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Found the following article in the September 1, 1864 issue of The Illinois Farmer tonight, and was quite interested in its intended usage. Getting the most "bang for your buck" has to be particularly important for labor-intensive jobs like farming. Especially for women and children covering down while Dad's away.
The Illinois Farmer, September 1, 1864. Page 19.
WHAT SHALL WE EAT? -- Is an important question in these times of high prices. Dr. Hall in a late number of his Journal of Health -- good authority, by the way -- says the cheapest articles of food at present prices are bread (especially corn meal), butter, molasses, beans and rice. He shows that 25 cents per pound; and that is a pint of white beans, costing 7 cents, has the amount of nutriment of 3 1/2 lbs of beef at 25 cents per pound, or in other words, the roast beef diet is twelve times as expensive as the beans. Furthermore, a pound of Indian meal will go as far as a pound of fine flour, costing nearly twice as much. Here are some of the common articles of food, showing the amount of nutriment contained and the time required for digestion:
Food/Time of digestion/Amt. of nutriment
Apples, raw /1h 50m/10 pecent
Beans, boiled/2h 39m/87 percent
Beef, roasted/3h 30m/26 percent
Bread, baked/2h 30m/80 percent
Butter/3h 30m/95 percent
Cabbage, boiled/4h 30m/7 percent
Cucumbers, raw/ -- /2 percent
Fish, boiled/2h 9m/20 percent
Milk, fresh/2h 15m/7 percent
Mutton, roasted/3h 15m/30 percent
Pork, roasted/5h 15m/24 percent
Poultry, roasted/2h 45m/27 percent
Potatoes, boiled/2h 30m/13 percent
Rice, boiled/1h 00m/33 percent
Sugar/3h 30m/96 percent
Turnips, boiled/2h 30m/4 percent
Veal, roasted/4h 00m/25 percent
Venison, boiled/1h 30m/22 percent
According to the above tables, cucumbers are of very little value, and apples, cabbages, turnips, and even potatoes, at present prices, are expensive eating. Some vegetables and fruits, however, should enter into the family consumption. Among those which contain the most saccharine matter, sweet potatoes, parsnips, beets and carrots, are the most nourishing. Roast pork, besides being in an expensive dish, requires too lengthy a drain upon the forces of the stomach to be a healthy article of food.
Food/Time of digestion/Amt. of nutriment
Apples, raw /1h 50m/10 pecent
Beans, boiled/2h 39m/87 percent
Beef, roasted/3h 30m/26 percent
Bread, baked/2h 30m/80 percent
Butter/3h 30m/95 percent
Cabbage, boiled/4h 30m/7 percent
Cucumbers, raw/ -- /2 percent
Fish, boiled/2h 9m/20 percent
Milk, fresh/2h 15m/7 percent
Mutton, roasted/3h 15m/30 percent
Pork, roasted/5h 15m/24 percent
Poultry, roasted/2h 45m/27 percent
Potatoes, boiled/2h 30m/13 percent
Rice, boiled/1h 00m/33 percent
Sugar/3h 30m/96 percent
Turnips, boiled/2h 30m/4 percent
Veal, roasted/4h 00m/25 percent
Venison, boiled/1h 30m/22 percent
According to the above tables, cucumbers are of very little value, and apples, cabbages, turnips, and even potatoes, at present prices, are expensive eating. Some vegetables and fruits, however, should enter into the family consumption. Among those which contain the most saccharine matter, sweet potatoes, parsnips, beets and carrots, are the most nourishing. Roast pork, besides being in an expensive dish, requires too lengthy a drain upon the forces of the stomach to be a healthy article of food.
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