all of which are among the lowest priced of foods,
are invaluable in the diet of a laboring man: he can get so much
nourishment out of them that he hardly needs meat; and if they are
cooked in the water that has been used for boiling meat, they make the
healthiest kind of a meal.

All juicy vegetables should be very fresh and crisp; and if a little
wilted, can be restored by being sprinkled with water and laid in a
cool, dark place; all roots and tubers should be pared and laid in cold
water an hour or more before using. Green vegetables are best just
before they flower; and roots and tubers are prime from their ripening
until they begin to sprout.

When it is possible buy your vegetables by the quantity, from the
farmers, or market-gardeners, or at the market; you will save more than
half. Potatoes now cost at Washington market from one to one dollar and
a half a barrel; there are three bushels in a barrel, and thirty-two
quarts in a bushel; now at the groceries you pay fifteen cents a half a
peck, or four cents a quart; that makes your barrel of potatoes cost you
three dollars and sixty-three cents, if you buy half a peck at a time;
or three dollars and eighty-four cents if you buy by the quart. So you
see if you could buy a barrel at once you could save more than one half
of your money. It is worth while to try and save enough to do it.

=Fruit.=--Fresh fruit is a very important food, especially for children,
as it keeps the blood pure, and the bowels regular. Next to grains and
seeds, it contains the greatest amount of nutriment to a given quantity.
Apples are more wholesome than any other fruit, and plentiful and cheap
two-thirds of the time; they nourish, cool, and strengthen the body. In
Europe laborers depend largely upon them for nourishment, and if they
have plenty, they can do well without meat. They miss apples much more
than potatoes, for they are much more substantial food.

All fruit should be bought ripe and sound; it is poor economy to buy
imperfect or decayed kinds, as they are neither satisfactory nor healthy
eating; while the mature, full flavored sorts are invaluable as food.

Preserved and dried fruits are luxuries to be indulged in only at
festivals or holidays. Nuts are full of nutritious oil, but are
generally hard to digest; they do not come under the head of the
necessaries of life.

CHAPTER II.

HOW TO COOK, SEASON, AND MEASURE.

Before beginning to give you receipts, I wish