New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-12-06

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: To-day's speech of President DR..
Kaempf at the opening of the Reichstag, in
which he spoke frankly Of the German 1000
problem. and said, Potatoes, the most I'M
portant food Of the people, are abundant"
calls attention to an industry which has de-
veloped enormously in Germany since the
beginning Of the war, and TO a lesser extent
in this country The German army cSnmis-
sarat has saved the hauling Of thousands
Of tons Of water by the use of dry, fresh
vegetables and fruit from which practically
all the water has been removed.
This is a product which not only saves an
incalculabe amount of transportation, but
il is one of the health measures of the sanl-
tary department, and it is an important means
of conservation, now that Germany is hard
pressed for food The vegetables thus pre-
pared lose but little color, odor taste or nu-
tritive value. and they can be kept almost in
definitely. With the elimination Of nearly
all the water content, the weight of the prod
uct is reduced from so to 90 per cent.
Its use means that the German armies at
the front do not have 30 sidetrack munition
trains in order to save perishable green
vegetables. Right here in New York other
freight and even passenger trains are held
up in favor of trains carrying perishable
produce. Even so, the problem Of provision
ing New York without wastage has not been
completely solved since carloads of green
produce have frequently spoiled in her ter
minals and have been condemned and dumped
into the bay.
The German product is not quite equal to
that which is now being prepared in this
country. since the German method seems TO
be a partial cooking, which destroys some of
the food value. But one pound of Julienne
soup vegetables as produced in this country
will make soup for sxty-four men, and it is
fair to assume that approximately the same
proportion holds in Germany. The yege-
tables used in this compound are potatoes,
carrots. turnips, cabbages, onions, parsley
and celery
From so TO IS per cent of the water is
taken from all the vegetables treated by this
process. One pound Of dry fresh potatoes
so prepared is equal TO six and half pounds
Of the raw OF green potatoes; one pound OF
onions represents twelve pounds Of green
onions; one pound Of beans is the equivalent
of fourteen pounds Of green beans; a pound
of beets equals fifteen pounds of green
beets. and a pound of cabbage equals ff-
teen pounds of green cabbage. The list
could be prolonged indefinitely. Before cook
ing the vegetables are soaked for a few
minutes in water, and then they are cooked
Just like any other vegetables. After cook
ing. these dry, fresh processed vegetables
resume their original color odor, shape and
taste.
The saving in transportation is obvious
The ratio Of the weight Of the dried soup
vegetable product TO the green stuff is as
about one to fifteen. Much canned food is
naturally being supplied to the European
armies. In the transportation of canned
goods for every two pounds of cans hauled
to destination less than one pound of food is
delivered. One car of dried product, aver
aging all kinds, is equal to about twelve car
loads of green stuff. This means reduc-
ton in this particular freight of about 30
per cent, fewer car movements and more mo-
bility. This is what the Germans gain by
its use.
The two greatest producers of dry fresh
vegetables in Germany are Knorr & Co. and
Otto 4 Kaiser. both with principal Offices
and factorcs az Hebron. and with other
factories elsewhere in Germany. Austria and
Switzerland. According TO our consular re-
ports, there were 327 such factories ia Ger
many in 1911. On April % OF this year it
was reported that 800 potato-drying mills
have been established in Germany during the
last ten months. their number since 1904
having grown 80 per cent" On September .
our consul at Frankfort on-the-Main wrote
that during the war much attention has been