394 



RECREATION. 



DIETARY STUDIES OF NEGROES IN EASTERN 

 VIRGINIA. 



Recently the Department of Agriculture 

 conducted a series of dietary studies among 

 the negroes of Eastern Virginia. Part of 

 the studies were made in the region bor- 

 dering the Dismal Swamp. The houses in 

 which the people lived were small and 

 made in a rude and simple manner. They 

 were generally board cabins instead of log 

 cabins, like those found in the Black Belt 

 of Alabama. The cabins were not lighted 

 in the evening except by the open fire. 

 Nearly all the families studied had little 

 means, and in many cases food was none 

 too abundant. Hog and hominy literally 

 formed a larger part of the diet. Side 

 bacon was the principal meat, and with 

 some fish and a little milk formed the 

 major portion of the animal food. Large 

 quantities of fish were obtained from the 

 neighboring Chesapeake bay. Frogs, tur- 

 tles, and even snakes were not infre- 

 quently eaten by some of the families at 

 certain seasons of the year. Unbolted 

 corn meal, costing about a cent a pound 

 and containing a large amount of bran, 

 furnished a great proportion of the nutri- 

 ment of the diet. Bread was made by 

 simply wetting up the meal without salt or 

 leavening material, and it was baked, as a 

 rule, in the ashes. This is called ash cake. 

 Drinking water was almost invariably ob- 

 tained from shallow surface wells. The 

 water was, as a rule, stagnant and brack- 

 ish, often muddy. Cook stoves were un- 

 known, almost all the cooking being done 

 in the open fireplace, which formed an im- 

 portant feature of all the cabins. The fry- 

 ing pan was the principal kitchen utensil. 



A number of the dietary studies were 

 made in Elizabeth City county, Virginia. 

 Some of the families selected lived in a 

 primitive way in poor cabins. Others had 

 been more or less under the influence of 

 Hampton Institute, and had comfortable 

 homes. Generally speaking, food was pur- 

 chased in small quantities. Little milk or 

 butter was eaten, even by families owning 

 a cow. The children were allowed only 

 sour milk or buttermilk to drink, as the 

 milk was all used for making butter, which 

 was exchanged for groceries. Even in the 

 well-to-do negro families a pound and a 

 quarter of butter would serve a family of 

 6 a week. Housekeeping as practiced in 

 most of these homes did not require much 

 time, and most of the women worked on 

 the farm with the men. 



The cost of food per man per day in 

 the 19 studies varied from 4 to 21 cents. 

 The protein in the daily diet ranged from 

 55 to 169 grams, and averaged 109 grams. 

 The energy in the daily food ranged from 

 1880 to 5350 calories. It is noteworthy 

 that the average amount of protein was as 



large as or larger than the average amount 

 found in the daily diet of white persons 

 in moderately comfortable circumstances, 

 and was nearly as large as that called for 

 in the tentative American dietary stand- 

 ard, namely, 125 grams per man per day. 

 The reason for the larger amount of pro- 

 tein is doubtless the close proximity to 

 salt water, which made fish an important 

 article of diet. While the diet in most 

 instances was abundant enough, it would 

 not have been called appetizing by most 

 white families, except, perhaps, in one or 

 2 cases. It is interesting to note that 

 the negro families who had come more or 

 less under the influence of Hampton Insti- 

 tute had modified and improved their diet 

 in a marked degree. The range in the 

 quantity of nutriment consumed per man 

 per day was much larger than is ordinar- 

 ily found among white families in much 

 the same financial condition. A possible 

 reason for this was suggested by the ob- 

 served fact that when there was plenty of 

 food on hand large quantities were eaten, 

 after which, during the period of less plen- 

 tiful food, much smaller amounts would be 

 consumed, without apparent discomfort or 

 ill results. 



PERSIMMONS. 



One of the pleasant things of the South- 

 ern woods in autumn is the persimmon 

 tree, with its crop of ripe, sweet fruit. 

 Many a hunter has stopped for a while his 

 pursuit of squirrels to enjoy the ripe per- 

 simmons. This fruit grows wild in near- 

 ly all the Southern States, and as far 

 North as Rhode Island and the Great 

 Lakes. The fruit, in the green or partly 

 ripe state, is intensely astringent or puck- 

 ery to the taste, but usually loses this prop- 

 erty on ripening. It varies in size from l / 2 

 inch to 2 inches in diameter, and resembles 

 in appearance a reddish brown plum, 

 though perhaps it is generally more spher- 

 ical. Each fruit usually contains 4 to 8 

 seeds, larger than those of a watermelon. 

 The fruit ripens from August to Decem- 

 ber. Frost apparently aids in the ripening 

 process of some varieties, but is entirely 

 unnecessary with others, as is proved by 

 the fact that many trees ripen their fruit 

 long before the appearance of frost. Per- 

 simmons have been cultivated to a greater 

 or less extent, and it is believed this in- 

 dustry has great possibilities. The Jap- 

 anese persimmon has large, somewhat 

 pointed, brilltant red fruits, which in ap- 

 pearance ^suggest a ripe tomato. They are 

 frequently seen on fruit stands in fall and 

 winter. An average fruit weighs about 4 

 ounces. The Japanese persimmon has 

 been grown in this country since about 

 J 875. Japanese scions are generally used 

 on American stocks. Like all pulpy fruit, 



