six to ten feet long, with the sides five inches high. The lath slats are two inches apart and the troughs are sixteen inches high from floor to roof. The roofs project about two inches at the sides. and effectually keep out the rain except when high winds prevail.

The roof is very easily removed by lifting one end and sliding it endwise on the opposite gable end on which it rests. The trough can then be filled and the roof drawn back into place without lifting it. This arrangement is the best of anything we have found for saving food from waste and keeping it in good condition. When dry mash is used in it there is considerable waste by the finer parts being blown away. When used for that purpose it is necessary to put it in a sheltered place out of the high winds.

CEREAL FOODS.

L. H. MERRILL.

[In co-operation with the Office of Experiment Stations of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, the Maine and Minnesota Experiment Stations have, during the past ten years, made special studies on the composition and digestibility of cereal foods. The technical results thus obtained are published chiefly in the bulletins of the Office of Experiment Stations. This Station has published two bulletins upon the composition of the breakfast cereal foods that were found in the Maine markets. In the present bulletin Professor Merrill presents many of the general results which have been obtained in the course of this work. While the results of these investigations have been freely used in this bulletin, yet for purposes of definite illustration he has drawn chiefly upon the analyses and digestion experiments made at this Station.-C. D. W.]

Few phases of our modern civilization furnish a more curious and interesting study than the rapid increase in the number and variety of our foods. Among the causes that have contributed to this development may be mentioned: The extension of our commerce, which has placed a constantly increasing range of food materials within our reach; the efforts of our national government, which is actively engaged in the introduction of new food plants, and the production of new varieties of old types; the ingenuity of manufacturers, who have been quick to see that their sales must depend to a great extent upon the variety and attractiveness of their output; and in no slight degree, to an increased knowledge of the functions of food-i. e., the demands of the body, and the methods by which these demands may be met. To these causes may also be added a more or less artificial

demand, encouraged and stimulated by persistent advertising, for foods which may be quickly and easily digested. Perhaps it is a natural outcome of the strenuous age in which we live that the average business man is reluctant to devote the proper time and attention to his meals, with the result that dyspepsia in its various forms has become alarmingly prevalent. There has thus arisen a class of food products whose chief claim upon our attention is their alleged readiness to "slip into the tissues" of the consumer without the usual tax upon the digestive organs.

Just now we are passing through what might very properly be called the epoch of cereal breakfast foods. Never in our history have the cereal foods occupied so prominent a place in our dietaries. Twenty-five years ago practically the only cereal foods to be found upon our American market were wheat flour, corn meal, hominy, and hulled corn. Wheat and oat meals had been introduced by our Irish and Scotch immigrants, but their use was far from general. Barley, rye and rice were used only to a very limited extent. Today a half-hour's canvass of the shops of our large towns or cities would reveal fifty or more preparations of these cereals, most of which present special claims to our attention. Scarcely a week passes that does not see some new cereal claimant to the public favor and the list has grown to embarrassing proportions. Few of the brands appear to be long-lived and it is safe to say that of those on sale today fully one-half will disappear within three years or will survive only on the top shelf of the country grocery, food for worms rather than for man.

A class of foods that has come to occupy so prominent a place in our dietaries certainly deserves more than a passing consideration. Many of these preparations have been analyzed at this Station and the results published in Bulletins 55* and 84. It is proposed here to study these foods from a more general standpoint. To do this, we must take into consideration not only their chemical composition, but their palatability, digestibility, ease of preparation, relative cost, the claims made for them, and the extent to which these claims are made good.

* Bulletin 55 is no longer available.

CLASSIFICATION.

Notwithstanding the large number and variety of the cereal breakfast foods, the most of them fall readily into one of three groups. In the first of these may be placed those which are prepared by simply grinding the decorticated grain. The second group includes those which have been steamed or otherwise partially cooked, and then ground or rolled. The third group includes all those preparations which have been acted upon by malt, by the action of which a portion of the starch has undergone a chemical change.

The earliest of these foods to come into general use in this country were of the first class, oats being the most widely consumed. While the old fashioned oatmeal found favor with many, there is reason to believe that it was not always welcomed, and in the memories of many of us the morning bowl of "oatmeal mush" went far to temper the joys of childhood. Although the dish possessed many virtues that seemed to adapt it peculiarly to the needs of growing children, the results of its enforced use were not always happy, and it can scarcely be regretted that it has been so largely supplanted by other preparations of oats, wheat, or corn, some form of which is quite sure to appeal to the palate and furnish a pleasing variety. The use of coarsely ground, uncooked wheat, does not seem to have become so general. Corn meal, however, has been widely used, and hominy continues in public favor.

Following the manufacture of the uncooked cereal meals came the foods of the second group, especially the so-called "rolled" oats and wheats. By far the larger part of the breakfast foods consumed today are of this class. The superiority of these goods over those formerly in use is easily demonstrated and will be referred to later.

It is claimed that the malted preparations represent a still greater advance in the perfection of these foods. The methods employed in their manufacture vary somewhat, but they are all based upon the same principle. Barley malt is mixed with the cereal under conditions favorable to the action of the ferment present, the result being that a portion of the starch is converted into a soluble form.

Some of the cereal foods are fully cooked and may be eaten dry without further preparation, or, as many prefer, with the addition of cream and sugar. In a few cases the manufacturers cater still farther to the popular taste by wetting the cereal with a salted or sweetened solution, after which it is again dried and slightly browned. Within a few years a statement has been quite generally circulated that certain foods of this class contain arsenic. Compounds of arsenic are not uncommon in soils; and since plants are unable to exclude many salts which occur dissolved in the water of the soil, it may be readily believed that arsenic may thus find its way into growing crops. The amount of this element which can accumulate in the cereal grains by natural methods is, however, too small to excite our apprehension. On the other hand it is difficult to conceive any motive which should lead to its intentional introduction. The writer has examined a number of samples of goods which for some reason had fallen under suspicion, using the most delicate tests, but always with negative results.

COMPOSITION.

The value of any food must depend primarily upon the kind and amount which they contain of certain proximate principles which experience has taught us are absolutely essential to the maintenance of life and health. The composition of these foods is, therefore, a matter of great importance. The accompanying table gives the average composition of those preparations of corn, oats and wheat which have been collected in Maine markets and analyzed at this Station. For purposes of comparison there is given in the same table the composition of three kinds of flour, all prepared from the same hard spring wheat.

The terms employed here for the most part require no explanation. For the benefit of non-scientific readers a few words. regarding the "heat of combustion" may not be out of place.*

One very important function of food is to supply energy to the body, where it is developed in the form of muscular activity, body heat, and probably in mental processes also. It may be stated in a general way that the energy furnished the body by

*The reader is referred to Farmers' Bulletin No. 142, U. S. Dept. Agriculture The Principles of Nutrition and Nutritive Value of Food.