Foods : or, How the world is fed

Front matter

Class !p)C 55"^

Copyright N° _

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT.

Preface

This book on Foods is the first of a series upon the great industries of the world. Its purpose is to give the children a knowledge of the production and preparation of foods, and to show how civilization and commerce grew from man's need of foods and the exchange of foods between the different nations of the earth.

The author takes the children on personally conducted tours to the great food centers of the world, to the markets of exchange, to the factories, the farms, the forests, and the seas.

Together they visit the great wheat fields of our own and other lands. They follow the grain to the mills and from the mills to the markets. They go through the corn belt of the United States and learn the size and value of our corn crop. They visit the rice countries of the world and learn how this grain, which forms the bread of a large part of the human race, is grown and prepared for the market.

They go to a western cattle ranch and aid the cowboys in a "round up." They follow the cattle to a great packing center, where they inspect the stock yards and observe the killing and shipping. They also learn how pork is packed for shipment to all parts of the world. They live for a time with the shepherds in Australia and New Zealand, and visit the factories to observe the handling and freezing of mutton.

Visits are paid to dairy countries, and the manufacture of butter and cheese is explained. The children go to the poultry yards of the world and are shown how chickens,

4 PREFACE

ducks, geese, and turkeys are reared, and what an important part of our national income our egg industry produces.

They are taken with the fishermen of different lands to the great fishing grounds to observe how salmon and other finny creatures are caught and prepared for the markets.

Several interesting trips are taken to the vegetable gardens of the world, and the children learn that many vegetables have histories and have long held important places in furnishing food for man.

Journeys are made to orchards and vineyards when apples, peaches, berries, oranges, pineapples, bananas, and grapes are ripe, and the luscious fruit is picked and eaten fresh from the trees and vines. Also tours are made to the lands of the olive, date, and fig, and the children taste the many other curious fruits of tropical lands.

With the author they take passage on a steamer at New York and sail to the warm coffee lands of Brazil. Here they watch the picking of the coffee beans and the different processes used in the preparation of the coffee of commerce. They then make a flying trip to Japan to see how tea is picked, dried, and boxed for shipment.

A peep is next taken into the world's big sugar bowl, and the children learn how the chief commercial sugars are made from beets or sugar cane.

This Food Reader is, to a large extent, the result of the personal observations of the author. Many of the descriptions were written on the ground, and great care has been taken to make every part of it as accurate and up to date as possible.

CONTENTS i. Introduction .

2_The Bread of the World — Wheat 3. How our Wheat is Marketed 4— The Wheat of Other Lands .

The World's Great Corn Patch .

Rice ......

Other Grains which Feed Millions On a Western Cattle Ranch .

A Visit to a Great Packing Center Hogs and Pork Packing

Mutton

15. Poultry — Chickens, Ducks, Geese, and

Wild Animals used as Food .

Rabbits, Squirrels, and Game Birds

Fish in General ....

Salmon .....

21. Lobsters, Shrimps, Crabs, and Other SI

24. Vegetables

28. Odd Foods from Trees and Vines

10. 1 1. 12. 13-

17- 18. 19.

Turkeys

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