Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-09-23
Dried Vegetables
AS An Industry
BY Frederic ]. Haskin

| and at the same time, make possible q
| large economy in transportation Al
ready over forty factories hnve been
| established, but these are working almost
entirely on orders from the government.
| As yet, the civilian consumer has only
| slight acquaintance with their product,
| which is well known in tho trenches, but
is just beginning to attract attention ~
| the groceries. II is the comfnerciai
| dried vegetable
The dried vegetable, of course, is not
new. Long ago, our ancestors discovered
| this method of preserving vegetables for
winter usc Up until fifty years ago,
dried sweet corn. especially, WINS esteemed
| highly, and many people still consider u q
| greater dclcacy than the canned vanety
! Other vegetables were also dried ~
crude way. and bunches Of t'Ibers and
| green's suspended from the raftcrs of the
| kitchen were the invariable adornment of
every country farmhouse
| THE GREAT AMERICAN CAN
Then came the advent Of the great
| American can one Of the best food pre-
servers ever known Canncries sprane
| up all over the country: housewives stop
ped worrying about the winters supply
Of vegetables. and quite naturally and
from dried vegetables to canned goods
Never was a rival more completely
| routed for II soon appeared that tin plate
| could do what the mere sun could never
accomplish In addition 10 preserving
fresh vegetables, II could preserve fresh
milk rnent, FISH and fruit II slmplihed
| existence 10 such nm extent that the
public soon came completely under its
dominance The word can even crept
outrageously into the nation vocabulary
and everything became canned from
employees 10 music
The can came through this tremendous
wave Of popularity unscathcd and finally
took n firm and substantial place in tho
countrys food supply II is the can,
today which is providing most Of the
food for the American ExpedItionary
Forces But Inc war threw many diff
iiculties in tho smooth path Of the can
ncrs and for nc first time II became APP
parent that the ran itself was not suf-
ficient that some other method was
needed that would preserve food with the
lIsc OF less tin plate and less freight space
TIN PLATE SCARCE
Tin plate Is now so scarce that the gov
crnment is controlling its use. and s for
bidding tho canners to can products that
can be dried equally well 4 few things
have failed 70 respond to the canning
process. as notably the potato, while other
vegetables, like beans arc rs good dried
rs canned. Another great drawback 10 tho
can is that Is nearly always contains
more water than anything else. and when
n nation z. 900 miles wide relies exclusively
on canned goods Il means tho shipment %
millions of gallons OF water back and forth
across the continent
With transportation facilities in their
present overhurdened condition. and
acquiring new burdens daily, il Is evident
that We can no longer rely exclusively
upon canned goods. They will always
play An important part IN 0ur menus. bat
they will no longer be allowed . monopoly
The time has come when efficiency Is the
chief consideration Of the nation. and
efficiency makes monopoly impossible.
Just we must supplement our railroads
with canals. so must we supplement our
canned goods with dried products.
The need for this has become so OBJ
vious that the government itself has
stepped in to be sure that the new driving
industry keeps on its feet The current
agricultural appropriations bull, now IN
Congress carries an appropriation of
$3.50 600 with which the Secretary Of
with individuals firms or corporations
owning or operating plant. for driving or
dehydration Of vegetables fruits and
other perishableS edible products 70
determine he best means and processes
of dehydratlon and 70 disseminate in
formation ~ u the value and suitability
Of such products as human food. This
last clause refers 10 US dear reader The
government iS prepared 10 spend several
thousand dollars teaching Us 10 recognize
the value Of dried food
GOVERNMENTS POWER TO HELP.
In this same bill moreover the secre-
tary Of agriculture is authorized if such
desperate expedicnt should prove neces-
SaTy to build government factories FOR
The dehyratlon OF vegetables and fruits
for the army and the.navy and Use the
money received from the sale of the goods
as a revolving fund with which to operate
them
According to the Bureau of Chemistry
OF the Department Of Agriculture which
has been carrying on an Investigation OF
various drying processes the drying of
vegetables is really a great opportunity
for the cannerieS which already have
most of the machinery required for the
process. As in canning the principal
work in drying vegetables is their prepara-
ton. The cost of installing and operating
a dryer is comparatively small but the
installation Of peelers sliccrs and strain
ers is not SO simple in these days Of steel
scarcity. The Gamers also having
factories in the center Of large vegetable
and fruit areas are the logical persons
To undertake this work
Drying food on 4 commercial scale has
been attempted from time to time for the
last half century hut'it has never been
able to survive the competition of the can.
During the Boer War several dehvdration
plants were established in this country to
supply dried vegetables TO the British |
army but when the war was over they |
apparently died a natural death In /
recent years, Germany perscvered with /
It's Investigations OF driving processes and (
achieved considerable success in driving 4
potatoes, for use as cattle feed few
small German concerns also established
quite a market for dried vegetables IN
Alaska, but this was later taken over bv
American firms which carried larger
selection of dried goods. American
sporting concerns also supplied dried
fruits and vegetables To that horde of
American sportSmen which every year
pours out of our business centers and gets
back to nature But, as common
grocery store product, the dried vegetable
is new.
NOW REAL SUCCESS.
Only recently has it issued from the