The reader will perceive that I am treating the subject rather from an economic than a dietetic point of view， and he will not venture to put my abstemiousness to the test unless he has a well-stocked larder. Bread I at first made of pure Indian meal and salt， genuine hoe-cakes， which I baked before my fire out of doors on a shingle or the end of a stick of timber sawed off in building my house； but it was wont to get smoked and to have a piny flavor， I tried flour also； but have at last found a mixture of rye and Indian meal most convenient and agreeable.  In cold weather it was no little amusement to bake several small loaves of this in succession，tending and turning them as carefully as an Egyptian his hatching eggs.  They were a real cereal fruit which I ripened， and they had to my senses a fragrance like that of other noble fruits， which I kept in as long as possible by wrapping them in cloths.  I made a study of the ancient and indispensable art of bread-making，consulting such authorities as offered， going back to the primitive days and first invention of the unleavened kind， when from the wildness of nuts and meats men first reached the mildness and refinement of this diet， and travelling gradually down in my studies through that accidental souring of the dough which， it is supposed，taught the leavening process， and through the various fermentations thereafter， till I came to "good， sweet， wholesome bread，" the staff of life.  Leaven， which some deem the soul of bread， the spiritus which fills its cellular tissue， which is religiously preserved like the vestal fire ―― some precious bottleful， I suppose， first brought over in the Mayflower， did the business for America， and its influence is still rising， swelling， spreading， in cerealian billows over the land ―― this seed I regularly and faithfully procured from the village， till at length one morning I forgot the rules， and scalded my yeast； by which accident I discovered that even this was not indispensable ―― for my discoveries were not by the synthetic but analytic process ―― and I have gladly omitted it since， though most housewives earnestly assured me that safe and wholesome bread without yeast might not be， and elderly people prophesied a speedy decay of the vital forces.  Yet I find it not to be an essential ingredient， and after going without it for a year am still in the land of the living； and I am glad to escape the trivialness of carrying a bottleful in my pocket， which would sometimes pop and discharge its contents to my discomfiture.  It is simpler and more respectable to omit it.  Man is an animal who more than any other can adapt himself to all climates and circumstances.  Neither did I put any sal-soda， or other acid or alkali， into my bread.  It would seem that I made it according to the recipe which Marcus Porcius Cato gave about two centuries before Christ.  "Panem depsticium sic facito.  Manus mortariumque bene lavato.  Farinam in mortarium indito， aquae paulatim addito， subigitoque pulchre.  Ubi bene subegeris， defingito， coquitoque sub testu."  Which I take to mean，―― "Make kneaded bread thus.  Wash your hands and trough well.  Put the meal into the trough， add water gradually， and knead it thoroughly.  When you have kneaded it well， mould it， and bake it under a cover，" that is， in a baking kettle.  Not a word about leaven.  But I did not always use this staff of life.  At one time，owing to the emptiness of my purse， I saw none of it for more than a month.

　　Every New Englander might easily raise all his own breadstuffs in this land of rye and Indian corn， and not depend on distant and fluctuating markets for them.  Yet so far are we from simplicity and independence that， in Concord， fresh and sweet meal is rarely sold in the shops， and hominy and corn in a still coarser form are hardly used by any.  For the most part the farmer gives to his cattle and hogs the grain of his own producing， and buys flour， which is at least no more wholesome， at a greater cost， at the store.  I saw that I could easily raise my bushel or two of rye and Indian corn，for the former will grow on the poorest land， and the latter does not require the best， and grind them in a hand-mill， and so do without rice and pork； and if I must have some concentrated sweet， I found by experiment that I could make a very good molasses either of pumpkins or beets， and I knew that I needed only to set out a few maples to obtain it more easily still， and while these were growing I could use various substitutes beside those which I have named. "For，" as the Forefathers sang，――

　　"we can make liquor to sweeten our lips Of pumpkins and parsnips and walnut-tree chips."

　　Finally， as for salt， that grossest of groceries， to obtain this might be a fit occasion for a visit to the seashore， or， if I did without it altogether， I should probably drink the less water.  I do not learn that the Indians ever troubled themselves to go after it.

　　讀者當然明白，這問題我是從經濟學的觀點，不是從美食的觀點來處理的，他不會大膽地把我這種節食來作試驗，除非他是一個脂肪太多的人。

　　起先我用純粹的印第安玉米粉和鹽來焙制面包，純粹的褥糕，我在露天的火上烤它們，放在一片薄木片上，或者放在建筑房屋時從木料上鋸下來的木頭上；可是時常熏得有松樹味兒。我也試過面粉；可是最后發現了黑麥和印第安玉米粉的合制最方便，最可口。在冷天，這樣連續地烘這些小面包是很有趣的事，過細地翻身，像埃及人孵小雞一樣。我烤熟的，正是我的真正的米糧的果實，在我的嗅覺中，它們有如其他的鮮美的果實一樣，有一種芳香，我用布把它們包起，盡量要保持這種芳香，越長久越好。我研讀了不可缺少的制造面包的古代藝術，向那些權威人物討教，一直回溯到原始時代，不發酵的面包的第一個發明，那時從吃野果子，啖生肉，人類第一次進步到了吃這一種食物的文雅優美的程度，我慢慢地又在我的讀物中，探索到面團突然間發酸，據信就這樣，發酵的技術被學到了，然后經過了各種的發酵作用，直到我讀到“良好的，甘美的，有益健康的面包”，這生命的支持者。有人認為發酵劑是西包的靈魂，是充填細胞組織的精神，像圣灶上的火焰，被虔誠地保留下來，――我想，一定有很珍貴的幾瓶是最初由“五月花”帶來，為美國擔當了這任務的，而它的影響還在這片土地上升騰，膨脹，伸展，似食糧的波濤，――這酵母我也從村中正規地忠誠地端來了，直到有一天早晨，我卻忘記了規則，用滾水燙了我的酵母；這件意外事使我發現甚至酵母也可以避免的，……

　　我發現這個不是用綜合的，而是用了分析的方式――-從此我快快活活地取消了它，雖然大多數的家庭主婦曾經熱忱地勸告我，沒有發酵粉，安全而有益健康的面包是不可能的，年老的人還說我的體力會很快就衰退的。然而，我發現這并不是必需的原料，沒有發酵我也過了一年，我還是生活在活人的土地上；我高興的是我總算用不到在袋子里帶一只小瓶子了，有時砰的一聲瓶子破碎，里面的東西都倒掉了，弄得我很不愉快，不用這東西更干脆，更高尚了。人這種動物，比起別的動物來，更能夠適應各種氣候和各種環境。

　　我也沒有在面包里放什么鹽，蘇打，或別的酸素，或堿。看來我是依照了基督誕生前兩個世紀的馬爾庫斯。鮑爾修斯。卡托的方子做面包的。“Panem depstieium sic facit o.Manus mortariumque bene lavato.Farinam in mortarium indito，aquae paulat im addito，subigitoque pulchre，Ubi bene subegeris，defillgito，coquitoquesu b testu，”③他的這段話我這樣理解：――“這樣來做手揉的面包。洗凈你的手和長槽。

　　把粗粉放進長槽，慢慢加水，揉得透徹。等你揉好了，使成形，而后蓋上蓋于烘烤，“

　　――這是說在一只烤面包的爐中。一個字也沒有提到發酵。可是我還不能常常用這一類的生命的支持者。有一個時期，囊空如洗，我有一個月之久，都沒有看到過面包。

　　每一個新英格蘭人都可以很容易地在這塊適宜種黑麥和印第安玉米的土地上，生產出他自己所需要的面包原料，而不依靠那遠方的變動劇烈的市場。然而我們過得既不樸素，又沒有獨立性，在康科德，店里已經很難買到又新鮮又甜的玉米粉了，玉米片和更粗糙的玉米簡直已沒有人吃。農夫們把自己生產的一大部分谷物喂了牛和豬，另外花了更大的代價到鋪予里去買了未必更有益健康的面粉回來。我看到我可以很容易地生產我的一兩蒲式耳的黑麥和印第安玉米粉，前者在最貧瘠的地上也能生長，后者也用不著最好土地，就可以用手把它們磨碎，沒有米沒有豬肉就能夠過日子：如果我一定要有一些糖精，我發現從南瓜或甜菜根里還可以做出一種很好的糖漿來，只要我加上糖械就可以更容易地做出糖來；如果當時這一些還正在生長著，我也可以用許多代用品，代替已經提到過的幾種東西。“因為，”我們的祖先就曾歌唱，――“我們可以用南瓜，胡桃木和防風來做成美酒，來甜蜜我們的嘴唇。”

　　最后，說到鹽，雜貨中之最雜者，找鹽本可以成為一個到海邊去的合適機會，或者，如果完全不用它，那倒也許還可以少喝一點開水呢。我不知道印第安人有沒有為了得到食鹽，而勞費過心

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