NOVKMBEK, 1919 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



725 



by 3 still heavier wires, crossing underneath. 

 This cylinder rests upon a heavy tin pan, 

 with a supporting ledge some two inches 

 from the top, and both cylinder and base 

 pan have substantial handles. The cylinder 

 has a close-fitting cover, somewhat cone- 

 shaped, thus permitting the dishes to be 

 piled high in the center. All the table dishes 

 for a family of six may easily be stacked 

 in the drier. 



When ready to wash dishes the drier is 

 placed on an ordinary chair close to the 

 sink, and as the dishes are washed they 

 are placed in it, cups first, turned down on 

 the netting, the various plates and saucers 

 arranged to drain over these, ending with 

 glasses on top. The cover is then adjusted, 

 water put in the pan below the cylinder, the 

 whole lifted to the range, and the water 

 boiled for five minutes, counting from the 

 time the water begins to boil. The cylinder 

 is then uncovered and lifted to a table or 

 bench and left until the dishes are cold when 

 they will be dry and shining. 



Someone told me that the drier would not 

 be very satisfactory for glasses and silver. 

 It is true that wiping with a towel is neces- 

 sary to keep the silver bright, altho it may 

 well be dried a part of the time in the drier; 

 but don 't ever wipe a glass if you purchase 

 one of these driers. When the glasses were 

 turned over on the bottom, beside the cups 

 there were apt to be little drops of water 

 on them; but by a little experimenting I 

 found if they were washed perfectly clean 

 with plenty of soap and then drained on top 

 of the other dishes, taking care that they 

 were tilted enough to permit the water con- 

 densed from the steam to run out, they 

 would be perfectly dry and clearer than if a 

 towel had been used. You know towels are 

 apt to leave them slightly linty. You house- 

 keepers know how much time is ordinarily 

 consumed in drying glasses on a towel. In 

 our family, altho we average only six at 

 meal times, we often have about a dozen 

 glasses to wash, especially in warm weather 

 when everyone is thirsty between meals. 



Did you ever notice that when a perfectly 

 good man helps his wife by washing dishes 

 he does not use enough soap to remove all 

 grease? When I delicately hinted as much 

 to my assistant on one of the afore-mention- 

 ed occasions, he said cheerfully, ' ' Oh, I ex- 

 pect yoii to do your share. You should fin- 

 ish the job of removing grease by the rins- 

 ing and wiping. ' ' Now that is just where a 

 man would fall down on usir'^ that drier. 

 The dishes must be perfectly clean and free 

 from any greasiness or they will not dry. 

 For that reason I find it teaches a wholesome 

 lesson in dishwashing, not to the nice man 

 assistant, you understand, but to young as- 

 sistants of the other sex. 



One of the best points about the drier is 

 that it sterilizes the dishes, and on account 

 of the heat being gradually applied there is 

 less danger of breakage than when boiling 

 water is poured over dishes standing in a 

 drainer. I might hesitate to put my thinnest 



china cui)s in it for fear the weight of the 

 dishes would break them, but with our 

 everyday English porcelain we have never 

 had any breakage in it, nor have any dishes 

 been cracked or chipped. 



The drier is fine for sterilizing jelly 

 glasses and fruit jars and also for cold-pack 

 canning. A friend of mine has canned hun- 

 dreds of quarts of fruit and vegetables in a 

 similar one and has never had a can spoil. 



Good electrical dishwashers are on the 

 market for about $100.00; but as most of 

 the cooking utensils have to be washed by 

 hand anyway on account of food sticking to 

 them, for a private family I believe this lit- 

 tle $5.00 drier saves almost as much time, as 

 it takes but little more time to wash the 

 table dishes while the water is ready. And 

 while most of us would not feel that we 

 could afford $100.00 for a dishwasher, there 

 are few families who could not afford the 

 $5.00 drier. It is a case where money spent 

 is money, or its equivalent, time, saved. 



It wouldn 't be fair to tell this much with- 

 out mentioning the drawbacks, would it? 

 The first and chief, for a woman who has a 

 weak back, is that it is rather heavy to lift 

 on and off the range, when full of dishes; 

 but while not a very strong , woman I am 

 able to do it, and my young schoolgirl help- 

 er thinks it easier than to wipe the dishes. 

 A neighbor who is unable to lift it, stacks 

 her dishes in it, and when her young son 

 comes home from school he lifts the drier to 

 the range and off again when the water has 

 boiled five minutes. 



In our home, after the evening meal when 

 my schoolgirl assistant has removed the 

 drier from the range and wiped the silver 

 and cooking utensils which are too large for 

 the drier, she goes on her way rejoicing to 

 the movies or elsewhere, leaving the dishes 

 in the drier until morning, when she removes 

 them and sets the table for breakfast. This 

 method does away with one handling of the 

 dishes. 



The second drawback is that the drier is 

 not pretty and takes up a good deal of room. 

 The fact is, it is in use so much of the time 

 that one does not mind giving it space for 

 the remainder. The cylinder dries with the 

 dishes, and the base and cover will dry in 

 a few minutes if inverted in the sink. 



You may wonder why you have not seen 

 this drier advertised. An ingenious man in 

 Wooster, Ohio, made one for his wife to 

 save her time, with no intention of offering 

 it for sale, I believe. His neighbors begged 

 him to make driers for their wives, and be- 

 fore long he found himself with a little side- 

 line business. A number of the families con- 

 nected with the Ohio Experiment Station 

 have used the driers for years, and in this 

 way a man from our town became acquaint- 

 ed with them and secured one for his wife 

 and in a quiet way has taken orders for a 

 few of his friends. I shall be glad to give 

 the address where they may be obtained to 

 anj'one sending me a stamped and addressed 

 envelope. 



