Imperial Valley press., 1918-11-23
VEGETABLES FOR ARMY

Washington, D. c., Nov. 20.-The
War Depl. authorizes h. follow
ing: The industry of dehNdratine
vegetables in this country has beer
made use of by HE Quar- ermaster
/ Corps of The army for he protection
of the American soldiers in Franc.
General Pershing, to conserve all lon
maze and al the same lime 10 guar
antee against any possible shortage OF
vegetables by losses a sea or by fail
! ure of crops abroad, suggested the
dr;ing of vegetables as reserve for
his men. His suggestion has been act-
ed upon.
In Europe. vegetable dehydration
has been an industry for Years. Off
GERS of the Subsist ance division Of
The QuartcrmasI er Corps slate Thai
many European troops oday are sui
sisting largely upon vegetables 'Shic'i
were dehydrated during long period
of Years before The war started.
The term "dehy drafted rs anpli'd
10 vegetables generally conveys bul y
hazy idea. Successful de'lydratlor
involves much more Ihan merely TAX
inc the water ou of the fresh ve&e-
tables, for the processes by which 'his
extraction of wafer can be accom-
plished without injury 10 the food
value of The sIock and the keeping
qualify of the product, are compl'
Gated. Study and experience, how
ever, have made The process of de-.
hydralion successful in the case OF all
common vegetables.
! The advantage of dehydra'ion are
that vegetables so prepared will keep
Indefinitely, are partially redy-pre-A
pared, are packed conveniently for
handling and are so shrunken in bulk
that they occupy only small propol
iion-aboui one -sixth--of HE ship
ping space which the fresh vegetable:
would require.
/ Many diff"ren processes Of d2hy-
dration are in use in vlrious plans
and The mclods required for success
also vary with ihe kind Of tock be,
ing treated The factor common to all
vege able dehydration is of course.
iha of water extraction. This ls
variously accomplished-by driving IN
kilns, in steam boxes or by passinf
through hot air tunnel. There arc
other irea aIments necessary in HE case
of certain vegetables, notably po'a-
Toes, where blanchins process with
live steam is necessary This dora
in order 10 fix The tarch and 10 pro
vent blackening.
The Quartermasler Corps has made
purchases for The army Of dehydraird
potatoes, carrots, iurnips. celery
onions and cabbage and various
greens have been bought in mailer
quantities. In addition there have
been purchases of Gehydrated sour
mixures. Up 10 The present time ahoVi
10000, 900 pounds of all ve=ciable'
have been contracted fer. III" great
bulk of Them being dehydrai ed po'a
toes. This figure, however, does no
, represent the amount of vcgrtabl :
: actually eaten by The army nor ca'
any conclusion be drawn from it 70
| garding The number of men using IL
food or he proportion Of dehy5ratct
, vegetables used in he army ralion.
5 Dchydraled vegetables in lhe arm
b are rs:J merely as a substitute whc'
it is imnossiblc 10 get The fresh nrod
t ucts. Circumstances Which make i
= necessary 10 use The dchydrated nrcd
| ucl are lack of cargo space sufficien
2 10 ranporI tie fresh vegel ablcs over
: seas, scaonaI failure Of foreign CROP
{ from which fresh vegetables orn be
ing purchased, exhaustion or de'eri
: .oration Of The stocks durin% hc sum
I 'ner months and losses at sea. II /;