COUNTRY LIFE
IT is a common thesis at the moment that farming produce should be regulated by the nutritional needs of the public. The garden presumably is in like case, but very few people know anything about the particular feeding value of this and that vegetable. Indeed, obviously false super- stitions on the subject are rife. For example, apparently responsible people have written to the papers to say that artichokes are valueless as food. They are, in fact, valuable both for food and fodder, and particu- larly rich in protein. Some like them raw in salad. Others deny the wholesomeness of vegetables grown with artificial manures. One of the later claims is that yellow fruits are less acid than red ; and for this reason yellow tomatoes are recommended in place of red, and therefore seem to be enjoying a new vogue. Some people recommend even yellow raspberries on this ground. A brief scientific finding on the food value of vegetables is much needed and could easily be supplied by any expert in nutrition. More than one person, within my own experience, has " commenced vegetarian " but been forced to give up the diet because some essential sort of value—generally fat—had been omitted. Can anyone settle the yellow theory? Is a yellow tomato less acid or a green apple superior to a red?
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