awthorne, sloe, cherry and plum might be found. Here and there, he
might alight upon a walnut or an almond; figs also of one kind or
another seem to have been common. Palm trees existed, and some of them
were of enormous size."

If, in modern times, nuts have come to be used as a luxury rather than
as a staple article of diet, it must be because we have neglected to
cultivate this choicest of food products which Nature is ready to
provide with a lavish hand when invited to do so by our co-operation.
But as the public become better informed respecting the high food value
of nuts and especially in view of the steadily rising cost of flesh
meats, the nut is certain to gain higher appreciation, and the writer
has no doubt that some time in the future nuts will become a leading
constituent of the national bill of fare and will displace the flesh
meats which today are held in high esteem but which in the broader light
of the next century will be regarded as objectionable and inferior
foods, and will give place to the products of the various varieties of
nut trees which will be recognized as the choicest of all foods.

In nutritive value the nut far exceeds all other food substances; for
example, the average number of food units per pound furnished by half a
dozen of the more common varieties of nuts is 3231 calories while the
average of the same number of varieties of cereals is 1654 calories,
half the value of nuts. The average food value of the best vegetables is
300 calories per pound and of the best fresh fruits grown in this
country, 278 calories. The average value of the six principal flesh
foods is 810 calories per pound or one-fourth that of nuts.

Recent studies of the proteins of nuts by Osborne and Harris, Van Slyke,
Johns and Cajori, have demonstrated that the proteins of nuts are at
least equal to those of meat. This has been shown to be true of the
almond, English walnut, black walnut, butternut, peanut, pecan, filbert,
Brazil nut, pine nut, chestnut, hickory and cocoanut; that is, of
practically all the nuts in common use.

Observations seem to show that, in general, the proteins of oily seeds
are complete proteins.

Cajori's research has also shown the presence of growth-promoting
vitamins in abundant quantity in the almond, English walnut, filbert,
pine nut, hickory, chestnut and pecan.

That the nut is appreciated as a dainty is attested by the frequency
with which it appears as a dessert and the exten