EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE. 95 



is largely consumed, that it is any tiling but a substantial, or, for its bulk, nutri- 

 tious article of sustenance. Haricots (a French bean) he says contains about 

 0-046 of azote ; rice no more than 0-014 ; so that if the nutritious properties be 

 really in proportion to the amount of azote, it is obvious that 3^ of rice will be 

 required in lieu of 1 of the leguminous seed. He proceeds to say: 



" We hear it constantly repfatcd that rice is the sole nntrimpiit of tlie nations of the whole 

 oC fndia. But the fiict vvoiiUl appear iini to Ijo precisely so; and I may lieie ((note M. Le- 

 qtierri, who, during a long residence in India, i>aid particnlar attention txj the manners and 

 customs of the iuliahitants of Pondichen-i. ' The food,' says M. L. ' is almost entii-ely 

 vegetable, and rice is the staple ; the inferior castes only ever eat meat. But all eat kari, an 

 article prepared with meat, fish, or vegetal )les. which is mixed with the rice.- boiled in very 

 little water. It is rc(Hiisile to have si-en the Imlian.s at their meals to have any idea of the 

 enoi-mous quantity of rice they will put into their stomachs. No European could cram tio 

 much at a time ; and they very commonly allow that rice alone will not nourish them. 

 They very generally still eat a cpiantity of bread." 



What is here said of r/ce corresponds with experience, we believe, on southern 

 nee plantations. There it is remarked that, though a man may satisfy his hun- 

 ger on rice, it won't stay satisfied, but comes on again much sooner than after a 

 rneal of Indian corn bread. 



The English editor of Boussingault says : " The Irish peasantry, who live so 

 much on potatoes, have buttermilk with them, at least — often salt herrings; and 

 a laboring man, it is said, will consume 12 or 14 pounds of potatoes in a day." 



In the " Wear AND Tear OF Human Life," Hayden says Indian corn bears 

 comparison with potatoes as thus: " Proportion of nutrition in 100 parts of pota- 

 toes, 24 ; proportion of ditto in Indian corn, 88. Proportion of water in 100 parts 

 of potatoes, 72 ; proportion of water in 100 parts of Indian corn, 9." 



We do not know to what extent rice may or may not be substituted for Indian 

 corn on some rice plantations, but it may be well that every dispenser of provis- 

 ions, whether individuals or government agents, should understand the low grade 

 which rice bears, as compared with either wheat or corn, or beans or peas, as to 

 its nutritive qualities. Certain it is that, whether from shorter rations, or more 

 unhealthy occupation and exposure to malaria, the negroes on rice plantations do 

 not increase so fast, nor have they that fat, sleek, greasy, and robust appearance 

 that marks the laborers on cotton and sugar estates, where the. ration ranks, in 

 the average, in nutritive and palatable qualities, 25 per cent, above the rations 

 of the European field-laborer. 



Under the system of " tasks," which prevails so generally in the plantation 

 States — a system which planters have told us they find to be indispensable to the 

 satisfaction of the slave — the common task in mauling rails is 100 a day of their 

 pine rails; and we have seen men lounging about at their ease, at 3 or 4 o'clock, 

 having, as they said, jinishcd their task. 



Habit, it is well known, may reconcile the stomach and the constitution to 

 almost anything. How else could it happen that men could ever become fond 

 of chewing tobacco or of taking snuff, or be brought to rob the cow of her cab- 

 bage, or the hog of his appointed cucumber ? Something, as to diet, depends on 

 season ; much, too, on climate. " The delicious fruit, the perfumed air, the ver- 

 dant landscape, the endless and enchanting n(jtes of the feathered tribe — all pre- 

 pare a refreshing banquet for the senses of the man whose frame, subjected to 

 the heat of the southern climate, would soon become exhausted but for these 

 precious aids and antidotes that the bountiful Creator supplies. Look next at the 

 inhabitant of the northern region : pent up by icebergs, nought meets his eye 

 save sky and snow; his music is the blustering blast of rude Boreas. The vege- 

 table world, locked up in iron bonds, affords no store tributary to his wants and 



(191) 



