 272; anchovy, pepper-stuffed, 259; apples, [map] 94; apples imported by, 91; apricots, candied, 97; apri- cots, dried, 97; artichokes, canned, 467; bar-le-duc, 465; brussels sprouts, 467; canned goods, 320; capers, 467; cepes, 467; cheese, 170, 186; cheese industry an inherited occupa- tion, 169; cherry, 95; cherries, candied, 466; chestnut flour used in, 426; chestnuts, [map] 446; 526 THE INDEX cocks' combs, 465; coffee-con- suming area, [map] 380; coffee as served in, 375; cottonseed oil consumed, 243; cottonseed oil exported, 243; dairy area, [map] 176; delicatessen, special- izing in foods from, 473; endive imported from, 131; fishing, [map] 266; fruits, [map] 94; fruits, candied, 356; fruits, dried, exported to, 344; harvest time, 37; honey, 190; lima beans, in jars, 467; olive farcies, 466; olive oil, annual importations, 240; olive trees, 238; oyster culture, 299, 304, 310; peanut oil, 243; peanuts, production of, 421; peas, canned, 466; pignolias, 419; preserves, fancy, 465; prunes, 95, 349; rose leaves, preserved, 471; sardines, 265; saucisson de foie gras, 471; seed culture, 142, 143; sorrel, 470; spice market, 445; spinach, canned, 466; sugar-beet culture, 435; sugar making, schools for. 435; truffles, 468; tunny fish, 471; vineyards in, 116; walnuts, 419, [map] 446; wheat, 46, [map] 38; wine, 118. Freezing room: for halibut, [illus.] 250; of a wholesale fish market, [illus.] 278. French Guiana, cayenne pepper native of, 454. Fresh-meat car, equipment of, 26. Fresno: figs, 105; fruit center, [map] 94; olive orchard near, [illus.] 102. Frog legs, in Chicago market, 257. Fruit: areas, [map] 94; candied, 356, [illus.] 357; choice selection of, [illus.] 125; countries sug- gested by, 87; crystallizing, 357; dehydrated, 363; drying, 346, 347, [illus.] 348; "facing" boxes of, 349; "glace," 356; modern, evolution of, 123; oils from, 238; preserved, fancy, 465; special cars for, 25; spices from, 451; see also names of fruits; uncut, curing of, 348 canned: 316; better than fresh, shipped, 317; most healthful, 337; sources of, 318 dried: 341; cured in the sun, 348; faced, [illus.] 483. Fruit section of modern grocery, [illus.] 510. Frumenty, preparation of, 79. Game, potted, source of, 320. Game birds, 199. "Gamma! ost", 170. Garden patch, world's interna- tional, 143. Gardens: date, in California, 106; tea, 17, 383, 384, 385, 392; tea, in Ceylon, [illus.] 394. Garden truck: from California, 507; obtaining, for small-town grocery, 509. Garlic in dehydrated salad, 358. "Garum", 272. Geese, wild, 199. Gelatine, 226. Gelidium seaweed, 258. Georgia: cereals, [map] 62; dairy production, [map] 148; harvest time, 37; rice production, 72. Germany: anchovy paste, 272; apples, 91, [map] 94; butter- making country, 162; caviar, Russian, exporting, 273; cheese, 185; cherry season, 96; coffee- consuming area, [map] 380; corn on ear, bottled. 467; cotton- seed oil consumed, 243; dairy area, [map] 176; English walnut, 419; farming, intensified, 48; fishing, [map] 266; fruits, dried, exported to, 344; harvest time, 37; herring, 262; lentils, 134; meat consumed annually, 233, 235; meat, exportations and importations, 233; oats, 66; oysters, 299, 304; peanut oil, 243; prunes, 95; rosebuds, pre- served, 471; rye, 67, 68; sar- dellen paste, 259; saucisson de foie gras, 471; stock raising. 233; THE INDEX 527 sugar-beet culture, 435; sugar- beet field, [illus.] 423; tea-con- suming area, [map] 380; trade routes from, [map] 20; truffles, 468; vegetables, canned, 465; vineyards, 116; walnuts [map] 446; wheat, 46, 48, [map] 38; wine, 118. Gherkin, family of, 132. Gill nets, salmon fishing with, 289. Gill netters in harbor, [illus.] 289. Ginep, 99. Ginger: 12, 442; crystallized, 465; in sirup, 465. Ginkgo nut, 419. Gloucester: drying codfish, [illus.] 262; fishing banks, [map] 266; herring fisheries, 261. Glucose, 65. Gluten: corn, 244; spring wheat, 53. Goats: milk of, for cheese, 146, 165; Swiss herd, on way to pasture, [illus.] 180. Gooseberries: 118; Barbados, 114; Coromandel, 109; dried, 354. Goose livers, potted, 470. Gorgonzola cheese, 177. Gouda cheese, 186. Government contracts for meat, 221. Government inspectors: see In- spector. Government tests : of tea, 398-401 ; of wheat, 54. Grains: 36-77; beverages from, 410, 411; roasting, for cereal coffee, [illus.] 411. Granulating room in sugar re- finery, [illus.] 433. Grapefruit, 100, 101. Grape industry, importance of, 117. Grape juice, annual consumption in United States, 411. Grapes: annual imports from Spain, 117; canned, taken on Arctic trip, 337; countries pro- ducing, 116; glace, 356, 465; raisin, drying in sun, [illus.] 350; sugar in, 441; table, trans- portation of, 24; Tyrolese farm- er with load of, [illus.] 117; varieties, 116. Great Britain: see British Isles. Great Lakes: fishing [map] 266; fresh-water herring, 261. Great Salt Lake product, 460. Greece: cheese, value of, im- ported from, 186; currants, 483; currants, dried, annual production, 354; dates, 107; figs, 104, 105, 356; fruits, [map] 94; harvest time, 37; honey imported from, 193; raisins, 345; wheat area, [map] 38; workers in Packingtown, 219, [map] 204 ancient: anchovy sauce, 272; barley, 69; milling in, 55. Greely, General, experience of, with canned foods, 336. Greens, vegetables used for, 130. Grinding coffee in wholesale house, [illus.] 478. Grinding spice, 454. Grinnell Land, canned foods for expedition to, 338. "Groats", 83. Grocery: in pioneer days, [illus.] 13; interior, of to-day, [illus.] 15; staples in early days, 12 staples of to-day, 14 retail: city, services rendered, 505 country, stock of, 14; food< stuffs, reserve of, [illus.] 504 journey of tea to, 21; journey of tea from, 21; small-town, 508 see also Retailer wholesale: baking powder manu- factured in, 492; canning, 497; cheese, cutting, for retail trade, [illus.] 512; coffee, feature of,485; coffee grinding in, [illus.] 478; coffee packing room, [illus.] 490; coffee roasters, [illus.] 488; cur- rants prepared for retailer, 483; dates, process of handling, 485; glimpse inside, 480; laboratory of, [illus.] 481; manufacturing plant, 475; olive pipes in 528 THE INDEX basement of, [illus.] 495; olives, preparation for the trade, 495, 497; preserving, 497; prunes, packing, [illus.] 482; prunes, preparation of, 481; raisins, seeding, 484; spices handled, 490; sugar pulverized, 492; tea blended, 492 - 494 ; tastes in tea, individual, 492; see also Whole- saler. Ground cherry, 132. Ground nuts, oil from, 243. Guatemala: coffee, 369, 375, [map] 380; coffee, exported to the United States, 376. Guava: 112; jelly, countries fur- nishing, 112, 465; tree, 112. Guernsey milk, 158. Guiana, Brazil nuts from, 421. Guiana, French, cayenne pepper from, 454. Guiana maize, 71. Gulf of Mexico, fish from, 257. Haddock: 257, 271; fishing, [map] 266; protein value of, 252. Haiti: coconut area, [map] 446; spice area, [map] 446. Hake, 271. Halibut: fishing, [map] 266; frozen, in Pacific coast plant, [illus.] 250; in Chicago market, 257; protein value of, 252; smoked, 13, 259; summer-caught fish, 278. Ham: boiled, from delicatessen, 473; Christmas, of little Nickol, 221-223; smoked, 223, 253; story of, 223: Westphalian, 465. Hampshire hogs, 203. Hampshire sheep: 202; Downs, flock of, [illus.] 203. Hanover tea sausage, 465. Harvest: calendar of world's wheat, 37, 39; fields of Australia, [illus.] 52; in California almond orchard, [illus.] 418; in Kansas, [illus.] 36; of nutmegs, 451; of the world, 36; on a Hawaiian pineapple plantation, [illus.] 115; wheat, 52. Harvesting: 43; barley in Norway, [illus.] 69; cinnamon, 453; coco- nuts, 423; cranberries, 119; in Algeria, [illus.] 43; in India, 45; lettuce seed in California, [illus.] 140; oats grown on a former range, [illus.] 85; onions, [illus.] 126; on steppes of Siberia, [illus.] 42; peas, [illus.] 314; rye, [illus.] 68; tomatoes for the cannery, [illus.] 323. "Hasty pudding", 13, 61. Hatcheries, salmon, 287. Hawaiian Islands: fishing, [map] 266; fruit, [map] 94; pineapple, canned, 318; pineapple planta- tion, [illus.] 115; sugarcane, 429; sugar from, 439; trade routes from, [map] 20. Hazelnut: 414; oil from, 243. Herbs grown in France, 143. Hereford, dairy cows, 202, [map] 176. Herring: 259; Bismarck, 262; dried, 13; fishing, [map] 266; importations, 259; in Chicago market, 257; marketing, 261; roe of, 261; salt-water fish, 281; tinned, 263. Hickory nut: 418; distribution, 414. Hogs: as pork, 215; English breeds, 203; in Germany, 233; inspection of, 215; in the Argen- tine, 23 1 ; on United States farm, [illus.] 230; Poland China, [illus.] 215; special cars for, 215; Tarn- worth, [illus.] 215; total in United States, 229. Holland: see Netherlands. Holsteins: a pure-bred cow, [illus.] 158; dairv farm stocked with, [illus.] 152; milk from, 158. Hominy: canned, after seventeen years in Arctic, 338; product of corn, 61. Honey: 187; bees, consumers of, 187; color, 188; countries pro- ducing, 189, 190, 192, 193, 467; flavor, 188; forms, 192; frame of, [illus.] 189; frames, removing from hives, [illus.] 191; handling, THE INDEX 529 191; importation, annual, 193; Mount Hymettus, 190; poison- ous, 190; quality of, 188; storage, 187. Honey-yielding plants, 187, 189, 190. Hong Kong, tea market, 381. Horse: carrier of food, 34; flesh eaten in Europe, 235; milk of, 146; milk used for cheese, 165; motive power for tractors, 43. Horseradish in dehydrated salad, 358. Huckleberries, 118. Humpback salmon, 283, 298. Hungary: meat, 201; paprika, 455, 466; salami, 465. Ice cream powders, 359. Ice creams in delicatessen, 473. Iceland : fishing, [map] 266; waters, herring from, 260. Idaho: cereals, [map] 62; dairy production, [map] 148; dried berries from, 355. Illinois: canned goods, 319; cere- als, [map] 62; dairy production, [map] 148; fish, 30; harvest time, 37; oats, 66. Imperial Tea Estate, 397. Imports, annual: bananas, 30; Brazil nuts, 421; candy, 438; canned goods, 316; cattle, 229; cheese, 186; coconuts, 425; coffee, 370, 375, 376; dates, 107; dried fruits, 344; figs, 105; grapes from Spain, 117; herring, 259; honey, 193; lobster, 275, meat, canned, 316; meat, dressed, 230; nuts, 417; olives; 101; olive oil, 101, 239, 240; pepper; 445; prunes, 349; raisins, 350; rice, 72; salt, 462; sheep, 229; spices, 445; sugar, 438; tea, 383; wine, 118. India: coconuts, [map] 446; coffee, 369, [map] 380; cotton seed ex- ports, 242; fishing, [map] 266; harvest time, 37; pepper, 454; rice, 73; soy bean, uses, 128; soy bean oil, imported from, 245; 34 spices, [map] 446; sugar cane, 429; tea, [map] 380, see also Tea; trade route through, [map] 20; wheat, 39, 46, [map] 38; workers in Packingtown, 219, [map] 204 ancient: harvesting in, 43; sugar known, 428; wooden plow, 44. Indiana: canned goods from, 319; cereals, [map] 62; dairy produc- tion, [map] 148; harvest time, 37. Indianapolis, packing center, 220. "Indian corn", 60; see also Corn. Indians: agriculture, primitive, 45; corn cultivated by, 60; fruits dried by, 343, 344; salt used by, 457. Infants' food, barley in, 70. Inspector: English Government, of tea, 19; of cannery, 327; of cattle brands, 211; of certified farm, 158; sampling oats, meth- od of, 81 United States Government: of candy factories, 437; ol meats 212, 216; of milk, 158, 362; of operations in packing plant, 215; of salmon canneries, 296; of sheep, 215; of swine, 215; of tea, 19, 398, 400. "International salad": [illus.] 8; articles used in making, [illus.] 466. Iowa: canned goods, 319; cereals, [map] 62; dairy production, [map] 148; fish, 30; harvest time, 37; oats, 66. Ireland: dairy area, . [map] 176; fishing, [map] 266; mackerel, 268, 269. Irish potato, family of, 135. "Iron Chink": feeding salmon to, [illus.] 295; preparing salmon with, 293. Italy: anchovy, 272; canned goods, 320; cheese, 170, 177, 186; chestnut flour, 426; coffee-con- suming area, [map] 380; cotton- seed oil consumed, 243; dairy area, [map] 176; figs, 104, 105, 356; filberts, [map] 446; fishing, 530 THE INDEX [map] 266; fruits, [map] 94 fruits, dried, exported to, 345 harvest time, 37; macaroni, 466 olive farcies, 466; olive oil, 238 239; oyster fishing in, 299 peanuts, 421; pignolias, 419 rice, manner of serving, 77 roundfish, 270; salt, 462; tomato paste, 466; truffles, 468; vermi- celli, 466; vineyards, 116; wal- nuts, 419; wheat, [map] 38; wheat, importer of, 46; wine, 118. Jackfish: drying nets, [illus.] 254; fishing, [map] 266. Jamaica: coconuts, [map] 446; coconut palms, group of, [illus.] 422; honey, 193; manioc plant, 135; spices, 445, [map] 446; women carrying produce, [illus.] 31. Jamaica cucumber, 132. Jams: 497; from England, 320. Japan: barley, 70; cayenne pepper, 454; cherry-blossom time, [illus.] 96; crab meat, 275; fishing, [map] 266; harvest time, 37; honey, 193; implements, 45; kanten, 258; kumquat, 98; kumquat jam, 466; loquat, 95; manioc plant, 135; oyster farming, 310, 311; oyster production, 299; peanuts, 421, [map] 446; per- simmons, 102, 345; rice, diet of people, 74; rice planters at work, [illus.] 74; sardine fisheries at Yezo, [illus.] 264; sardine indus- try, 265; soy bean, 128, 244; soy bean oil, 244; tea, [map] 380. Java: cocoa, 404, [map] 380; coffee, 369, 375, [map] 380; fishing, [map] 266; peanuts, 421; pepper, 454; rice growers with shoulder •poles, [illus.] 32; spices, [map] 446; sugar cane, 429. Jellies: 497; from England, 320. "Jerked" meat, exportation of, 206. Jersey milk, 158. Johnny-cake, 61. Kale: in Holland, 144; leaves, 130. Kangaroo tail, canned, 469. Kansas: cereals, [map] 62; dairy production, [map] 148; harvest field, [illus.] 36; harvest time, 37; sugar-beet factory, [illus.] 436. Kansas City: packing center, 220. Kanten, uses of, 257, 258. Karabunar (Bulgaria), drying figs at, [illus.] 342. Kieffer pears, orchard of, in Colo- rado, [illus.] 91. Kelp, use of, 257, 258. Kentucky: cereals, [map] 62; dairy production, [map] 148; flock of Hampshire Downs, [illus.] 203; harvest time, 37. Ketchup, 320. Kohl-rabi, family of, 128. "Kombu", soup, 258. Korea: see Chosen. Kosher-killed cattle, 214. Kumquat: 98, 100; candied, from China, 356; jam, from Japan, 466. Kyoto: tea garden, 385, tea port, [map] 380; tea, green, curing, 388. Labeling: can, importance of, 331; • oats, 84; special blends of tea, [illus.] 493. Laboratory of wholesale grocery, [illus.] 481. Lake, Balkhash, 221. Lake Fusaro, oyster culture in, 303. Lake Superior, fish-salting plants, 261. Lard: 12; cottonseed oil with, 242. Latticini cheese, 185. Laver, preparation of, 258. Leek, family of, 131. Leicestershire: cheece made in, 184; dairy district, [map] 176. Lemon extract, 13. Lemons: 12, 99, 100, 508; washing by machinery, [illus.] 99. Lentil: family of, 134; from Egypt, 134; soup, dehydrated, 358. Lettuce: 127, 505; seed, harvest- ing, in California, [illus.] 140. THE INDEX 531 Levant: pomegranate, 103; raisin sugar, 441. Lima beans: in jars, 467; in prepa- ration for canning, [illus.] 336. Limburger cheese: 185; domestic, 166. Limes: 99, 100; gathering, in West Indies, [illus.] 100. Lincoln Sea, Peary expedition, 338. Liptau cheese, 185. Lissu, honey obtained in, 192. Litchi nut, importations of, 419. Live stock: industry, 201; see also names of domestic animals. Lobster: breeding of, 274; catch- ing, 274; fishing, [map] 266; importation of, 275; in Chicago market, 257; industry, 274. Loganberries, dried, 354. Lombardy: dairy area, [map] 176; Gorgonzola, 178. London, packing house branch, 221 Long Island Sound, oyster beds in, 309. Longhorn cattle of Texas, 202. Loquat: see Plum. Louisiana: cereals, [map] 62; dairy production, [map] 148; figs, 104, 356; oysters, 310; rice produc- tion, 72; tabasco pepper, 455. Lutefisk, 270. Macaroni: 50; baked, in delica- tessen, 473; factory, scene in, [illus.] 51; from Italy, 466. Mace, 451. Mackerel: fishing, [map] 266; from northern seas, 268; how caught, 269, 270; relative cost, 253; summer-caught fish, 278. Madrid: packing-house branch, 221. Maine: canned products from, 318; cereals, [map] 62; dairy produc- tion, [map] 148; intensified farming, 48; lobsters, 274; sar- dines, 265. Maize: 60; products, shipment of, 25. Maize, Guiana, 71. Malaga: [map] 176; raisins, impor- tation of, 350. Malay Peninsula: pepper from, 454; tea, [map] 380. Malay pirates in spice regions, 450. Malt used in coffee substitutes, 410. Malted milk, tabloid, 359. Manchuria: fishing, [map] 266; grinding wheat, [illus.] 57; ship- ping soy beans in, [illus.] 129. Mandheling coffee, 369. Mangel-wurzels in France, 143. Mangoes: 110, [illus.] 110; dried, 345. Mangosteen, 111, [illus.] 111. Manioc: product, 135; roots, [illus.] 135. Manitoba: harvest time, 37; wheat, [map] 38. Manitoba, Lake, winter-caught fish, 279. Maple sirup, 498. Maple sugar: 439, 440, 498; camp in New England, [illus.] 440. Market place, [illus.] 12. Marmalade, 465. Marne, cheeses made in, 177. Martynia, 132. Maryland: canned fruits, 318; cereals, [map] 62; dairy produc- tion, [map] 148; mackerel, 269. Meal: corn, 61; cottonseed, 241; lentil, 134; manioc root, 136; nut, 426; oat, 65; pea, 134; rice, 77; soy bean, 129; wheat, 55. Meat: 201; balls, potted, 470; car, interior of, [illus.] 26; consump- tion, 231, 232, 233; countries producing, 201, 202, 205; cured, 223; cured, special cars for, 25; dressings for, 497; eating, na- tional character in, 228; export- ing countries, 206, 231, 232; extract, 219; industry, England nursery of, 202; foreign, demand for, 230; government contracts for, 221; pickled, 223; potted, 320; preparing, for broth, [illus.] 213: products, distribution of, 532 THE INDEX 221; relative cost, 252; salted, 223; scrap, for poultry food, 198; statistics, 228; sterilizing tank, [illus.] 218; supply, for increased population, 234; tab- lets, 362; world-wide distribu- tion, 205. canned: 316; from Holland, 320; prepared in Packingtown, 220; supplying the world, 220; varie- ties, 220. Mediterranean Sea: anchovies, pepper-stuffed, 272; sardines, 264, 265; tunny fish, 263. Melons: 120, 510, 511; from abroad, 421; d'Orpagon, 122; raised for retailer, 507. Melon thistle, a cactus fruit, 114. Mexican strawberry, a cactus fruit, 114. Mexico: ancient, use of cocoa in, 402; ancient, use of tomato in, 133; cocoa, [map] 380; coconuts, [map] 446; dates, 107; fishing, [map] 266; fruits, [map] 94; guava, 112; harvest time, 37; honey, 193; mangoes, dried, 345; meat, from, 206; prickly pear, 113; red pepper, 455; rice, method of serving, 77; spices, 445, [map] 446; sugar cane, 429; vanilla, [map] 446; wheat, [map] 38; workers in Packingtown, 219, [map] 204 coffee: 369, 375; area, [map] 380; exported to United States, 376. Michigan: canned goods, 318; cereals, [map] 62; dairy produc- tion, 148; garden truck, 507; harvest time, 37; melons, 509; vineyards, 116, 117. Middle West, garden truck, 507. Milk: annual commerce in United States, 146; bottling, 152, [illus.] 155, [illus.] 157; canned, 316, 332; certified, 157; dehydrated, 359, [illus.] 360; evaporating, 332, 361, [illus.] 333; from vari- ous animals, 146; house on model dairy farm, 151; inspec- tor, 154, 158, 362; malted, tab- loid, 359; pasteurized, 153; pow- dered, 361; testing, 154, [illus.] 169 condensed: 332, 361; rank of each state in output, [map] 148. Milk-bottling plants: precautions taken in, 155; trip through, 156. Milking machine, electric, on modern dairy farm, [illus.] 150. Milkweed, use of, 130. Mill: electric power, 57; family, 56; flouring, ancient types, 55, [illus.] 56, [illus.] 57; flouring, modern types, 53, 59, [illus.] 54; public, 56; state, 56; steam- power, 57; sugar, unloading cane at, [illus.] 429; water-driven, 57; wind-, 57; wind-, of Dutch type [illus.] 58. Millet: 71; a field of, [illus.] 70. Milling: in ancient Egypt, 55; in Manchuria, [illus.] 57; in Pales- tine, [illus.] 56; of flour, 53; with quern, 56; with saddle-stone grinder, 55; oxen used for, 56; slaves used for, 56. Minneapolis: flour mills, group of, [illus.] 54; water power for mill- ing, [illus.] 59. Minnesota: canned goods, 319; cereals, [map] 62; cranberry industry, 120; dairy production, [map] 148; fish, 30; fish, winter- caught, 278; harvest time, 37, 39; oats, 66. Mocha, coffee port, 369, [map] 380. "Mocha" coffee, origin of, 369. Mock turtle soup, dehydrated, 358. Molasses: 12, 432, 434; special cars for, 25. Molucca Islands, and Portuguese possession, 448. Mombasa, cayenne pepper, 454. Montana: cereals, [map] 62; dairy production, [map] 148; harvest time, 38; sheep range, [illus.] 235. Montasio cheese, 186. Mount Hymettus, honey region, 190, [map] 176. THE INDEX 533 Muskellunge, in Chicago market, 257. Muscat raisins, 351. Mush, 13, 65, 78. Mushrooms : canned, from France, 320; dehydrated, [illus.] 360; powdered, 362; wild, from France, 467. Muskmelon, 120. Musk tomato, 132. Mustard: 12; grinder in cannery, 329; leaves, 130; seed, 442. Mutton: 229; cold, in delicatessen, 472; relative cost of, 253. Nairobi: trade routes, [map] 20; transportation, 35; wheat hauled to market, [illus.] 34. Narbonne: dairy center, [map] 176; honey, 190. Nasturtium seed culture in Hol- land, 144. Natal: cane, at sugar mill, [illus.] 429; tea culture in, 393, [map] 380. Nebraska: cereals, [map] 62; dairy production, [map] 148; harvest time, 37. Nectarines: 93; drying, 347. Netherlands: "brisling," 272; but- ter factory, [illus.] 160; butter- making, 162; cabbage, 144; canning industry, 320; cauli- flower, 144; coffee countries owned, 375; dairy area, [map] 176; harvest time, 39; herring, 259; mackerel, 268; onions, bot- tled, 453; oysters, 299, 310; sardellen, 268; seed growing, 143, 144; spice market, 445; success in "Dutch thorough- ness," 144; wheat, [map] 38; wheat exported to, 46, 48 cheese: 170, 186; Edam, 171; Gouda, 186; imported annu- ally from, 186. New England: fishing, [map] 266; harvest time, 39; maple sugar camp, [illus.] 440. New Jersey: cereals, [map] 62; cranberry industry, 120; dairy production, [map] 148; straw- berries, canned, 318. New Mexico: cereals, [map] 62; dairy production, [map] 148; Indian farming, 45. New South Wales: harvest time, 38; wheat, [map] 39. New York State: cereals, [map] 62; cheese, production, 166; cran- berry industry, 120; dairy pro- duction, [map] 148; English walnut orchard, [illus.] 416, 417; fish, fresh-water, 257; fruits, canned, 318; garden truck, 507; "grape belt," 116; harvest time, 37; peaches, brandied, 465; quinces, 96; vineyards, 117. New Zealand: apples, [map] 94; fishing, [map] 266; harvest time, 37; honey, 193; meat consumption, 232; meat produc- tion, 206; mutton surplus, 206; stock raising, 205, 231. Newfoundland: bloaters, 261; cod- fish, 270; fishing banks, [map] 266; herring, 260. Niagara, fruit farm, [illus.] 122. Nicaragua, cocoa, [map] 380. Nickol and his Christmas ham, story of, 221-223. Nile, wheat in valley of, 40. Noodle soup from China, 471. North Carolina: cereals, [map] 62; dairy production, [map] 148; harvest time, 37; soy beans, 244. North Dakota: cereals, [map] 62; dairy production, [map] 148; harvest time, 39; oats, quality of, 66; winter-caught fish, 278. North Pacific coast, oysters, 310. North Sea, herring, 259. Northwestern lakes, fish, 257. Norway: anchovy, 272; barley harvest, [illus.] 69; cheese mak- ing, 169, 170; dairy area, [map] 176; fishing village, [illus.] 260; harvest time, 39; mackerel, 268; meat balls, potted, 470; oysters, 299; ptarmigan from, 470; 534 THE INDEX sardines, 265; stockfish, dried, 259; wheat, [map] 38; workers in Packingtuwn, 219, [map] 204 herring: 262; from fjords, 259, [map] 266; exported to United States, 259. Nova Scotia: codfish, 270; fisher boys, 249; fishing banks, [map] 266; herring, 261; lobsters, 274; mackerel, 268. Nutmeg: 12; countries producing, 452; fruit, 442; preparation, 451; tree, 451, [illus.] 452. Nutmeg melon, 120. Nuts: Brazil, cargo of, [illus.] 420; butters from, 425, 497; coffee jrom, 427; cultivation of, 414; exports, annual, 417; fritters, 427; home-grown, 13; impor- tance as food, 412,413; oils from, 238, 243; pioneer's food, 412; producing areas, 417, [map] 446; products, 425; substitutes for cereals, 426, 427. Oases of Sahara: dates, preparing in, [illus.] 486; fruits, 107. Oats: 65, 84; annually consumed, 65; breakfast food, 65, 81; bunch of, [illus.] 79; canned, story of, 81; cleaning machines, 82; exports, 66; field, [illus.] 66, [illus.] 85; hulling, 83; imports, 67; keeping qualities, 85; kiln- drying, 82; labeling, 84; pack- ing, 84; poultry food, 198; pro- duction, 66; rolled, 83; Russian, 66; steaming, 83; sterilizing, 84; stock food, 65; testing, 81. Ocean trade routes, [map] 20. Odessa: wheat market, [illus.] 47, Black Sea port, [map] 38. Ohio: canned goods, 319; cereals, [map] 62; dairy production, [map] 148; harvest time, 37; salt works, [illus.] 459; vine- yards, 116, 117. Oil: corn, 63, 244; cottonseed, see Cottonseed oil; edible, fruits yielding, 238; edible, seeds yield- ing, 238; neatsfoot, 226; neutral, [table] 227; nut, varieties, 243; oleo, [table] 227; olive, see Olive oil; peanut, 243, 425; soy bean, 238, 244; vegetable, 238, [table] 227. Oil cake: cottonseed, 241; soy bean, 245. Old Government Javas, 369. Oleo oil, 227. Oleomargarine: 226; annual pro- duction, 227; formula, [table] 227; nut oils, 243; soy bean oil, 245. Olive farcies, 466. Olive oil: extraction, 238; impor- tations, 238, 239, 240; substi- tutes, 243, 245. Olive orchard, Fresno, [illus.] 102. Olives: display, [illus.] 464; dried, 345; grading, 494-497; green, 101; in ancient history, 102; origin, 102; packing, 494-497, [illus.] 496; ripe, 101; Spanish, in hogsheads, [illus.] 495. Olive press of ancient Romans, [illus.] 239. Olive trees: age of, 102; bearing, 238. Omaha, packing center, 220. Oncorhynchus, salmon, 283. Onions: 13, 127, 336; canned, with beef, 320; dehydrated, 358, 359; from Holland, 466; harvest of, [illus.] 126; in France, 143; in truck garden, [illus.] 138. Ontario: harvest time, 39; wheat, [map] 38. Oolong tea, countries, 385. Orange blossoms, honey from, 189. Orange countries, 97. Orange groves in California, [illus.] 98. Orange pekoe, 397. Oranges: 12, 100, 508; from Cali- fornia, 87; varieties, 98; world's areas, [map] 94. Oregon: berries, dried, 355; cere- als, [map] 62; cranberries, 120; dairy production, [map] 148; fruits, 318, 346; harvest time, THE INDEX 535 37; prunes, 349; rivers, salmon in, 283; salmon hatcheries, 287. Osage muskmelon, 120, 509. Oxford sheep, 202. Oyster beds: American, 309; at Cancale, [illus.] 301; closing of, 304; planted, [illus.] 305. Oyster fleet, [illus.] 300. Oysters: 257; American, abroad, 299; early cultivation, 303; ene- mies, 307, [illus.] 308; farming, 302, 304, 310; fishing grounds, [map] 266; forcing, 307; growing, 305, 306; production in different countries, 299; ready for plant- ing, [illus.] 307; shipping, 312; spats of, [illus.] 306; special cars for, 25; stockade for breeding, [illus.] 303, [illus.] 310; tonging for, [illus.] 311. Pacific coast states: crabs from, 259; frozen halibut from, [illus.] 250; value of salmon output, 297. Packing industry: 207; distribu- tion of products, 221. Packingtown : branch houses, 221; meats for world, 217; workers, native countries of, 219, [map] 204; see also Union Stockyards. Palestine: ancient methods of harvesting, 43; plowing on the plains of, [illus.] 41; women grinding with quern, [illus.] 56. Palm, date: in the desert, 106, 107; uses of, 107. Pampas: hauling wheat across, [illus.] 49; meat production, 201. Panama: bananas, 87; fruit region, [map] 94. Papago Indian woman grinding corn, [illus.] 60. Papaya, 112. Papia, 112. Paprika: from Hungary, 455, 466; from Spain, 455. Para nuts: see Brazil nuts. Paradise nut, 419. Paris: distributing market, [map] 176; packing-house branch, 211, map] 204; soy bean bread in, 129. Parmesan cheese, 177. Parsley: 127; development of, 139. Parsnips, 127. Partridges, 199. Pastries: fancy, 465, [illus.] 507; delicatessen, 473. Pasteurizing milk and cream, 153, 156. Pates de foie gras: 470; made in America, 470. Patras, dried currants, 354. Pawpaw, 112. "Peaberry coffee", 370. Peaches: 92, 93, 507; brandied, 465; dehydrated, 359, 36*0; dried, 12, 92; drying, 347, [illus.] 344; orchard, [illus.] 92; peeling, 328; preparation for canning, 324; preserving, 328, [illus.] 498. Peanut oil: 238, 425; uses of, 243; African, 243. Peanuts: 13, 418, 508; annual ex- ports, 417; annual imports, 417; areas, [map] 446; family, 421; field, 417, [illus.] 426; in coffee substitutes, 411; production in United States, 243, 421; prod- ucts from, 421, 422. Pears: 91, 336; dehydrated, 359; drying, 347; extract, 364; pick- ing, [illus.] 91; preparation for canning, 324; wild, varieties, 91. Peary Land, 338. Peas: 127, 134, 336; canned, 137, 319, 320, 466; dehydrated, 359; English, 142; harvesting, [illus.] 314; in coffee substitutes, 411; preparation for canning, 324, [illus.] 317; seed culture in Eng- land, 142. Pecans: 418, 508, [illus.] 413; areas, [map] 446; orchards, 417; paper-shelled, 415, 416. "Pekoe", 397. Penang: cinnamon, 453; nutmegs, 452; pepper, 454; spices, 445, 449; spice port [map] 446. 536 THE INDEX Pepper: 12, 358, [map] 446; im- ported annually, 445, 456; native island, 447; varieties, 454, 455. Pepino, 112. Perch, 257, 278. Perigord: dairy area, [map] 176; truffles, 468. Periwinkles, 257. Persimmons: dried, 345; varieties, 102. Persia: cherry, native of, 96; coffee country, [map] 380; dates, 87, 345; date-nut butter, 465; date palm, uses of, 107; fruit regions, [map] 94; harvest time, 37; pomegranate, 103. Peru: ancient, cocoa used in, 402; ancient, tomato known to, 133; cocoa, [map] 380; coconuts, [map] 446; fruit, [map] 94; Guiana maize, 71; harvest time, 39. Petrograd, 221, [map] 204. Pheasants: 199; English, flock of, [illus.] 200. Philippine Islands: coconuts, [map] 446; coffee, [map] 380; fishing, [map] 266; hauling rice, [illus.] 73; spices, 445; sugar, 429, 439; transportation, 35. Pickerel, 257, 278. Pickles: 497; display, [illus.] 464; cucumber, 330; from England. 320; manufacture of, 328; melon d'Orpagon, 122; special cars for shipping, 25; watermelon, 120. Pigeon-breeding yard, [illus.] 198. Pignolia: see Pinons. Pigweed, use of, 130. Pike, 257, 278. Pilchard, 265. Pimiento: 466; with anchovies, 320; with olives, 497. Pineapple: canned, 317, 318, 337; native countries of, 114, 115; plantation, [illus.] 115. Pine nuts: see Pinons. Pinons, 414, 419. Pistachio, 418. Plantain, 112. Plowing: camel used, [illus.] 41; elephant used, 45. Plums: cultivated, 93; drying, 347; extract of, 364; native, 93. Plymouth, sea port, 381, [map] 380. Poland: dairy area, [map] 176; harvest time, 39; preserving food, 364; wheat area, 42. Poland China hog, [illus.] 215. Pollock, 271. Pomegranate melon, 122. Pomegranates: 103; products, 103; vender of, [illus.] 103. Pomelo, 100, 101. Pompano, 257. Pork: 13, 215, 229; canning, 326; delicatessen, 473. "Porridge", 65, 78. Porto Rico: manioc plant, 135 sugar, 429. Portugal: dairy area, [map] 176 figs, 356; grapes, 465; harvest time, 37;honey, 193;oysters, 299 sardines, 265; spice trade, 448. "Pot", salmon, 291. Potatoes: 12, 127, 509; canned, 338; dehydrated, 359; food ele- ments, 76; Irish, 135; related plants, 128; seed, field of, [illus.] 143; shipment, 25; sugar in, 441; sweet, 134. Poultry: annually consumed, 194; feeding stations, 196; milk for, 153; potted, 320; raising, 194; [illus.] 195; shipment of, 25. Prairie chicken, 199. Preserving peaches, 328, [illus. ]498. Prickly pear: 113; field of, [illus.] 113. Protein, food, 252. Provincial dried currants, 354. Prune plums, 95, 346. Prunes: 12, 349; drying, 341, 347; "facing," 483; paste of, 364; preparation for market, 481, [illus.] 482. Ptarmigan, 470. Puddings: "hasty," 13, 61; of millet, 71; of rice, 77. Puerto Limon: banana market, 28; trade route from, [map] 20. THE INDEX 537 Puget Sound: fishing, [map] 266; Oncorhynehus, 283; salmon, 297; trout, 257. Pulo-Penang, spices, Pumpkins, 127. Pumpernickel, 68. Purse seiners: [illus.] 289; salmon caught by, 290. Purslane, 130. Quail, 199. Quebec (province) : harvest time, 37; honey, 187; wheat, [map] 38. Quern, ancient milling with, 56, [illus.] 56. Queso de Cincho, 186. Quince, Bengal, 101. Quince, food uses, 96. Radishes: 127, 143; seed, develop- ment, 139, 142. Raisin grapes, drying, 342, [illus.] 350. Raisins: 12; box, [illus.] 351; clean- ing, 484; countries producing, 345, 350; drying, 347, 351; pack- ing, 352, [illus.] 353; seeding, 352, 484; stemming, [illus.] 352; varieties of, 351; yield of, 116, 350, 354. Raisin sugar, 441. Rampion, 130. Raspberries: 118; dehydrated, 359; dried, 354. Red fish, 257. Red snapper, 257. Reindeer: 35; milk of, 146; milk used for cheese, 185. Relishes: 497; dehydrated, 358. Retailer, varied services of, 501- 515. Rhode Island: cereals, [map] 62; dairy production of, [map] 148; oyster farms, 304. Rhubarb: 127; canned, 336, 338; dehydrated, 359. Rice: 13, 71; annual production, 72; flour, 77; food value of, 76; hauling, in the Philippines, [illus.] 73; imported annually, 72; in coffee substitutes, 410; meal, 77; preparations, 77; stones for hulling, [illus.] 77; supplement to wheat, 48; trans- porting, [illus.] 32; various uses of, 77; volume of crop, 71; wholesome form, 77; yield, 73, 74 cultivation: field, [illus.] 71, [illus.] 72, [illus.] 74; in China, 74; in Orient, 74; in United States, 72, 75. Rice-polishing machine, [illus.] 76. Rock salt, loading, [illus.] 460. Rockyford cantaloupe, 121. Rocky Mountain fish, 257. Roe: of herring, 261; salted, of sturgeon, 272. Rome, Ancient: barley, 69; grana- ries, 40; milling, 55, 57; olive press, [illus.] 239. Roquefort cheese: curing, [illus.] 172; fine sample of, [illus.] 174; legend as to origin of, 174; manufacture, ancient, 171. Rosebuds: brandied, 465; pre- served, 471. Rose leaves, preserved, 471. Roselle, 120. Roumania, harvest time, 37. Roundfish, Italian, 270. Russia: using ancient agricultural methods, 41; apple regions, [map] 94; apples exported to, 91; barley crop, 70; caviar, 273, 465; coffee-consuming area, [map] 380; fishing, [map] 266; fruits, dried, 345; harvesting in, 43; harvest times, 37, 39; honey, 193; meat, 201, 206; oats, 66; oysters, 299, 300; rye, 67, 68; salt fields in, 461; sardines, 262; sugar beets, 435; tea-consum- ing area of, [map] 380, see also Tea; trade routes through, [map] 20; wheat, 41, 42, [map] 38; wheat, annual exportation of, 47. Rye: 67; coffee, 13; flakes, 68; food value, 68; harvest, [illus.] 68; in coffee substitutes, 410; produc- tion, 67. 538 THE INDEX Saddle stone, 55. Sago, 12. Sahara: dates, preparing for mar- ket, [illus.] 486; fruits, [map] 94. St. Anthony Falls, water power, 58, [illus.] 59. St. Thomas, cocoa, 404. Salad: 473; avocado, [illus.] 109; canned, 316; dehydrated, 358; "International," [illus.] 8; "In- ternational," articles used for, [illus.] 466; vegetables for, 130. Salad dressings, 328, 497. Salad oil, from cotton seed, 241. Salami, 465. Saleratus, 12. Salmo, 283. Salmon: 256, 282; brailing, [illus.] 292; cannery, [illus.] 248; can- ning, 293; catch, 292; distribu- tion of, 297; fishing, 288, [map] 266; food for armies, 298; food value, 253; hatcheries, 287; in- dustry, 297; feeding to "Iron Chink," [illus.] 295; load, [illus.] 294; Oncorhynchus, 283; "pot," [illus.] 291; packing, [illus.] 296; preserving, 296; purse seining, 290; trolling, [illus.] 288. Salmon stream, [illus.] 284. Salmon trout, 283. Salsify, 135. Salt: 13, 457; beds, [illus.] 461; distribution, 457; history, 461; imported in one year, 462; load- ing, [illus.] 460; marshes, 460; mines, 461; obtaining, 458; ocean supply of, 459; plant, [illus.] 459; rock, 459; solar, 459; wells, 460. Salt Lake City, salt beds, [illus.] 461. Salvador, coffee, 369. Sandabs, 257. San Francisco Bay: oyster stock- ade, [illus.] 310; tonging for oysters, [illus.] 311. Santos: coffee market, [map] 380; loading coffee ship, [illus.] 367. Sao Paulo: coffee market, [map] 380; drying coffee, [illus.] 376. Sapodilla, 111. Sardellen: 267; paste, 259. Sardines: canned, 320; fisheries, [illus.] 264, [map] 266; prepara- tion, 264, 265, 267; Russian, 262. Saskatchewan: harvest time, 39; wheat, [map] 38. Sauces: 465, 497; canned, 316, 320. Saucisson de foie gras, 471. Sausage: Bohemian, 465; domes- tic, 472; potted, 320; stuffing casings, [illus.] 216; with chest- nuts, 320. Scallops, 257. Scandinavia: codfish, 271; coffee- consuming area, 375; fishing, [map] 266; tea-consuming area, [map] 380; wheat, 46, [map] 38. "Schweitzer-kase", 168. Scotland: harvest time, 39; her- ring, 250; honey, 190. "Scrubs", of meat, 214. Sea bass, 257. Sea foods, packing, [illus.] 256. Seattle, canned goods, 318. Seaweed, edible, 257. Seed: cotton plant, products from, 241; cultivation in European countries, 138-144; oils from, 238; sugar-beet, 141; vegetable, cultivation of, 138. Separator, cream: advantages of, 149; in a modern dairy, [illus.] 147; use in butter making, 160. Serbia: dairy area, [map] 176; fruits, [map] 94; prunes, 349. Shad: 257; fishing, [map] 266. Shallot, 130. Sheep: breeds, 202; head of, in various countries, 229, 231, 233; inspection of, government, 215; ranch, [illus.] 232; range, [illus.] 235; shipment of, 25, 215. Sheepshead, 257. Sheep's milk: for cheeses, 146, 165, 172, 177; for food, 146. Shipment: care in, 23; fast freight, 24; of oysters, 312; of perishable foods, device for, [illus.] 27; of tea, [illus.] 384; of wheat, 46; THE INDEX 539 by "passenger express refrig- erator," 23, [illus.] 24; special cars for small, 26. Shorthorn cattle, 202. Shoyu, 246. Shrimps: canned, 337; fishing, [map] 266; from the Gulf, 257. Shropshires, 202. Siberia: American farm machin- ery, 42; dairy area, [map] 176; fishing, [map] 266; harvest time, 39; reaping in, [illus.] 42; salmon canneries, 298; story of little • Nickol of, 221. Sicily: dairy area, [map] 176; fruits, [map] 94; prickly pear, 113; sugar cane, 429. Sickle, harvesting with, 36, 43, [illus.] 43. Sierra Leone, cayenne pepper, 454. Sifter, for tea, [illus.] 396. Silo, [illus.] 64. Singapore: spice port, [map] 446; wharf at, [illus.] 443. Sirup: 13; cane, 433; corn, 65, 244; maple, 498; pomegranate, 103. Skager-Rak: [map] 176; mackerel, 268. "Sloak", preparation of, 258. Sloe, see Plum. Smyrna: figs, 104, 105, [illus.] 355, [illus.] 480; fruit center, [map] 94; raisins, 350. Sockeye salmon, 283. Somersetshire, cheese, 184. Sorrel, 130, 470. "Souchong", 397. Soups: 473; barley, 70; birds'- nest, 471; canned, 316, 320; dehydrated, 358; rice, 77. Sour sop, 112. South Africa: fruits, [map] 94; oysters, Chesapeake Bay, 300; stock raising, 205, 206; tea, 393. South America : coffee-producing area, 370, [map] 380; cotton, 242; dried fruits exported to, 345; manioc root, 136; meat production of, 202, 206; nut- megs, 453; nuts imported from, 417; paradise nut from, 419; pineapples, 114; stock raising in, 205; sugar cane, 429. South Dakota: cereals, [map] 62; dairy production, [map] 148; har- vest time in, 39; oats, quality, 66. South Sea Islands: sorting cinna- mon, [illus.] 491; spice planta- tions, 447. Soy bean: 128, 246; home-grown, 244; oil, 238, 244, 245; oil cake, 245; shipments in Manchuria, [illus.] 129. Spaghetti, 50. Spain: almonds, [map] 446; apri- cot pulp from, 466; cocoa, 404; coffee-consuming area, [map] 380; dates, 107; figs, 356; fishing, [map] 266; fruits, [map] 94; grapes, 117, 465; harvest time in, 37; olives in pipes, [illus.] 495; olive oil, 238, 240; oyster production, 299; pea- nuts, 421, [map] 446; pimientos, 466; prunes,. 95; raisins, 345, 354; salt, 462; spices, 445; tangerines, 466; truffles, 468; wheat, [map] 38; wine, 118. Spanish bayonet, 112. "Spat", oyster: 303; on a stone, [illus.] 306. Spices: [map] 446; ancient luxury, 442; climate for, 445; fruit yielding two, 451; grinder, 491; grinding, 454; growing, 450; in packing room, [illus.] 455; in wholesale house, 490; markets, 444, 445; trade, perils of the, 442, 448; why costly, 450; amount of year's imports, 445. Spice Islands, 448. Spinach: canned, 466; dehydrated, 359; leaves, 130; preparation, 28. Spoonbills, roe of, 273. Spring wheat, 53. Squash: 127, 134; canned, keeping qualities of, 337, 339. Starches, from corn, 63, 244. Starfish: 307, 308; attacking oys- ter, [illus.] 308. Steak, sirloin, relative cost of, 253. 540 THE INDEX Steppes, Russian: meat produc- tion, 201; wheat, [map] 38. Steppes, Siberian: American farm machinery, 42; reaping on, [illus.] 42. Sterilization: machine, for milk, [illus.] 153; of food, 315; of oats, 84; tank, in packing house, [illus.] 218. Sterilized bottles, filling, with milk, [illus.] 155. Stilton cheese, 184. Stock: feed for, 64, 65, 226, 241, 244, 245; pedigreed, 205; raising, in South Africa, 205, 206. Stockfish, 259, 270. Stockyards: see Packingtown; Union Stockyards. Storage: in cave, [illus.] 173; of wheat, 46, 50 cold: for butter, [illus.] 161; for fish, [illus.] 250, [illus.] 280; for poultry, 199. Straits Settlements: manioc plant, . 135; spices, 445; wharf at Singapore, [illus.] 443. Strawberries: 118, 318; dehy- drated, 359; Mexican, 113; plants, [illus.] 118. Strawberry pear, 114. Striped bass, 257. Sturgeon: fishing, [map] 266; "great white," caviar, 273; roe from, 272. Sugar: 12; beet, 436; cane, 429; consumed annually, 438, 439; corn, 63; importation of, 438; kinds, 434; maple, 439; milk, 146; plants producing, 441; pre- historic use of, 428; preservative, 315; production, 438; pulver- ized, 492; raisin, 441; raw, 429; refining, 433; rock, 434; schools for making, 435. Sugar beets: 436, 437; at Kansas factory, [illus.] 436; cultivating, [illus.] 435; in European coun- tries, 435; industry in France, 143; industry in the United States, 436; seed farms, 436; seeds, cultivation of, 141. Sugar cane: at factory, [illus.] 432; crusher, [illus.] 431; early culti- vation, 428; loading cars, [illus.] 430, [illus.] 438; unloading, [illus.] 429. Sultana raisins: importation of, 352; Turkish, 354. Sumatra: coffee, 369, 375, [map] 380; fishing, [map] 266; pepper, 454; spices, [map] 446. Summerville , tea garden, 384, 392. Sunfish, 257. Sunken garden, seed growing, 143. Sunken Gardens, dates from, 107. Swallows' nest, edible birds' nest, [illus.] 471. Sweden: dairy area, [map] 176; harvest time in, 39; sugar-beet culture, 435. Sweet corn, 137. Sweet potatoes, 127, 134. Sweet sop, 112. Swine: see Hogs. Swiss chard, 130. Swiss cheese: sec Switzerland. Switzerland: cows for farm work, 181, [illus.] 182; harvest time, 37; herd, [illus.] 180, [illus.] 183; honey, 193, 467; wheat, [map] 38; workers in Packingtown, 219, [map] 204 cheese: domestic, 166, 168; im- ported, 169, 178, 186; makers in Wisconsin, 166 lake dwellers: barley used by, 69; saddle-stone mills, 55: wheat, grown, 40. Syria: ancient, agriculture, 41; ancient, wooden plow, 44; har- vest time in, 37; sugar cane, 428; wheat, 40, [map] 38. Tabasco, home of, 455. Tabebuia nut, 421. Table drinks, 402. Taiwan: rice crops, 74; sugar cane, 429 tea: 383, 384; oolong, 385. Tamarind, 128. Tamil, tea pickers in Ceylon, 393, [illus.] 476. THE INDEX 541 Tamworth, 203, [illus.] 215. Tangerines, 98, 466. Tapioca: 135; preparation, 136. Tea: 12; areas, [map] 380; coloring. Read test for, 398; consumption of, 383, 384; -consuming areas of the world, [map] 380; curing, 387, 388, 389, 394, 401; curling, 389, 395; drying, 388; exporting countries, [map] 380; "facings," 399; "fannings," 397; firing, 388, 389; flowers, [illus.] 382; Imperial Estate, 397; import- ing countries, [map] 380; inspec- tion of, government, 19, 398, 400; journey, 17; leaves, [illus.] 382; loading, [illus.] 18, [illus.] 384; packing, [illus.] 400; pick- ing, [illus.] 476, [illus.] 386, 393; plant, [illus.] 382; production, in United States, 384; quality of, testing, 399; seeds, [illus.] 382; sifting, [illus.] 390; sorting, 389, [illus.] 395, [illus.] 396; spread- ing leaves, [illus.] 388; spread- ing the use of, 382; steaming, [illus.] 379; tablets, 362; tradi- tions, 382; transplanting, [illus.] 391 black: 387; countries producing, 385; curing, 394; production in Japan, 387; withering, 395 blends: labeling, [illus.] 493; special, 492; work of whole- saler, 492-494 culture: early attempts, 389, 390, 391, 392; Russian, on Imperial Domains, 397 garden: 383; in Ceylon, 18, 393, [illus.] 394; Japanese, 385; Sum- merville, 384, 392, [map] 380; Tamil pickers, 393 green: 387; countries producing, 385; curing, 385, 388; tests for "facings," 399 transportation: 22, 381; hauling, in Ceylon, [illus.] 17. Tea (beverage) : 378, 473; bouquet, 379, 399; brewing in govern- ment way, 401; consumers, 384, [map] 380; cups per pound, 379; drinking, in Russia, [illus.] 397; purest, 379, 400. Tennessee: cereals, [map] 62; dairy production, [map] 148; harvest time, 37; soy bean in, 244. Terrapin, 275. Texas: cereals, [map] 62; dairy production, [map] 148; figs, 104, 356; garden truck, 507; harvest time, 37; longhorn cattle, 202; rice, 72; rice field, [illus.] 71; spinach, 28. Threshing: in Egypt, [illus.] 44; in India with flail, 45. Thyroid tablets, 226. Tibet: honey, 192; tea, [map] 380. Tigris River: pomegranate vender, [illus.] 103; wheat, 40, [map] 38. Tomato bisque, dehydrated, 358. Tomato contests, 340. Tomatoes: 127, 128, 509, 510; and sweet corn, prize, [illus.] 137; at cannery, [illus.] 133; canned, 133, 137, 319, 336; canning, government demonstration of, [illus.] 340; conveyors for, [illus.] 325; dehydrated, 358; harvest- ing, [illus.] 323; origin of, 133; paste, 466; varieties of, 132. Tonging for oysters, [illus.] 311. Tractors, used in Russia, 43. Trade routes, maritime, [map] 20. Transportation : lines of the world, [map] 20; of foods, 17-35. Trap fishing for salmon, 291, [illus.] 291. Trebizond: [map] 176; honey, 190. Trinidad: cocoa, 404; coffee, [map] 380; manioc plant, 135. Trolling for salmon, 288, [illus.] 288. Trout: 257; preparing for market, [illus.] 279; summer-caught, 278. Truck garden, commercial, [illus.] 138. Truffles: canned, 320; French women cleaning, [illus.] 469; hunting, 467, [illus.] 468. Tuna: catching, 263; fishing, [map] 266; marketing, 263; prep- aration of, 263, 264. 542 THE INDEX Tunny: 263, 471; fishing, [map] 266. Turkey: coffee-consuming area, [map] 380; dates, 345; figs, 87, 104, 105; harvest time in, 37; honey, 193; nuts, 419; pome- granates, 103; prunes, 95, 349; raisins, 345, 350; sultanas, 354. Turkeys: [illus.] 197; wild, 199. Turnips: 13; canned, 337, 406; leaves, 130; seed, culture in England, 142. Turtle: family, 276; fishing, [map] 266; sea, 257. Tuscany: dairy area, [map] 176; nuts, preparation of, 427. Ubi tanah, 135. Unicorn plant, 132. Union Stockyards of Chicago: 209; unloading at, [illus.] 210; work- ers at, native countries of, 219, [map] 204. United Kingdom: cottonseed oil, exports, 242; cottonseed oil, im- ports, 242; meats, 234; wheat imported, 46, 48. United States Department of Agriculture : home-canning en- couraged by, 339, 340; meat statistics of, 228-337. United States government fish hatcheries, 287. Uruguay: coffee-consuming area, [map] 380; meat, 206. Vaakerfisk, 270. Veal: 13; canned, 320; loaf, 473. Vegetable marrow, 134. Vegetable oils, 238-246, [table] 227. Vegetable oyster, 135. Vegetables: 473; choice selection, [illus.] 125; dehydrated, 358, [table] 363; familiar, 127; families of, 127; greens, 130; in high- grade market, [illus.] 506; salads, from, 130; shipment, 24, 25, 28 canned: 316; from European coun- tries, 320, 465, 466; healthful, 337. Veldts of South Africa, 203. Venice: salt works, 461; sea port, [map] 176. Ventilator cars, loading, [illus.] 25. Vera Cruz, banana shipments, 28. Vermicelli, 50, 466. Verrieres, seed establishment, 143. Vinegar, 12. Virginia: canned fruits, 318; cere- als, [map] 62; dairy production, [map] 148; harvest time, 37; herring roe, 261; mackerel, 269. Vostizza: [map] 176; dried cur- rants, 354. Wales: Caerphilly cheese, 185; dairy area, [map] 176. Walnuts: 417, 508; black, 414; oil from, 243; paper-shelled, 415, 416; pickled, 465; regions, [map] 446 English: 416, 417; area, [map] 446; orchard, [illus.] 416; shelling and grading, [illus.] 415. Wasp, immigrant, 105. Washington: canned strawberries, 318; cereals, [map] 62; cranberry industry, 120; dairy production, [map] 148; dried berries, 355; evaporated fruit, 346; fishing, [map] 266; harvest time, 37; salmon fishing, 283; salmon hatcheries, 287. Water chestnut, 419. Watermelon: 120; patch, [illus.] 120. West Indies: avocados, 505; bana- nas, 108; canned pineapple, 318; cocoa, 404, [map] 380; coconuts, [map] 446; coffee, 369, [map] 380; dates, 107; fishing, [map] 266; guava jelly, 465; lime gathering, [illus.] 100; nutmegs, 452; nuts, 418; red pepper, 455. Westphalia: bacon, 465; hams, 465. Wheat: 36-59; areas, [map] 38; ancient tombs containing, 40; bunch, of [illus.] 79; consumed annually, 47; crops, 46; cultiva- tion, 39, 45; elevator, 50; ex- THE INDEX 543 ports, 46, 47; field in Australia, [illus.] 52; government tests, 54; harvests of world, calendar of, 37, 39; hauled to market, [illus.] 34, [illus.] 49; origin, 40; poultry food, 198; shipping, 46, [illus.] 47; threshing, 53; types, 54; supply and yield in the United States, 46, 48; used in coffee substitutes, 410. Whitefish: 13; summer-caught, 278. Whiting, 253. Wholesaler: varied services of, 14, 475-499; and retailer, 514. Wildfowl, 199, 200. Wine: annual imports, 118; coun- tries producing, 118; from pome- granates, 103. Winnipeg, Lake, winter-caught fish, 279. Winnipegosis, Lake, winter-Caught fish, 279. Winter cherry, 132. Winterfisk, 270. Wisconsin: canned goods, 319; cereals, [map] 62; cheese fac- tory, interior, [illus.] 165; cheese output, 166, 168; cranberry industry, 120; dairy production, [map] 148; harvest time, 37; oats, 66, [illus.] 66. Yam, 134. Yen wai, 472. Yezo, sardine fisheries, [illus.] 264. Yorkshire hogs, 203. Zanzibar: cloves, 449; cloves, picking, [illus.] 445; cocoa, [map] 380; red pepper, 454. Zartfisk, 270. Zebu, draft animal, 43, 45. Zuider Zee: [map] 176; sardellen from, 268.