tain that the amounts suggested by these standards are abundant enough to exclude the idea of underfeeding.

Very little is definitely known regarding the food requirements of convalescents and others whose bodily health is not normal. Judged by the diet generally prescribed, the consensus of opinion of physicians seems to be that it should be as generous as the patient can utilize without overtaxation of the digestive and assimilative functions, the idea evidently being that the tissue waste and exhaustion of illness may be quickly repaired by an abundant supply of building material. How far the plane on which a man is nourished affects his general well-being, his resistance to disease, and his ability as a worker can not be settled without much further study. The idea is, however, generally held that a generous diet is more favorable to good results than the reverse. At least we often find that a continued low plane of living is attended by unfavorable results. A recent recognition of this is found in the agitation in England regarding the undernourishment of laborers and laborers' children. In view of these facis and other similar considerations it would certainly be unwise to restrict unduly the food supply of hospital patients in any way that might lessen their chance of recovering or diminish their physical resistance to the advance of disease. It is fitting, therefore, that dietary standards which are certainly generous should be selected for purposes of comparison.

As regards the insane, the important distinction is to be made between the acute-that is, those who may recover-and the chronicthat is, those who are past recovery. For those who may recover it would be hardly wise to lay down rules for diet based solely upon quantities of nutrients and energy. The treatment of these, like the treatment of the sick in general, is a matter for the expert physician. To provide fitting and ample diet for such patients is the plainest and most pressing duty.

If a large number of feeding experiments could be made with different classes of patients in hospitals for the insane, it would be possible to secure much of the data needed for fixing upon the best dietary standards.

DIETARY STUDIES.

The work at the. Government hospital represents the second kind of research needed, though it naturally comes first in order of time. Its chief feature, as has already been explained, was a study of the amounts of food actually eaten by the hospital population and a comparison of these amounts with the amounts purchased and those served at the table. The results of these dietary studies show decidedly that the amounts supplied much exceeded the actual demand for nourishment. They do not yet show exactly what is this physiological

demand, but they help indicate how it may be determined. They also help to bring out more clearly the ways in which the dietaries may be improved while the cost is diminished. They lead to a number of inferences, among which are the following:

(1) The physiological demand for nourishment, which should be the basis of a dietary standard for the hospital dietary, can be found only by actual observation and experiment.

(2) The actual food supply must be in excess of this physiological demand, the difference between the two being found in the inevitable shrinkage and waste in the storeroom, kitchen, and dining room.

(3) The actual shrinkage and waste are much larger than is commonly supposed. They can be reduced by improved methods, especially those of cooking and serving the food.

(4) In like manner, the food should always be made attractive to the eye and the taste, nutritious, and adapted to the special wants and habits of patients of different classes.

PREPARATION OF FOOD AND MENUS.

In connection with nutrition investigations there is opportunity for much useful work in devising ways of cooking and serving foods and of making attractive dishes from left-over materials which might otherwise be wasted; since such foods, though perfectly wholesome, are not of such a character that they could readily be served again in their original form. In the home many of the most palatable dishes are made from simple and inexpensive ingredients, and in part, at least, from some food remaining after the family has been served. The proper preparation of such dishes frequently requires considerable time and care. A recipe which perhaps gives a very satisfactory dish when prepared for a small family is not always easy to use under conditions where food must be cooked for a large group. This is due in part to the fact that large quantities often require special methods of mixing and handling, and there are other considerations which will be readily appreciated by those who are familiar with the practical problems of cookery. It is obvious that the time required for preparation must not be excessive, otherwise the final cost of the dish made of inexpensive ingredients may be out of all proportion to its attractiveness or nutritive value. It is in devising ingenious ways of meeting such problems as are suggested above that the expert dietitian has an abundant opportunity for useful work in connection with studies of institution dietetics.

At the time of the New York State hospital dietary studies some work of this character was undertaken and proved very useful. Recipes for a number of dishes were suggested, printed on leaflets,

and distributed to the various hospitals for trial. The results were highly satisfactory and made it evident that much good would come from a continuation of such work. Much useful information along such lines has of course been accumulated by institution dietitians, some of which has been made accessible by publication.

The devising of menus of such a character that an attractive meal is provided is another matter requiring skill and judgment. It is obvious that if economy is sought the major portion of the meal must be composed of inexpensive foods, with just enough of the more attractive and perhaps more expensive foods to render the whole palatable. This does not by any means imply that the inexpensive foods are necessarily unpalatable. Bread is one of the most economical foods and would perhaps be as much missed from the diet as any single article, yet bread is made much more palatable to the ordinary individual by the use of a small portion of butter, which is, pound for pound, considerably more expensive than the bread. In ways like those suggested the person with a thorough knowledge of the principles of nutrition, the nutritive value of foods, and skill in their preparation can do a great deal to render the diet of institutions attractive without adding unduly to its cost. Preliminary experimenting is required and should form a part of future investigations connected with institution dietetics.

CONCLUSION.

The above discussion does not imply that there is anything especially at fault in the present management and methods of the Government hospital or that there is call for radical or sudden change. Indeed the conditions there are evidently in many ways much above the average. It means that in general, so far as appears from studies made in a large number of hospitals for the insane, the condition of affairs in this department of hospital service is just what is found in the different departments of many large establishments, as in manufactories and railroads, where the progress of the times demands better equipments, accommodations, and products, and where closeness of competition and increasing needs require more careful economies. The increase of scientific knowledge and practical experience shows how improvements may be brought about in hospitals as well as in business and commercial enterprises. The condition which has been found to prevail in hospitals for the insane is not one for serious criticism nor is anyone especially to blame for the deficiencies. The improvement is simply what ought to come in the natural course of events. The only blame would be where there is failure to make the needed effort toward improvement.

Economy in the food expenditures of institutions is desirable, but it should always be remembered that a reduction of the cost of the dietary is not the only object, nor even the chief object, of an inquiry like those which have been carried on in Connecticut, New York, and Washington, D. C. Humanitarian considerations are of far higher consequence. Some of the inmates of the hospitals may be cured, and everything possible should be done by diet or otherwise to facilitate their cure. Of the incurables a large proportion have a keen appreciation of the comforts and discomforts of their condition, and their sources of enjoyment are necessarily so restricted that, with a large proportion, the pleasures of eating are probably paramount. To alleviate their discomforts and to provide as much as possible of the things which contribute to their happiness is a most evident duty, and these ends may be served, in part at least, by fitting the food to the needs of the body and rendering the diet attractive and palatable.

What should be especially pointed out here is that if investigations like those which have been undertaken can be properly continued it will be possible to learn much concerning the ways in which the food may be better adapted to the actual needs of the patients of different classes and to devise improvements in the planning of menus and in the preparing and serving of the food which will fit it better to the varying tastes of the hospital population and at the same time prevent unnecessary waste. The outcome will be advantageous in at least three ways: (1) Hospital life can be made, in part at least, less wearisome to the patients; (2) dietetics can be managed more in accord with the demands of hygiene; and (3) the food supply can be more economically used, thus reducing the cost of the diet.

EXPERIMENT STATION WORK IN CORN CULTURE.

By J. I. SCHULTE, Office of Experiment Stations.

The corn crop constitutes the actual basis of American farming. It is of value as a bread, a forage, and a fallow crop. It is grown in every State and Territory, the area ranging from several thousand acres in some to as many millions in others. The principal corngrowing States harvest from 200,000,000 to 300,000,000 bushels annually, and the total yearly yield of the entire country amounts to over 2,000,000,000 bushels.

The attention given the crop by the experiment stations has been and continues to be in proportion to its importance as a national resource. From the time the stations were established investigations on the different phases of corn culture have been carried on, and data showing the results obtained under different conditions have accumulated. The literature on the subject issued by these institutions in the form of bulletins and reports is very extensive. The lines of investigation have always been directed by existing needs, and as a good example of this fact the work with varieties may be cited. The earlier work of the stations was most largely in the direction of determining the relative yielding capacity of different varieties, but as the data increased and the best varieties for different localities and conditions were singled out, attention was turned toward the improvement of these varieties in productiveness and chemical composition, and most promising, and, in fact, epoch-making, results have already been obtained. It is of interest to note along what lines the experimental work has been carried on, the progress that has been made, and the influence the results have upon the corn production of the country at large. The numerous publications at hand treat of soil preparation, planting, cultivation, root pruning, detasseling, irrigation, rotative and continuous cropping, development of the root system, different methods of harvesting, improvement of varieties, composition of different parts of the plant, the uses and value of the crop in feeding, either as green fodder or silage, and diseases and insect enemies, together with numerous other lines of work.

The presentation of the results covering the whole subject of corn production for a series of years is necessarily more or less fragmentary, and the object of this article is to bring the matter together for comparison and study. The progress and achievements of the