Hog Meat and Hoecake: Food Supply in the Old South, 1840-1860

312 Pages·2014·7.46 MB·English

by  Sam Bowers Hilliard

Hog Meat and Hoecake
Southern Foodways Alliance
Studies in Culture, People, and Place
The series explores key themes and tensions in food studies—
including race, class, gender, power, and the environment—on
a macroscale and also through the microstories of men and
women who grow, prepare, and serve food. It presents a variety
of voices, from scholars to journalists to writers of creative
nonfiction.
Series Editor
John T. Edge
Series Advisory Board
Brett Anderson | New Orleans Times-Picayune
Elizabeth Engelhardt University of Texas at Austin
Psyche Williams-Forson | University of Maryland at College Park
Hog Meat and Hoecake
Food Supply in the Old South, 1840-1860
SAM BOWERS MILLIARD
with a foreword by James C. Cobb
The University of Georgia Press
Athens and London
Paperback edition published in 2014 by
The University of Georgia Press
Athens, Georgia 30602
www.ugapress.org
by arrangement with the author
© 1972 by Southern Illinois University Press
Foreword © 2014 by the University of Georgia Press
All rights reserved
Designed by Andor Braun
Most University of Georgia Press titles are
available from popular e-book vendors.
Printed digitally
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Milliard, Sam Bowers.
Hog meat and hoecake : food supply in the Old South, 1840-1860 /
Sam Bowers Milliard ; with a foreword by James C. Cobb.
pages cm. — (Southern Foodways Alliance studies in culture,
people, and place)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-IS: 978-0-8203-4676-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-IO: 0-8203-4676-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
i. Food supply—Southern States—History. 2. Food consumption—
Southern States—History. 3. Food habits—Southern States—History.
4. Southern States—History. I. Title.
HD9007.AI3H54 2014
338.i'97509034—dc23
2013032585
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data available
ISBN for digital edition: 978-08203-4702-8
Originally published in 1972 by Southern Illinois University Press
Contents
Figures and Tables vii
Foreword by James C. Cobb xi
Acknowledgments xiii
1 Self-sufficiency: The developing American Farm i
2 The problems of subsistence 21
3 "All kinds of good rations" 37
4 The forests, streams, and the sea 70
5 Pork: The South's first choice 92
6 Beefsteaks and buttermilk 112
7 The occasional diversion 141
8 Corn pone and light bread 150
9 Rounding out the fare 172
10 Making up the shortage 186
11 Independence for some 213
Notes 239
Index 287
v
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Figures
1 POPULATION, i860 l8
2 COTTON, 1840 IQ
3 COTTON, i860 2O
4 PROPORTION OF LANDHOLDINGS OVER 500 ACRES, i860 23
5 AVERAGE NUMBER OF SLAVES PER SLAVEHOLDER, i860 24
6 AVERAGE LENGTH OF GROWING SEASON 30
7 AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR JULY 3!
8 AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR JANUARY 32
9 AVERAGE ANNUAL PRECIPITATION 33
10 SWINE, 1840 96
11 SWBSfE, i860 97
12 SWINE PER UNIT, 1840 JO/
13 SWINE PER UNIT, 1850 IO8
14 SWINE PER UNIT, i860 IOQ
15 CATTLE, 1840 JI5
16 CATTLE, i860 Il6
17 CATTLE PER UNIT, 1840 132
18 CATTLE PER UNIT, 1850 133
19 CATTLE PER UNIT, i860 134
20 SHEEP, 1840 143
21 SHEEP, 1860 144
22 CORN, 1840 153
23 CORN, 1860 154
24 CORN PRODUCTION-CONSUMPTION RATIOS, 1840 159
25 CORN PRODUCTION-CONSUMPTION RATIOS, 1850 l6o
26 CORN PRODUCTION-CONSUMPTION RATIOS, i860 l6l
27 WHEAT, 1840 165
28 WHEAT, i860 167
29 WHEAT PER UNIT, 1840 l68
30 WHEAT PER UNIT, 1850 169
•vii
mil FIGURES AND TABLES
31 WHEAT PER UNIT, i860 lyO
32 RICE, i860 I7J
33 SWEET POTATOES 176
34 WHITE POTATOES 177
35 DROVING ROUTES INTO THE SOUTH 194
36 PORK TRADE OF NEW ORLEANS 2,05
37 BEEF TRADE OF NEW ORLEANS 2O6
38 CORN TRADE OF NEW ORLEANS 207
39 WHEAT TRADE OF NEW ORLEANS ZO8
40 PORK TRADE OF MOBILE 2IO
41 WHEAT TRADE OF MOBILE 211
42 CORN TRADE OF MOBILE 212
43 SOUTHERN PORK TRADE, 1850 221
44 SOUTHERN PORK TRADE, i860 223
Tables
1 Estimated, annual meat needed per adult, by number of
pounds 41
2 General characteristics of some major southern foods 65
3 Number of swine by states 94
4 Sow-pig ratios 103
5 Per capita swine numbers by regions in
6 Number of cattle by states 114
7 Exports of cattle products from Mobile 121
8 Beef imports into Mobile 122
9 Butter production in number of pounds 135
10 Corn production by states, in number of bushels 156
11 Wheat production by states, in number of bushels 166
12 Animals driven through Cumberland Gap 196
13 Animals driven through the French Broad River valley 196
14 Pork deficiencies is inland areas igy
15 Potential pork production and consumption by states, in
thousands of tons 214
16 Pork shipped from New Orleans to Charleston 218
17 Live stock moving over the South Carolina railroad 218
18 Potential beef production and consumption by states, in
thousands of tons 222
Figures and Tables ix
19 Corn production and consumption by states, in thousands
of bushels 226
20 Corn supply of Mobile, in thousands of bushels 228
21 Wheat production and consumption by states, in thousands
of bushels 231
22 Wheat supply of Mobile, in thousands of bushels 233