Beyond the Fruited Plain: Food and Agriculture in U.S. Literature, 1850-1905

285 Pages·2014·2.893 MB·English

by  Kathryn Cornell Dolan

Beyond the Fruited Plain

Beyond the
Fruited Plain
Food and Agriculture in
U.S. Literature, 1850–1 905
Kathryn Cornell Dolan
University of Nebraska Press | Lincoln and London
© 2014 by the Board of Regents of
the University of Nebraska
Part of chapter 3 originally appeared in “Thoreau’s
‘Grossest Groceries’: Dietary Reform in Walden and Wild
Fruits,” ESQ: A Journal of the American Renaissance 56,
no. 2 (Summer 2010): 162– 91. Copyright 1984 by the
Board of Regents of Washington State University. Part
of chapter 5 originally appeared in “A ‘Mighty World-
Force’: Wheat as a Natural Corrective in Norris,” 19, no. 2
(Spring 2012): 295– 316, by permission of Interdisciplinary
Studies in Literature and Environment. Part of chapter
5 originally appeared in “Sinks to Death in a Grain
Pit,” banc msss c-h 80, Frank Norris collection
of papers: and related material, circa 1889– 1930, the
Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Publication of this volume was assisted by The Virginia
Faulkner Fund, established in memory of Virginia Faulkner,
editor in chief of the University of Nebraska Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Dolan, Kathryn Cornell.
Beyond the fruited plain: food and agriculture in U.S.
literature, 1850–1 905 / Kathryn Cornell Dolan.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978- 0- 8032- 4988- 2 (hardback: alk. paper)
isbn 978- 0- 8032- 6944- 6 (epub)
isbn 978- 0- 8032- 6943- 9 (pdf)
isbn 978- 0- 8032- 6945- 3 (mobi) 1. American literature—
19th century— History and criticism. 2. Agriculture
in literature. 3. Food in literature. 4. Literature and
globalization. 5. Ecocriticism— United States. I. Title.
ps217.a38d65 2014 810.9'36— dc23
2014013500
Set in Garamond Premier by Renni Johnson.
Designed by N. Putens.
For my parents, Doug and Sandy Dolan, this book is
dedicated with love. Thanks for your boundless ability
to go with the flow and love me no matter what.

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Fruits of Expansion 1
1. Expanding Agriculture 27
2. Local Beans, Apples, and Berries 67
3. Fruits of Regionalism 102
4. Sweet Empires of Labor 139
5. The Wheat Strikes Back 176
Epilogue: Fruits of Globalization 211
Notes 225
Bibliography 249
Index 261

Acknowledgments
Beyond the Fruited Plain spans the width and breadth of the expand-
ing United States of the nineteenth century. Fittingly, my own career
has traveled widely across the United States as well, from California to
Florida and Missouri, with regular visits to New York and Massachu-
setts. In my writing process, life has followed literature. This breadth of
experience has left me with an extensive list of mentors and colleagues
to thank.
First, I want to express my gratitude to my professors, advisors, and
employers at University of California– Santa Barbara. I owe my larg-
est debts to my dissertation advisor, Stephanie LeMenager, and my
employer at the Thoreau Edition, Elizabeth Witherell, for being my
tireless champions throughout the PhD and book- writing process. I
also want to thank Giles Gunn, Candace Waid, Patricia Fumerton,
Alan Liu, Mark Maslan, Chris Newfield, Rita Raley, and Emily Zinn
for their support throughout the PhD process.
The Graduate School and English Department at the University of
South Florida provided me with an invaluable opportunity for research.
The Provost’s Postdoctoral Scholars in the Humanities and Social Sci-
ences Program was a wonderful, relatively rare, and therefore much
appreciated resource for interdisciplinary work. I had the privilege to
work with colleagues in the Departments of Anthropology, Communi-
cations, History, Political Science, and Sociology, as well as in English.
Thanks to Karen Liller, Hunt Hawkins, Eric Andersen, Eric Hoyer, and
especially, Monica Giraldo Hernandez for this opportunity.
ix