CONVICT LABOR FOE ROAD WORK. 165 
that these should be served regularly and in suitable amounts. With- 
out their use the diet will become one-sided, and the consequences 
previously mentioned in connection with insufficient protein will 
follow. 
In all southern convict camps it is the endeavor to serve fresh 
meat, usually beef, either once or twice a week. This forms a very 
valuable addition to the diet in the way of protein food, and is a 
pleasing variation from the regular bill of fare. The proportion of 
fresh meat used is, of course, very small as compared with the amount 
furnished in the diets of the eastern and western camps. It is 
estimated that in the average diet in the southern camps beans and 
peas furnished about 22 per cent of the total proteins and 8 per cent 
of the total energy, while in the ordinary diet of the free working 
man beans and peas form from 3 to 4 per cent of the total proteins 
and 1 per cent of the total energy, the difference being made up 
largely of the higher priced animal protein of fresh meat. 
It is well known that the protein constituents of fresh meat and 
fish are more like the human body in composition, and so are more 
thoroughly digested and assimulated than the protein of peas and 
beans, and a common experience after eating these latter foods in any 
quantity is the occurrence in the intestines of what is known as 
flatulence or gas. Convicts at hard labor on the roads, however, 
seem to experience little difficulty in digesting these foods and in 
assimilating a high percentage of their proteins. The fact that peas 
and beans are furnished as a regular part of the ration, and in com- 
bination with such other foods as salt pork, bread, vegetables, salt 
fish, molasses, and coffee is important, because it probably makes 
their digestion and assimilation more thorough. At most convict 
camps the ration of dry peas or beans seldom exceeds 4 ounces. 
This is an amount which experience has shown to be reasonable in the 
diet of a man at hard labor, but it is doubtful if the quantity should 
be exceeded except under extraordinary circumstances. 
That the food provided is satisfactory in general is best shown by 
the testimony and state of nutrition of the convicts themselves. 
They do not complain of the food, although perfectly free to find 
fault with other conditions. Save an occasional longing for a lemon, 
a pickle, a piece of cake, or some ice cream, they have no suggestions 
to offer in regard to the diet, and express themselves as being well 
satisfied. 
Negro convicts at work on the roads were serving sentences of from 
10 days to life, and although the majority were perhaps short-term 
men, a number of prisoners who had lived in the camps for periods 
of from one to seven years came under observation. These men were 
almost invariably well nourished and in good condition as far as the 
