188 BULLETIN - 414, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 
hours. These men, after being employed at various tasks of cleaning 
about the camp, come directly into contact with the food while 
wearing clothing soiled by all sorts of camp wastes. Large white 
aprons could be provided at a very slight cost and would aid mate- 
rially in maintaining the cleanliness of the kitchen force, and in 
preventing contamination of the food. 
It happens not infrequently at the smaller camps that there 
is no prisoner with a knowledge of cooking, and under such con- 
ditions an ignorant, untrained man may be pressed into service. 
This results usually in a monotonous run of badly cooked food 
with all its attendant waste and dissatisfaction, and the convicts, 
badly fed and poorly nourished, fall ready victims to disease and 
can be worked only at an economic loss. 
STOVES AND COOKING EQUIPMENT. 
Good stoves are furnished at many camps and the food is prepared 
in much the same way as in the ordinary household kitchen. Not 
infrequently, however, the cooking of beans, peas, and vegetables is 
done in a large iron kettle suspended over an open fire out of doors, 
and the kitchen stove is thus left free for frying meat and baking. 
At one camp visited the cooking was done on a sort of wooden tray, 
about 4 feet square, supported on stakes driven into the ground. 
The tray was filled with earth which formed a bed upon which the 
fire was made. This improvised cooking apparatus, shown in Plate 
XIV, figure 1, was constructed in the open air, and together with 
the necessary pots and pans, comprised the camp kitchen. It should 
be stated, however, that a wooden shelter was to be built at some 
future date to protect the cook from the sun and rain and to provide 
a shelter for the cooking utensils. 
METHOD OF STORING AND PRESERVING FOOD SUPPLIES. 
A storeroom for the keeping of food supplies is provided at all 
camps, and is located either under the same roof as the kitchen and 
dining room or in a separate building or tent. Whatever its location, 
it is usually so arranged that it may be kept securely locked. The 
key is kept by one of the camp officials, and access to the food sup- 
plies by the convict cook or other inmates is permitted only when 
absolutely necessary. As a rule the foodstuffs are kept in well- 
covered barrels and boxes and appear to be in good condition. The 
quantities purchased are generally used within a month, and it is 
probable that waste due to improper storage is very slight. 
Though it is highly important that storerooms be kept clean, it is 
also essential that they be as dry as possible, and for this reason soap 
and water should be used sparingly. Dishes of unslaked lime 
