Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

I70CAMPING AND WOODCRAFTcomponents, and is particularly desirable in summer.It is easy to supply the deficiency, in very concentratedform, by adding tablets of citric acid. Thismakes refreshing lemonade. Lime-juice tablets aregood on the march, as they combine sugar withacid, and not only supply energy but ward off thirst.Fruit acid is supplied in very palatable form by de- jhydrated rhubarb and cranberries, which cook in afew minutes, and can scarcely be told from the fresharticles.Raisins have already been mentioned several times.Their stimulating effect, due to the grape sugar inthem, is felt ten minutes after eating. On the trail,when working hard, as in mountain climbing, it isa good rule to eat little and often. Raisins areparticularly convenient for munching as one goesalong. They have added value in that they aremildly laxative, and something of that sort is certainlyneeded in the ration. Figs have the samevirtue. I Imagine the seeds have som^ethlng to dowith this, and for that reason I do not use seedlessor seeded raisins.Dehydrated vegetables have no place in emergencyrations simply because they require long cooking.Ration Packing.—The mere weight of the tincontainer of the discarded U. S. A. emergency rationAvas a serious objection. Such a box will weighabout a third as much as the food itself. Beingmade of heavy tin, It Is hard to open. If a keyopener is attached, it is likely to be lost. A coverof parchment paper, which Is waterproof, dirt-proof,and insect-proof, like the erbswurst ''sausage," ischeaper, easier to apply, weighs practically nothing,snd can be torn off with the fingers.I think it is a mistake to mix meat powder withlegumes or cereals and seal the mass up in an airtightcover. In such case, each food taints theother. The combination has a stale, nondescripttaste, whereas each component would preserve itsnatural flavor if packed separately. For woodsmen,if not for troops, it seems more practical to put up•