140 THE WAR GARDEN VICTORIOUS 
process takes a long time and the addition of heat is 
desirable. 
A slicer for vegetables costs $1.50 or more, according 
to size. Tables and other utensils may be collected 
from the different households. White oilcloth for ta- 
bles, cheese-cloth for use in protecting material from 
insects and dust, and pasteboard cartons for containers 
of dried products would make necessary slight extra 
purchases. Butter containers are useful for holding 
dried products, as are also baking-powder cans and 
similar covered tins. 
If an entire community is to be organized, it will be 
necessary to ascertain how many families will use the 
community plant and approximately how much mate- 
rial will be dried daily. These things determined, a 
drier can be chosen intelligently. Because of its usual 
hot-air blast, which dries products more quickly than 
they can be dried by the evaporating process, a dehy- 
drator is often preferable. The cost of a satisfactory 
dehydrator may be put at $1,000 to #2,500. A home- 
made outfit may be constructed at considerably less 
expense. Carpenters and men installing heating appa- 
ratus will usually be glad to furnish estimates of cost, 
if supplied with a description of the apparatus desired. 
Mr. C. W. Pugsley* devised a successful community 
plant, which was first used at Lincoln, Nebraska. His 
method is dehydration minus heat, which system is 
* For dimensions and detailed directions, see “A Successful 
Community Drying Plant,” by C. W. Pugsley, Farmers’ Bulletin 
916, United States Department of Agriculture. 
