“Gather up the fragments that remain that nothing be lost.” John 6:13.
_True economy consists in using all of a good material, rather than in
buying an inferior quality._
It is poor economy from a financial standpoint (saying nothing of
health) to buy small or specked fruits or vegetables.
It takes longer to pare, quarter and core a specked apple than a sound
one, because the decayed part has first to be cut out and one may have
to cut again and again before it is all removed and when it is finished
there may not remain a quarter of an apple.
I once saw two barrels of apples bought at a great “bargain.” Four or
five people whose time was valuable spent an afternoon in preparing
those apples to stew; when they had finished, there was just a bushel
left and they were so flavorless that it was necessary to add lemon
juice and a good deal of sugar to make them at all palatable.
C. F. Langworthy, Ph. D. in speaking of overripe and partially decayed
fruit says: “In addition to a deterioration in flavor, there is always
the possibility of digestive disturbance if such fruit is eaten
raw.”--_Farmers’ Bulletin 293. U. S. Department of Agriculture._
Inferior, immature fruit, dried, requires a larger proportion of sugar
than well ripened fruit, and then it is neither palatable nor wholesome.
Small prunes with their large proportion of stone and skin are
expensive besides being inferior in flavor.
It takes as long to pare, quarter and core a small apple as a large
one, and a bushel of large apples will yield more pulp than a bushel of
small ones, notwithstanding the spaces, there being a so much larger
proportion of skins and cores in the small ones.
Small pineapples are especially expensive.
“Cheap” flour costs more than the best because it takes a larger
quantity to make the same amount of bread.
Corn starch that costs two or three cents less per package than the
best will sometimes require double the quantity for thickening, besides
imparting a strong, disagreeable flavor.
Cotton seed oil that is not well refined, so that it is clear and
nearly white is not fit for food, and requires more for shortening.
Economy in all things, food, clothing, houses, climate is that which
keeps us in the best condition physically and spiritually.