4 DEHYDRATION OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. 



The conservation of food and the supply of our people and our military 

 forces is so vital, and Mr. Horst's ideas seem so worthy of careful investigation, 

 that I specially request an audience for him and a careful consideration of 

 his plaus. 



Very truly, yours, 



Wm. D. Stephens, Governor. 



Mr. HoEST. This letter was presented to President Wilson by 



Senator McNary who gave to the President with the letter a line 



of a dozen or more of my dried vegetables. President Wilson ac- 

 knowledge the same by letter as follows : 



The White House, 

 Washington, February 5, 1918. 

 My Dear Senator McNaky : It was very kind and thoughtful of you to send 

 me the dried tomatoes and mixed vegetables for soup. I am looking forward 

 with pleasure to sampling them. I am very glad indeed to see every sort of 

 effort made for the conservation of food and this particular form of that effort 

 interests me very much. 



Cordially and sincerely, yours, 



WooDEOw Wilson. 

 Hon. Charles L. McNabt, 



United States Senate. 



The Chairman. What is your business, Mr. Horst? 



Mr. HoRST. I am a merchant and farmer and I own and operate 

 dehydrating plants for vegetables, fruits, etc. 



The Chairman. Mr. Horst, first let me say that I would like 

 you to state something of the effects and results of dehydration on 

 vegetables and fruits; something about the desirability of using 

 dehydration in preserving vegetables and fruits; something about 

 the history of the process, describing the process itself, and make 

 a statement of the expense connected with the building and equip- 

 ment of plants, and so forth. 



Mr. HoRST. The drying of vegetables is a very old proposition. 

 It was supplanted something like 30 or 40 years ago by tlie can- 

 ning industry, and very little attention was paid to the question of 

 drying of vegetables. The Boer war, and the Alaska excitement of 

 1898, somewhat revived the industry, and a great amomit of vege- 

 tables were dried at that time, though the process was rather crude, 

 but crude as it was it was successful, and the products were used 

 then. What was left over, for instance, from the Boer war was 

 successfully used in the present war by the British Government, and 

 that has been after the lapse of a period of about 18 years : and I cite 

 that to show the keeping quality of the dried vegetables. 



Since that time, and particularly within the last six or eight 

 months, there has been a great deal of experimental work done on 

 the subject of the drying of vegetables, and up to the present time 

 the work has gone along so far that the product to-day, in my 

 opinion, is fully equal when cooked to the fresh product, as one gets 

 it in the city, taking, of course, into consideration that vegetables, 

 before they reach the consumer, have undergone quite a delay in han- 

 dling, shipping, and rehandling, and they become aged by time ; and 

 in keeping fresh vegetables, say, from the harvest time to the con- 

 suming time in the middle of the winter is a long time, during which .. 

 the vegetables more or less depreciate. The dehydrating process 

 takes that vegetable fresh from the farm, immediately dries it, and 

 dries it in such a way that substantially the freshness of the farm is 



