STUDIES OF THE FOOD OF MAINE LUMBERMEN. 



INTRODUCTION. 



In the winters of 1901-2 and 1902-3 five dietary studies and six 

 digestion experiments were made of men at work in a tj-pical lumber 

 camp in the 3Iaiue woods, sitliated in the heart of the forest, away 

 from any settlement. Every facility for the successful 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 here 

 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 00 men are employed. 



There has been a gradual change in methods and appliances, but 

 the methods of lumbering in Elaine 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 improvement in methods of preserving food 

 has made possible in 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 ijork, 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 1S46." "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, 



"The Maine Woods. Boston. 1877. pp. 10, 19, 45. 



