Milk has already been mentioned as one of the great safeguarding sources of so-called ash constituents.

Others are vegetables and fruits of different kinds.

These have been a neglected and sometimes a despised part of the diet: "Why spend money for that which is not meat ?" is often taken literally.

Even food specialists have been known to say, "Fruits and vegetables are mostly water and indigestible fiber; they have little food value." This is a good deal like saying, "If your coat be long enough you do not need a pair of shoes." A potato has as much iron as an egg yolk or a medium-sized chop.

This is one more reason why we should be sorry to take the useful tuber from our tables, but we may feel a certain independence, even when meat and eggs are prohibitive in price, since by canning or drying, if in no other way, we can have green vegetables as a source of iron the whole year through.