THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



365 



vegetables because they are economical, 

 but not for the discouragement of the 

 home canning of such vegetables as are 

 successfully canned. Canned vegetables, 

 while they will cost more, will always 

 have the advantage of the emergency ra- 

 tion ; they require only to be warmed, 

 and for certain recipes they will be re- 

 quired. 



The evident advantages of purchasing 

 dried vegetables instead of fresh vege- 

 tables are that they will save the house- 

 holder the labor of preparation in the 

 kitchen, for they are all peeled and sliced 

 and have only to be soaked before cook- 

 ing; they will lessen the weight of her 

 market-basket by the water that has been 

 taken out, which varies from 50 to 85 

 per cent, and also by the absence of the 

 peeling and tops ; they will keep indefi- 

 nitely if protected from moisture and in- 

 sect contamination ; they will lessen her 

 garbage ; when out of season they will 

 cost less than the fresh and much less 

 than the canned at any time, and they 

 will insure for the children, at all times 

 of the year, the "fat soluble A" and the 

 "water soluble B," both essential to 

 growth. 



It would be fortunate if the time were 

 soon to come when the drying of vege- 

 tables by means of drying plants of suit- 

 able size, with adequate safeguarding ap- 

 pliances, should be a local industry wher- 

 ever vegetables are grown. The result 

 would be a stabilizing of prices of those 

 perishables which are so often grown at 

 a loss because of overproduction or a 

 faulty system of distribution. 



Americans demand the best, and if the 

 dried vegetable program is to succeed, it 

 will be through the production and dis- 

 semination of a grade of dried food such 

 as the world has never seen before. 

 Such quality has already been produced, 

 and with the development of the industry 

 discoveries are to be expected which will 

 place this new material permanently in 

 the grocery stores of the country. 



HOME DRYING IS IMPORTANT 



The above statements should not be 

 interpreted, however, as discouraging 

 home drying. 



Their reduced bulk and their excellent 

 keeping quality should make it possible 



for thousands of women experts to carry 

 on a paying business in their own special 

 brands of a superior quality of dried 

 vegetables, standardizing their product 

 and making their own reputation by do- 

 ing so. Once the demand for dried vege- 

 tables \s general, the commercial field is 

 open just as it is now to home-canned 

 products. 



What is needed now, however, is con- 

 certed effort to induce the American pub- 

 lic to use dried vegetables, really to want 

 them, and, having once tried them, con- 

 tinue to use them. Tke demand will 

 bring the product, and this product may 

 be expected to improve in quality and 

 attractiveness as the art develops, just as 

 has been the case with every other food 

 which American ingenuity has developed. 



When fresh vegetables go too high for 

 your pocket-book, buy the dehydrated 

 ones, which have the same food value 

 and are more convenient, and as time 

 goes on the demand so created for a prod- 

 uct which is so preeminently economical 

 and good will become a regular part of 

 our diet and we will not any more ques- 

 tion the dried vegetable than we do today 

 the canned vegetables, or the dried apri- 

 cot, fig, apple, prune, or raisin. It should 

 be remembered that we produce nearly 

 $35,000,000 worth of dried fruits every 

 year, and consume them in the form of 

 apple sauce, apple pies, stewed prunes, 

 stewed apricots, and stewed peaches. 



There is yet another factor which we 

 should consider. With the shortage of 

 labor skilled in the handling of dairy 

 herds, the rise in the price of grain, and 

 the cost of dairy-product distribution, it 

 may be necessary to cut down on the 

 family milk supply. This economy, how- 

 ever, eliminates not only one of the 

 cheapest sources of proteins, but reduces 

 for children, especially, the "fat soluble 

 A," which is essential to growth. Should 

 the milk supply be curtailed the only sub- 

 stitute is to be found in the leafy vege- 

 tables, and to make up the deficiency we 

 would require, according to McCollum, 

 about 30 per cent dry weight of our food 

 to be composed of these. 



Unless these vegetables are available in 

 dried form in the months of scarcity, 

 some of us are going to suffer. The 



