CHAPTER VII.
VEGETABLES.
SUBSTANTIAL VEGETABLES.
Vegetables may be roughly divided into two classes--those that may be called substantial and which are adapted to form a meal in themselves, and those of a lighter kind, which cannot be said to make a sufficient repast unless eaten with bread.
Potatoes were first introduced into this country about 400 years ago, tobacco being introduced about the same period, and we cannot disguise the fact that there are many who regard the latter as the greater blessing of the two.

If Sir Henry Thompson is right in stating that tobacco is the great ally of temperance, there may be some ground for this opinion.
Potatoes form an important article of food for the body, while, whatever effect tobacco may have upon the thinking powers of mankind, it is almost the only product of the vegetable kingdom that is absolutely uneatable even when placed within the reach of those in the last stage of starvation.
In some parts, especially in Ireland, potatoes form almost the only food of the population, just as rice does in hotter climates, and when the crop fails famine ensues.

When potatoes form the only kind of food, a very large quantity has to be eaten by a hard-working man in order for him to receive sufficient nourishment to keep his body healthy, the amount required being not less than ten pounds per day.

If, on the other hand, a certain amount of fat or oil of some kind be mixed with them, a far less quantity will suffice.

Hence we find in Ireland that, wherever it is possible, either some kind of oily fish, such as herring, is taken with them, or, which is much more to the point with vegetarians, a certain quantity of fat is obtained in the shape of milk.
It must also be remembered that four pounds of raw potatoes contain only one pound of solid food, the remaining three pounds being water.