PUT THE SUN TO WORK 



469 



has pointed the way to the whole country to a means of 

 preservings vast quantities of redeemable food. Such 

 kitchens promise to become 

 a city institution through- 

 out the country. 



The kitchen was opened 

 last September and has 

 only been operated with 

 full equipment since Feb- 

 ruary 1st. It will dry all 

 summer on shares for 

 farmers and others. It 

 buys produce on wholesale 

 figures. Most of the equip- 

 ment was donated, a vacant 

 store opposite the market 

 serving as headquarters. 

 It is under the direction of 

 the city conservation agent 

 of Buffalo and her assist- 

 ants, the actual work being 

 carried on by a drying ex- 

 pert. The output has been 

 principally onions, pota- 

 toes, turnips, carrots, cab- 

 bage, celery and Julienne 

 soup mixture. Onions 

 have been most in de- 

 mand but the soup mix- 

 ture is a great favorite. A 

 quarter-pound package, 

 which sells for twenty-five 

 cents, makes two gallons 

 of soup. There is also a 

 package selling for fifteen 

 cents, enough for one gal- 

 lon. 



Through the efforts of this kitchen the propaganda 

 for dried food is spreading rapidly in Buffalo and the 



sales keep pace with the 

 $25 a week. The saving 



The dried 



ALL THE SWEETNESS STAYS 



sweet potato answers readily the drying process and loses 

 none of its sweetness. 



winter 

 nation 



and he who 

 as well. 



feeds 



production, averaging about 

 in transportation, in storage, 

 in labor, in containers and 

 in loss through deteriora- 

 tion is so great as to make 

 it absurd in these days of 

 terrific strain and great 

 need not to exploit to the 

 fullest the possibility of 

 drying. 



Mutual dehydrating may 

 be divided into three 

 classes : ( i ) Two or more 

 families working together 

 with equipment bought or 

 made for the use of all ; 

 (2) Neighborhoods organ- 

 ized through a woman's 

 club, church, or some ex- 

 isting organization: (3) 

 Communities, organized 

 through the local Council 

 of Defense, the Mayor's 

 Committee, the Chamber of 

 Commerce, or the Woman's 

 Club. Through neighbor- 

 hood work any number of 

 families from two to fifty 

 may work along the lines 

 of mutual drying. One set 

 of apparatus will serve for 

 all. The cost thus divided 

 will be small for each 

 household. The results will 

 be of vast value, as each 

 family will be thus pre- 

 pared to feed itself next 

 himself helps to feed the 



LUMBER BRINGS BIG PRICE IN GERMANY 



T^HE Berliner Boersen Zeitung, we read in the Pitts- 

 burgh Sun, states that the prices of all sorts of 

 lumber in Germany have risen to astounding heights. 

 Latterly the requirements of the army on the eastern 

 front have considerably diminished, but orders from 

 the railway car factories have greatly increased. The 

 most serious factor is the scarcity rather than the high 

 price level. Indeed, it is a serious problem to keep the 

 flying machine factories supplied with sufficient wood. 

 Material for these factories is so scarce that none of 

 the wood usually discarded in sawing is now thrown 

 away. Concerns that do not belong to the flying machine 

 syndicate have to pay at least 31 ($151 at the normal 

 exchange rate) per 1,000 feet at the station in East 

 Prussia; concerns that belong to the syndicate pay 25 

 ($122) per 1,000 feet, the price fixed by the war office. 

 Ash also is very scarce and the price is as high as 

 45 ($219) per 1,000 feet of round wood. This figure 



is the fixed official price for sawed ash, but it does not 

 even represent the average level of prices paid for "free" 

 ash. Alder costs 22 ($107) per 1,000 feet, when it is 

 obtainable. Basswood is very much in demand. The 

 demand for oak is especially heavy, owing to efforts to 

 replenish depleted stocks. Undoubtedly prices for oak 

 will increase still further when the furniture industry 

 resumes activity. 



(~\ F the 52 ships that went into the water on the Fourth 

 ^-^ of July, those built entirely of fir have an aggregate 

 of 86,000 tons, and those partially of fir have an aggre- 

 gate of 52,000 tons, making a total of 138,000 tons out 

 of 185,000 tons that were launched. Including the 

 launchings of the Fourth, a total of 119 wooden ships 

 have been built since the present activity started. Of 

 this number the yards of Oregon and Washington have 

 launched 69 the Oregon district 38 and the Washington 

 district 31. 



