Page 8 



BETTER FRUIT 



August 



Home Drying of Vegetables and Fruit 



U. S. Department of Agriculture 



DRY vegetables and fruits for winter 

 use if tin cans and glass jars for 

 canning are scarce or expensive. This 

 is the advice of specialists of the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture, who re- 

 cently have studied the possibilities of 

 conserving food to meet war needs in 

 spite of any difficulties that may be 

 experienced in obtaining canning con- 

 tainers. Drying was a well recognized 

 and successful way of preserving cer- 

 tain foods before canning came into 

 general use, the specialists point out, 

 and modern methods make it still more 

 practicable than formerly, either in the 

 home or by community groups. 



Three methods of drying have been 

 found by the Department specialists to 

 give satisfactory results. These are sun 

 drying, drying by artificial heat, and 

 drying with air blasts, as before an 

 electric fan. Trays for drying by any 

 one of these methods, as well as tray 

 frames for use over stoves or before 

 fans, can be made satisfactorily at 

 home. Frames and trays for use with 

 artificial heat may be purchased com- 

 plete if desired. 



Home-made trays may be made of 

 side and end boards three-fourths of 

 an inch thick and two inches wide, and 



bottom boards of lathing spaced one- 

 fourth of an inch. If desired, one- 

 fourth-inch galvanized wire mesh may 

 be tacked to the side and end boards to 

 form the bottoms of the trays. Frames 

 for use before fans may be made of 

 wood of convenient size. Frames for 

 use with artificial heat should be made 

 of non-inflammable material to as great 

 an extent as possible. As many as six 

 trays may be placed one above the 

 other when artificial heat is used. In 

 drying before a fan the number of trays 

 that may be placed one above the other 

 will depend, to a large extent, upon the 

 diameter of the fan. In drying in the 

 sun, trays as described may be used or 

 the products to be dried may be spread 

 on sheets of paper or muslin held in 

 place by weights. 



Vegetables and fruits will dry better 

 if sliced. They should be cut into slices 

 one-eighth to one-fourth of an inch 

 thick. If thicker, they may not dry 

 thoroughly. While drying, the pro- 

 ducts should be turned or stirred from 

 time to time. Dried products should be 

 packed temporarily for three or four 

 days and poured each day from one 

 box to another to bring about thorough 

 mixing, and so that the whole mass will 



have a uniform degree of moisture. If 

 during this "conditioning" any pieces 

 of the products are found to be too 

 moist, they should be returned to the 

 trays and dried further. When in con- 

 dition, the products may be packed per- 

 manently in tight paper bags, insect- 

 proof paper boxes or cartons, or glass 

 or tin containers. 



RECIPES 

 Spinach and Parsley 

 Spinach that is in prime condition 

 for greens should be prepared by care- 

 ful washing and removing the leaves 

 from the roots. Spread the leaves on 

 trays to dry thoroughly. They will 

 dry much more promptly if sliced or 

 chopped. 



Garden fleets. Onions, Carrots, Turnips, 

 Parsnips, Cabbage 



Reets: Select young, quickly grown, 

 tender beets, which should be washed, 

 peeled, sliced about an eighth of an 

 inch thick and dried. 



Turnips should be treated in the 

 same way as beets. 



Carrots should be well grown, but 

 varieties having a large woody core 

 should be avoided. Wash, peel and 

 slice crosswise into pieces about an 

 eighth of an inch thick. 



Parsnips should be treated in the 

 same way as carrots. 



Onions: flemove the outside papery 

 covering. Cut off tops and roots. Slice 

 into one-eighth-inch pieces and dry. 



Cabbage: Select well developed heads 

 of cabbage and remove all loose outside 

 leaves. Split the cabbage, remove the 

 hard, woody core, and slice the re- 

 mainder of the head with a kraut cut- 

 ter, or other hand-slicing machine. 



All the products under this heading 

 should be "conditioned" as described 

 above. 



Reet Tops, Swiss Chard, Celery and 

 Rhubarb 



Reet tops: Tops of young beets in 

 suitable condition for greens should be 

 selected and washed carefully. Roth 

 the leaf stalk and blade should be cut 

 into sections about one-fourth inch 

 long and spread on screens and dried. 



Swiss chard and celery should be 

 prepared in the same way as beet tops. 



Rhubarb: Choose young and suc- 

 culent growth. Prepare as for stewing 

 by skinning the stalks and cutting into 

 pieces about one-fourth inch to one- 

 half inch in length and dry on trays. 



All the products under this heading 

 should be "conditioned" as described. 

 Raspberries 



Sort out imperfect berries, spread 

 select berries on trays, and dry. Do 

 not dry so long that they become hard 

 enough to rattle. The drying should 

 be stopped as soon as the berries fail 

 to stain the hand when pressed. Pack 

 and "condition." 



PORTLAND WHOLESALE NURSERY COMPANY 



Rooms 6 & 7, 122 l i Grand Ave., Portland, Oregon 



Wholesalers of Nursery Stock and Nursery Supplies 



A very complete line of 



Fruit and Ornamental Trees. Shrubs. Vines, Etc. 



SPECIALTIES 



Clean Coast Grown Beedltnjrs 



Oregon Champion Gooseberries and 



Write Now Perfection Currants Write Now 



