Pruit is very generally and erroneously regarded as a luxury rather than as a valuable, even necessary, article of food, and many housekeepers who now stint this supply for economy's sake would do better to banish rich pastry entirely from their tables and substitute instead an abundance of fruit. Acid fruits furnish oxygen in abundance, and consequently assist in the asdmilation of the carbonaceous elements of food. If the diet is largely made up of fats, sweets and starchy foods, which are mostly carbon, a great deal of oxygen is needed to carry on the necessary chemical combustion, and when this is not obtained either by out-of-door exercise or the free consumption of fruit, headaches and biliousness resull^, ultimately followed by more serious disorders, such as neuralgia, rheumatism, fevers and inflammatory diseases. So that for persons engaged in sedentary pursuits it is evident that fruit is as necessary as bread and meat. The hydroganic acid found in most northern firuits not only stimulates digestion, but is itself a nerve food; peaches, apricots, apples and cherries abound in this acid, retaining it in a large degree when dried, and it is contained also in almonds, raisins and peach pits, which eaten after meals often aid digestion. One or two peach pits eaten regularly thus have been known to effect permanent cures of the nervous forms of indigestion, and if their value in this respect were generally known they would not be so universally wasted. A prominent physician has suggested that ^^Feast on Fruit Freely," be hung as a motto in every dining room and taught to every person. Fruit should be eaten at meals instead of between meals, and no breakfast, especially^ FRUIT. 279 / should be made without it. All fruits intended for immediate mating should be gathered before ten o'clock in summer in order to obtain their best flavor. And if the market is to be depended upon the utmost care should be exercised in its selection. Galifomia and Florida oranges are the best, a difference of opin- ion existing among fruit connoisseurs as to the comparative merits of the two, which rival each other so closely that there is perhaps but little choice. The only really desirable lemons, aside from a few from River- Bide, Galifomia, are the Messinas, Palermos and Bicilys, all foreign importations, ranking in the order named. Choose the heavy fruit, with clean, smooth, thin skin, of a bright yellow color, and the medium sized lemon, known among dealers as the "360" is the best. The large lemons are more showy and expensive but are apt to be dry. The banana is the most nutritious of all fruits, and is becoming more popular every year. The plantain is a tropical fruit of the banana species, of the same shape and color but much larger — about two feet long and three inches in diameter — ^is of a coarse fibre and is not palatable raw, but very good fried or baked. It is considered very nutritious and wholesome, and is one of the main products of Honduras.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Fruit is very generally and erroneously regarded as a luxury rather than as a valuable, even necessary, article of food, and many housekeepers who now stint this supply for economy's sake would do better to banish rich pastry entirely from their tables and substitute instead an abundance of fruit. Acid fruits furnish oxygen in abundance, and consequently assist in the assimilation of the carbonaceous elements of food. If the diet is largely made up of fats, sweets and starchy foods, which are mostly carbon, a great deal of oxygen is needed to carry on the necessary chemical combustion, and when this is not obtained either by out-of-door exercise or the free consumption of fruit, headaches and biliousness result, ultimately followed by more serious disorders, such as neuralgia, rheumatism, fevers and inflammatory diseases. So that for persons engaged in sedentary pursuits it is evident that fruit is as necessary as bread and meat. The hydrochloric acid found in most northern fruits not only stimulates digestion, but is itself a nerve food; peaches, apricots, apples and cherries abound in this acid, retaining it in a large degree when dried, and it is contained also in almonds, raisins and peach pits, which eaten after meals often aid digestion. One or two peach pits eaten regularly thus have been known to effect permanent cures of the nervous forms of indigestion, and if their value in this respect were generally known they would not be so universally wasted. A prominent physician has suggested that "Feast on Fruit Freely," be hung as a motto in every dining room and taught to every person. Fruit should be eaten at meals instead of between meals, and no breakfast, especially / should be made without it. All fruits intended for immediate mating should be gathered before ten o'clock in summer in order to obtain their best flavor. And if the market is to be depended upon the utmost care should be exercised in its selection. California and Florida oranges are the best, a difference of opinion existing among fruit connoisseurs as to the comparative merits of the two, which rival each other so closely that there is perhaps but little choice. The only really desirable lemons, aside from a few from Riverside, California, are the Messinas, Palermos and Bicilys, all foreign importations, ranking in the order named. Choose the heavy fruit, with clean, smooth, thin skin, of a bright yellow color, and the medium sized lemon, known among dealers as the "360" is the best. The large lemons are more showy and expensive but are apt to be dry. The banana is the most nutritious of all fruits, and is becoming more popular every year. The plantain is a tropical fruit of the banana species, of the same shape and color but much larger — about two feet long and three inches in diameter — is of a coarse fiber and is not palatable raw, but very good fried or baked. It is considered very nutritious and wholesome, and is one of the main products of Honduras.

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