present day brings forth a new problem and a new attitude toward the
home preservation of foods. There are three distinct reasons why foods
should be preserved in the home. The first is to bring about _economy_.
If fruits, vegetables, and other foods can be procured at a price that
will make it possible to preserve them in the home at a lower cost than
that of the same foods prepared commercially, it will pay from an
economical standpoint. The second is to promote _conservation_; that is,
to prevent the wasting of food. When fruits and vegetables are
plentiful, the supply is often greater than the demand for immediate
consumption. Then, unless the surplus food is preserved in some way for
later use, there will be a serious loss of food material. The third is
to produce _quality_. If the home-canned product can be made superior to
that commercially preserved, then, even at an equal or a slightly higher
cost, it will pay to preserve food in the home.

5. Of the methods of preserving perishable foods, only two, namely,
canning and drying, are considered in this Section. Before satisfactory
methods of canning came into use, drying was a common method of
preserving both fruits and vegetables, and while it has fallen into
disuse to a great extent in the home, much may be said for its value.
Drying consists merely in evaporating the water contained in the food,
and, with the exception of keeping it dry and protected from vermin, no
care need be given to the food in storage. In the preparation of dried
food for the table, it is transformed into its original composition by
the addition of water, in which it is usually soaked and then cooked.

The drying of food is simple, and no elaborate equipment is required for
carrying out the process. Dried food requires less space and care in
storage than food preserved in any other way, and both paper and cloth
containers may be used in storing it. When storage space is limited, or