CHAPTER XVI 



CONSERVATION BY DRYING 



How American Housewives Made It Hot for the Kaiser 



MARIE ANTOINETTE'S milliner once remarked 

 that there is nothing new except what is 

 forgotten. One of the "new" methods of food 

 conservation practiced by the women of America 

 during the war was that of drying food. To most of 

 them the process was an absolute novelty, yet it is as 

 old as civilization itself. It is merely one of those 

 practices so long out of use as to be forgotten. 



Most of us are familiar with dried apples and the 

 evaporated fruits of California, but there our knowl- 

 edge ends. To most of us it comes as a distinct 

 surprise, almost as a shock, to learn that practically all 

 vegetables and fruits can be preserved for future use 

 by drying. Certainly it was a great surprise to most of 

 the housewives of America when they were asked to 

 conserve food, not only by canning, with even which 

 process many were only slightly acquainted, but also 

 by drying, a method practically unheard of. 



Drying is both economical and simple as a method 

 of preserving food. It requires no elaborate or costly 

 apparatus. The finished product can be kept in any 

 sort of containers that are clean; whereas in canning 

 expensive glass receptacles must be purchased. Dried 

 foods are compact, thus saving space in storing and 

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