Of Food. 455 



necessary to bring the pudding to be of the proper 

 consistency. 



This being done, it was taken from the fire and 

 weighed, and was found to weigh just i lb. \\\ oz. 

 Upon weighing the meal which remained (the quan- 

 tity first provided having been exactly determined by 

 weight in the beginning of the experiment), it was found 

 that just half a pound oi meal had been used. 



From the result of this experiment, it appears that 

 for each pound of Indian meal employed in making 

 hasty puddings we may reckon 3 lbs. 9 oz. of the pud- 

 ding. And the expense of providing this kind of food, 

 or the cost of it by the pound, at the present high price 

 of grain in this country, may be seen by the following 

 computation : — 



£ s. d. 



Half a pound oi Indian meal (the quantity used in the fore- 

 going experiment), at id. a pound or yj-. 6d. a bushel for 

 the corn (the price stated in the report of the Board of 

 Agriculture of the loth of November, 1795, so often referred 

 to), costs oor 



58 grains or -^-^ of a pound of salt, at zd. per pound ... 00 o,L 



Total .... GO i-Jg. 



Now, as the quantity of pudding prepared with these 

 ingredients was i lb. ii| oz., and the cost of the ingre- 

 dients amounted to 07ie penny and one sixtieth of a 

 penny, this gives for the cost of one pound of hasty 

 pudding iVo of a penny, or i\ farthings, very nearly. 

 It must, however, be remembered that the Indian corn 

 is here reckoned at a very exorbitant price indeed.* 



But, before it can be determined what the expense 



* The price of Indian meal as it is here estimated (zd. a pound) is at least 

 twice as much as it would cost in Great Britain in common years, if care was taken 

 to import it at the cheapest rate. 



