CHAPTER XI 
TWO CHAPTERS ON FRUIT DRYING 
Very few people are really aware of the great demand 
there is for dried fruits and vegetables. Every year 
many thousands are spent by the Government in buying 
the necessary supplies for the army and navy, and this 
trade is not confined to these Public Bodies, as dried fruit 
and vegetables are greatly in demand in many parts of our 
Colonies. In the time of war they are some of the most 
valuable articles of food, the reason for which is easy to 
see, because large quantities can be carried in a small 
compass. 
When we speak of preserving fruits and vegetables 
by evaporation, we mean that we artificially evaporate 
their moisture, by a process which preserves their food 
value, and the products which in the ordinary course 
would decay, by this means retain their food value and 
can be stored in a concentrated form, until required 
for future use. Thus for export purposes and where 
storage space is limited, the goods so prepared can be 
compressed into a very small compass without the 
slightest detriment to them in flavour or nutritious value. 
Many hundred rations can be packed in a box a foot 
square. [he storage room they consequently require is 
1 When this time arrives the fruit or vegetable is rehydrated, i.e. to 
Say it is soaked in water for some hours, when it again reabsorbs 
moisture and expands to its original size and form. It should be cooked 
in the water in which it has been soaked, and when properly done, the 
flavour will be found to have been retained completely. 
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