The Canadian National Railways' - Camp Craft and Woodlore, 1927
I first heard about the Hudson's Bay Company's standards for food in Clyde Ormand's "Complete Book of Outdoor Lore" although he didn't go into a lot detail I put a big circle around the paragraph hoping to find out more. All my online research came up blank but finally, last week, I came across a small but great book. The Canadian National Railways', "Camp Craft and Woodlore" originally printed in 1927.
The Hudson's Bay Scale of Provision is a system for equating how much food one man will need when he is out in the wilds. It is a very simple but incredibly neat system, and I can't help thinking of all the trappers and mountain men using this as a guide for their time in the wilds.
It is as follows
“1 man 1 day.
2lbs. flour (or 1½ pounds of sea biscuits), 1lb. fat mess pork, 2 oz. sugar, ⅓ oz. of tea, 2 oz. peas (or same of barley), ½ oz. of carbonate of soda, ½ oz. of salt. Total 3lbs. 5½ oz. at the most”
Simple but perfect. This book is a gold mine! You can download a copy of Camp Craft and Woodlore here