Western Catholic missionaries clearly indicated that Koreans in those days were mainly engaged in rice farming using valleys rather than open plains and as they were irrigated fields, they were land in which they did farming every year without a break. And they thought it would be good to use horses as well as cows and bulls in plowing rice fields, which was the concept that it would be smoother to do farming if applying horse plowing which was done in dry-field farming to paddy fields.
And they also wrote that the rainfall and climatic conditions were very important in relation to rice farming, and observed to write how excretions of livestock such as horses and cattle were used as fertilizers paying close attention to how to use fertilizers. On the other hand, they wrote in detail how Catholic believers lived using fields cleared for cultivation by burning in order to solve the difficulty of obtaining food, and conveys that tobacco farming is the main agriculture.
They also knew very well that as rice was the principal food to Koreans, it was considered as their lives for Koreans, and properly understood the actual circumstances of the spring austerity season at the time. Especially, they wrote that there were habits to eat boiled rice much, and recorded that Koreans valued its quantity more than its quality eating much regardless of difference in social positions when they encountered special food which they had to share. A bishop, Daveluy pointed out that as there were no cupboard or food storage, it was impossible to keep food, which demonstrates that he understood that Koreans' eating habits at the time were generated by indoor life conditions in Korea or the nature of architectural structure in those days. And he wrote that as climate was so humid that food went rotten immediately, which also proves that he understood that it was caused by the situations that lots of food prepared had to be consumed at once under climatic features in Korea.
In addition, as far as liquor was concerned, they made an effort to make it in person as it was essential for western Catholic missionaries to get wine in order to celebrate mass as celebrants, but wrote that Koreans were distilled alcoholic liquors such as apple wine or beer fermenting rice. And they also drank liquors made from rice, and as the bishop, Daveluy said that he drank all the liquors regardless of any kinds of quality it has, it is believed that at that time, Koreans thought liquors as one of foods as they were accustomed to boiled rice and liquors were made from rice.