outside the entrance to a ranch, for migrant workers and itinerants passing by to help themselves to a few slivers, to give them sustenance for their journey. It is more than possible that, for economic reasons, this custom no longer prevails but it was once quite common in the Argentine and brazil. Naturally dried fish, preserved by traditional and ancient methods, is still seen in Scandinavia and other European countries where fishing is an important industry, and it is still consumed there, as are the more scientifically processed fish products. Dried ling, or 'stock-fish,, is a common sight hanging outside the village grocer's shop in the remoter parts of Ireland away from the sea coast. It forms a regular part of the Catholic diet on fast days, in the absence of fresh fish, and, in some areas in the West of Ireland, is even preferred to the more sophisticated types of canned and frozen fish. The sun-drying of fruit also goes back for centuries and is still Practised today, Particularly where labour is cheap and abundant, and climatic conditions are favourable It will, perhaps, be demonstrated in the latter chapters that to simulate the effects of these natural forces of sun and wind can, indeed be a costly procedure, and when we think of translating the old crafts into scientific processes, then it is essential to probe very carefully into the economics of the undertaking and this is considered in some detail in Chapter 13 GROWTH The transition from craft to technology can perhaps be traced to the period during World War 1 when considerable quantities of dried vegetables and soup were shipped to the Armed Forces in Europe from the US and,to a lesser extent, from Britain. Some commercial development in dehydrated foods, particularly vegetables, had previously been achieved in the UK in the mid-nineteenth century, when dehydrated carrots and potatoes were supplied to the Royal Navy, and to troops in the Crimea. At about the same time, some early research was carried out into the manufacture of dried milk Between the two World Wars, however, little 1 to have been made in gaining domestic consumer acceptance of dehydrated foods Their value under wartime conditions was undeniable but the technology was not sufficiently advanced to make any impact on the public in general Possibly the already improved techniques in canning impeded the progress of dehydration as a popular means of conserving food Further development obviously depended on fundamental research ive a better theoretical understanding of the underlying mechanisms, and on the creation of objective methods for assessing flavour and textureoutside the entrance to a ranch, for migrant workers and itinerants passing by to help themselves to a few slivers, to give them sustenance for their joumey. It is more than possible that, for economic reasons, this custom no longer prevails but it was once quite common in the Argentine and Brazil. Naturally dried fish, preserved by traditional and ancient methods, is still seen in Scandinavia and other European countries where fishing is an important industry, and it is still consumed there, as are the more scientifically processed fish products. Dried ling, or 'stock-fish' , is a common sight hanging outside the village grocer's shop in the remoter parts of Ireland away from the sea coast. It forms a regular part of the Catholic diet on fast days, in the absence of fresh fish, and, in some areas in the West of Ireland, is even preferred to the more sophisticated types of canned and frozen fish. The sun-drying of fruit also goes back for centuries and is still practised today, particularly where labour is cheap and abundant, and climatic conditions are favourable. It will, perhaps, be demonstrated in the latter chapters that to simulate the effects of these natural forces of sun and wind can, indeed, be a costly procedure, and when we think of translating the old crafts into scientific processes, then it is essential to probe very carefully into the economics of the undertaking and this is considered in some detail in Chapter 13. GROWTH The transition from craft to technology can perhaps be traced to the period during World War 1 when considerable quantities of dried vegetables and soup were shipped to the Armed Forces in Europe from the US and, to a lesser extent, from Britain. Some commercial development in dehydrated foods, particularly vegetables, had previously been achieved in the UK in the mid-nineteenth century, when dehydrated carrots and potatoes were supplied to the Royal Navy, and to troops in the Crimea. At about the same time, some early research was carried out into the manufacture of dried milk. Between the two World Wars, however, little progress appears to have been made in gaining domestic consumer acceptance of dehydrated foods. Their value under wartime conditions was undeniable but the technology was not sufficiently advanced to make any impact on the public in general. Possibly the already improved techniques in canning impeded the progress of dehydration as a popular means of conserving food. Further development obviously depended on fundamental research to give a better theoretical understanding of the underlying mechanisms, and on the creation of objective methods for assessing flavour and texture 6