INSTITUTE, PUSA, FOR 1916-17 45 



nical Section of the Pusa Institute was asked by the Quarter 

 Master General to suggest means of overcoming this diffi- 

 culty. The suggestion was made that the vegetables should 

 be dried in the sun at suitable places on the Western Frontier 

 before despatch to Mesopotamia. We undertook to work out 

 the details of the process at Quetta, where the air is exceed- 

 ingly dry, and to assist the Army in the work in the event of 

 the method being taken up on the large scale. After an 

 interview with General Vaughan, Director of Supplies and 

 Transport, at Delhi in March, this was agreed to and a grant 

 to cover the cost of the experiments was placed at our dis- 

 posal by the Army. While arrangements for the work were 

 under discussion, Baghdad was taken and the Army occu- 

 pied a fertile region from which supplies of fresh vegetables 

 could be obtained. The operations on the large scale, which 

 had been decided upon at Quetta, were accordingly revised. 

 It was decided to continue the work but on a smaller scale 

 and to dry sufficient produce for the Aden garrison for a 

 year. A portion of the vegetables necessary were grown at 

 Quetta by the Army, the remainder at Dhadar and Mustung 

 by the Kalat State. 



The first step in the process was the working out of a 

 suitable method of drying vegetables in the sun. This was 

 taken in hand early in the season in April and May. The 

 work was practically completed by the middle of June and 

 full details were supplied to the Army before the vegetables 

 at Quetta and Mustung were ready. A large number of 

 vegetables, both European and Indian, were successfully 

 dried, the cooked product in nearly every case being almost 

 indistinguishable from fresh. 



As dried vegetables are very bulky, it was necessary to 

 find some cheap method of storing and transporting the pro- 

 duce. This was accomplished by steaming and pressing into 

 bricks, one pound in weight and of such a size that they 

 could be packed into kerosine tins which could then be 

 soldered. For this purpose, a suitable press had to be 

 designed. The result of this portion of the investigation 



was a great success and reduced the space taken up by the 



d2 



