Excerpt from Studies of the Food of Maine Lumbermen
In the winters of 1901 - 2 and 1902 - 8 five dietary studies and Six digestion experiments were made of men at work in a typical lumber camp in the Maine woods, situated in the heart of the forest, away from any settlement. Every facility for the succesul carrying out of the studies was given by the owner of the lumber property, Mr. Thomas Gilbert, of Orono, and it is believed that the studies heie reported are typical of the dietaries of lumbermen in this region. The description of the camp and the surroundings of the men is believed to be typical of the logging camps of the Maine woods where 40 to 60 men are employed.
There has been a gradual change in methods and appliances, but the methods of lumbering in Maine and the management of lumber camps have changed less than in some other regions, the changes in the ways of living being greater than in the lumbering operations them selves. The men are now better fed, better housed, and better paid than formerly Since the advent of the railroad supplies are more readily obtained, and the imp1 ovement in methods of preserving food has made possible 1n camp many articles that could not formerly be obtained. The demand for labor and the scarcity of men have caused competition not only in wages but also in the food and care of the men while in the woods.
AS Shown by the results of the food investigations here reported, the diet of the Maine lumbermen consists of a few staple foods, such as bread, salt pork beans, corned beef, salt fish, some vegetables, a few simple cakes and other pastry, molasses, and tea. Though more generous, it agrees quite closely in character with that observed by Thoreau on his trip to the Maine woods in The loggers’ fare, he. Says, consists of tea, molasses, flour, pork (sometimes beef), and beans. On expeditions it is Only hard bread and pork, often raw, Slice upon Slice, with tea or water as the case may be. At that time cake and such articles were apparently’not a part of the lumber camp diet, for, commenting on the great abundance of sweet cakes on the tables of public houses near the lumber region.
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