Provisioning a Camp
This should be a matter of mature consideration. Unless there is some place near by where deficiencies can be supplied your camp may be a misery instead of a pleasure. Have lists made out of the things each is to bring, if it is to be a coöperative affair. It may be best to have a committee, even if it is a committee of one, to do all the buying. But even in this case individual tastes must be consulted. A full list should be made out and strictly adhered to. At one camp where each brought what she thought best there were six cans of soup, four pounds of sugar, and no tea or coffee.
Canned goods are all very well if you do not have to carry them too far. So too are potatoes. For lightness on long trips, dried fruits and meal or grits are a wise selection. Oatmeal is light and easy to cook. Prepared batter-cake flour is a pure joy to the camp cook. Once when camping in the mountains we had unexpected difficulties. We were at such an elevation that water boiled at too low a temperature to cook many things "done," so the frying-pan there reigned supreme. As to that same frying-pan be sure to select the "long handled kind." If not you will have to splice out the handle with a long stick. Never pack up your "unwetables" in paper bags. At any time a shower or even a heavy dew at night may make you run short on salt, sugar, or flour. Covered tin cans are too cheap to make it necessary to run any such risks. Have a lantern and oil of course. Candles blow out too easily to be of much use. For sudden calls for a light the pocket electric affair is very good and cheap. Keep it standing up. The batteries waste quite fast if it is left down on the side.
The quantity of provisions to be taken depends on the length of stay. Consult any good military or naval ration list and a very good guess can be made. They all seem to lay stress on beans which certainly are very good if you have the "Boston" appetite.
Keep your camp clean. Keep it in order. Let your motto be, "Tidy as you go." It is as bad to have to hunt for a thing you want in camp as it is at home and particularly exasperating if, when you have found it, you must wash it before using. "A place for everything and that place anywhere" is a bad camp rule, though it does sound as if it was a real easy way of disposing of the matter. Dig a hole to throw slops in and do not let them "fly" on the ground. You may want to sit down right there. Whatever the birds will eat should be put aside for them. All other scraps and things that may become offensive must be buried. Don't start to breed flies or fever. When near the water some part of this rule may be dispensed with in favor of the fish and crabs. They may be judiciously baited up, but if you are going to fish for them see that they are not overfed.
There are times and seasons when wild fruits and berries are a most welcome addition to the camp fare, but unless you are perfectly sure of the supply do not reckon on them too much in making up your provision list. Better let them be a sort of joyful surprise. So too of fish and game. "Don't count your chickens before they are hatched." Fresh smilax shoots can scarcely be told from asparagus. Palmetto cabbage well cooked is fine; poorly prepared it is vile. Let some one that knows about these things "do" them for you.
The "gipsy kettle" is picturesque and only picturesque. Drive a stout crotched stake on each side of the fire and put a stout stick across them. Use strong wire hooks—S-shaped on which to hang pots over the fire. If hung through the handle on the stick they are apt to boil over and put out the fire before you know it. They may be quickly lifted from the wire hooks as soon as they begin to look dangerous. Even the coffee-pot may be rigged with a wire handle by which to be hung. Wire and string are our special hobbies in camp. Fan a fire instead of blowing it. Your breath has lost most of its combustible gas. A tin or wooden plate makes a good fan. Put away dry kindling every night. You don't know what sort of weather it will be tomorrow.
Use all precaution against your fire spreading. This is particularly necessary where there are tents. A dry tent will almost "whisk" up in smoke if the fire catches it. Rake dry leaves well away from about the fire. It may be best sometimes to make "a burn" round the camp. Do this a little at a time beating out all traces of the fire in the part burnt over. Be in no hurry about this but be thorough. Leave no smouldering embers or chunks of rotten wood smoking behind you. Burn clean as you go.