Not more than ten years ago a liberal allowance for the food of an adult was from three dollars to three dollars and a half a week. This covered only the price of the commodities and did not allow for the fuel used in preparation, service, etc. To-day this expenditure would be totally inadequate for the same order of nourishment it would have included a decade back. At that time a breakfast consisting of fruit, cereal, bacon, fish or eggs, bread, coffee or tea; a luncheon comprising a solid dish of meat, fish, eggs, or cheese, one or two vegetables, or a hot bread, a simple sweet, and tea or cocoa; a dinner of soup, a meat, two vegetables, a salad, crackers and cheese, or a good sweet, and coffee--could all have been secured in the family at a little over three dollars a head, when there were three or more to be fed. From four and a half to five dollars per capita would be required at the present time for a similar provision. The rise in prices may have altered the sums of our estimates; it has not lessened the necessity for a study of the proportion of the family means which must go for nutriment. This must be determined by the heads of the house in conclave. The harder part of the work devolves upon the woman, who must devise economies and carry them into effect, both in marketing and in cooking. The inexperienced housekeeper should try to gain a few lessons in the best methods of purchasing. Sometimes a brief attendance at a cooking-school is of aid; or she may be able to join a class for learning how to market--such classes exist and are most helpful--or she may gain counsel from some older and more experienced housewife, or by conning books on these topics. In this day there is no excuse for even a beginner making the mistakes which have supplied material for many of the hackneyed jokes at the expense of young matrons. Important as is the practical and personal lesson in knowing how to market wisely, much can be gained from manuals on the subject. Some of these furnish cuts and charts of the various animals, with descriptions of the portions and of the uses to which each may be put. Instructions as to the periods of the year when certain articles are at their best are also supplied. Prices can be learned from the market reports published in the daily papers and much is to be acquired by going from one shop to another. After a little the housekeeper will become acquainted with the appearance of meat and be able to judge for herself if it looks fresh and good. She can likewise observe how the shops are kept and in which certain obvious sanitary arrangements are complied with. She will not need much tuition to inform her that she should turn aside from shops where the food is not guarded from flies and dust, where strict cleanliness does not prevail in the salesmen and the appurtenances, and the objects on sale are not handled with proper care.