y the governments into large municipal drying plants.
Community driers have been established in the trucking regions and
even itinerant drying machines have been sent from farm to farm
drying the vegetables which otherwise would have gone to waste.

The drying of vegetables may seem strange to the present generation,
but we are very young; to our grandmothers it was no novelty. Many
housewives even to-day prefer dried sweet corn to the canned, and
find also that dried pumpkin and squash are excellent for pie
making. Snap beans often are strung on threads and dried above the
stove. Cherries and raspberries still are dried on bits of bark for
use instead of raisins.

This country is producing large quantities of perishable foods every
year, which should be saved for storage, canned, or properly dried.
Drying is not a panacea for the waste evil, nor should it take the
place of storing or canning to any considerable extent where proper
storage facilities are available or tin cans or glass jars can be
obtained cheap.

For the farmer's wife the new methods of canning are probably better
than sun drying, which requires a somewhat longer time. But dried
material can be stored in receptacles which cannot be used for
canning. Then, too, canned fruit and vegetables freeze and cannot be
shipped as conveniently--in winter. Dried vegetables can be
compacted and shipped or stored with a minimum of risk. String them
up to the ceiling of the storeroom or attic.

A few apples or sweet potatoes or peas or even a single turnip can
be dried and saved. Even when very small quantities are dried at a
time, a quantity sufficient for a meal will soon be secured. Small
lots of dried vegetables, such as cabbage, carrots, turnips,
potatoes, and onions, can be combined to advantage for soups and
stews.

In general, most fruits or vegetables, to be dried quickly, must
first be shredded or cut into slices, because many are too large to
dry quickly, or have skins the purpose of which is to prevent drying
out. If the air applied at first is too hot, the cut surfaces of the
sliced fruits or vegetables become hard, or scorched, covering the
juicy interior so that it will not dry. Generally it is not
desirable that the temperature in drying should go above 140 deg to
150 deg F., and it is better to keep it well below this point. Insects
and insect eggs are killed by the heat.

It is important to know the degree of heat in the drier, and this
canno