138 THE WAR GARDEN VICTORIOUS 
satisfactorily used for army rations. Products thus 
kept unchanged in quality and flavor for eighteen years 
might reasonably be supposed to keep well almost 
indefinitely. 
Naturally enough, most of the conservation of food 
so far accomplished through drying has been done by 
housewives in their homes. 
Home drying is profitable both to the household and 
the nation; but if a neighborhood or community pools 
its expenditures for equipment and works as a unit, a 
larger amount of material may be dried with greater 
convenience and a considerable saving of labor, time, 
and fuel. A bigger drier than could be put into a home 
kitchen can be set up in a schoolhouse, parish house, 
clubhouse, or other accessible place for common use in 
drying; and definite hours of duty can be assigned to 
different persons. Such, in general, is the plan of neigh- 
borhood or community drying. Details as to how much 
material each person may bring at one time, just when 
such material shall be brought, and who shall be on 
duty to regulate the drier, should be worked out by a 
small committee, preferably of three persons. 
Each woman should prepare her own products and 
leave in good order the utensils she has used. When 
people are novices at drying it is advisable to hire a paid 
expert for a short time, and if the arrangement for a 
common drier is to cover the entire community, the 
continuous services of at least one salaried person are 
necessary. Some one is also required to do regular 
cleaning in the quarters used. This may require an 
