CHAPTER IV. 



DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 



SECTION XXII.-THE FOOD QUESTIOX-QUAXTITY, QUALITY, VARIETY, 

 ADAPTATIOX, ADULTERATION, AND CHANGES PRODUCED BY COOK- 

 ING, BRIEFLY CONSIDERED. 



^^^OlIESTIC ECONO]\IY! "VThatisit? ''Domestic, 



xTNr- belonging to the house or lionie; Kconoinij, irom 

 two Greek words, signifying a house or family 

 law — that which relates to the family concerns 

 of a houseliold, and tlie disposition or arrange- 

 ment of any household work."' 

 Such is the character of this chapter^ It is full of 

 information useful to every household. "Without it, 

 we should have fallen short of our object in writing 

 this book. It was never our intention to make a work 

 for the sole l)cnefit of the male portion of farmers. 

 Much of tlic jircceding chapter, and nearly all of this, 

 is intended to promote the comfort of those who ad- 

 minister all of our home comforts. 



We shall aLo say something that will be valuable 

 upon the subject of the dairy, at least to new beginners in the various arts 

 and mysteries of domestic economy. 



No que.slion can be discussed between the master and mistress of the 

 house, nor between parents and a family of growing children, that is of 

 greater importance than the one that heads this section. To the employer 

 and his hirelings, to the master and his slave, it is a question not only of 

 interest, but of health, and it is all concentrated in four words: quantity, 

 quality, variety, adaptation. 



There is only one thing more requisite, and that is, that each of these 

 words shoidd bo fully understood and ]>roiicrly acted upon. Believing that 

 they are not so, we shall treat uiMm oaeii liricliy in its order. And lirst — 



371. What Amount of Food Is Uf<iuirfd l»y «i llanl-workinR .Man I— Tliis de- 

 pends on the (juality of the food, the nature of the climate, antl on puch a 

 variety of circumstances that it is impoi^sihle to give a saIi^factory answer. 

 The average allowance to British sailors in active service is 302 ounces of 

 solid food per week, and a i)int and a half of rum. Dr. Percy, an Knglii-h 

 autlior, mentions the diet of a jjrize fighter during a course of rigorous train- 

 ing, who ate one pound of mutton at each meal three times a day ; nt dinner 





