The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1877-11-22
How Tomatoes are Canned.

The large consumption OF canned
goods in this country, and the market
which is opening for them in Europe;
the great variety of farm products which
the factories demand, and the near
home market which they make for per-
ishable fruits and vegetables, render
this industry matter of interest to all
intelligent farmers. Besides meats and
fish preserved by this method, nearly |
all the more common and perishable |
fruits and vegetables. are canned and
made available for food during the
whole year. A canning factory is one
of the most useful and economical insti-
buttons that can be established in an ag-
ricultural community. The process OF
preserving is now SO well understood,
and the work is so thoroughly done that
the goods will keep for years, and can
be sent on long sea voyages to all Gil
mates and to the remotest countries.
There is hardly any limit to the demand
| for these goods, so that a factory will
make good home market for nearly
all fruits and vegetables that can not be
disposed of in the fresh condition. 1t
is complete remedy for any glut in
the local markets; for when the buck
sters or middlemen cease to pay living
prices, the factory takes the overplus.
The packing companies are one impor--
| tant factor in the solution of the question
of cheap food supply for the million.
An almost uncomfortable amount OF
wholesome food is gathered and mar
keted at cheap rates that would other
/ wise be lost. In many ways this in
dustry stimulates the production OF
fruits and vegetables in districts remote
from large markets. 1t gathers up the
fragments, so that nothing is lost.
Your readers will be interested in a
description of the canning process as
carried on by the Dudley Packing Com
pany at their factory, established in this
place the present season. The capital
called for in factory that will use up a
thousand bushels of tomatoes day is
about $4,000. The company began
with tomatoes, because the demand for
them is very large, and they can be
grown in quantity on short notice.
Seeds were distributed during the winter
and spring, and the farmers pledged
themselves to cultivate at least lis acres
of tomatoes, and the price was fixed at
80 cents bushel. 1t was regarded as
an experiment, many of the farmers
doubling whether the crop would pay at
that price. The company engaged to
take all that they would raise. Both
parties have kept their engagements,
and not only has the factory consumed
all the tomatoes produced in this vicini-
ty, but large quantities have been
brought from New Jersey. by steamer
and rail for packing here. The yield on
good land, we'll cultivated, has reached,
which pays fairly for rather bulky crop.
The company furnish crates, holding
just a bushel, open at the top, and fur
nished with projecting posts at the cor
ners, so that they can be packed one
crate on top of another without dam
aging the fruit. The payments are in
cash on delivery of the goods. The
first operation in the canning process is
the scalding of the fruit to loosen the
skin. The scalding tank is six feet long,
three feet wide and two feet deep, and
stands upon the platform, outside of
the building near the door. This tank
is filled with water, and kept near the
boiling point by steam. A sieve of iron
wire fits into the top of the tank, and
receives two bushels of tomatoes for a
charge. A jet of steam is turned into
the water, and the tomatoes remain in
it half minute, when they are raised
by the sieve, which turns on a hinge,
and are dropped into two boxes at the
lower end of the tank. Two men man
age the scalding tank, and boy dis
tributes the fruit among the peelers with
in.
I Thirty-six women and girls attend to
7 this department. They are arranged at
1 the sides of troughs, elevated sufficiently
3 for convenient handling, each workman
) having pail and a box for the deposit
, of the skins and refuse; each tomato is
5 peeled and cleaned of all decay and
5 green around the stem. The price paid
/ for this work is 81 cents a pail, and the
, days work is from 80 to 40 pals to each
Y operative, according to her skill and ac
/ tivity. The pals are carried by boys tc
: the steamer, which is upon an elevated
t platform, and discharges into the hop
t per for packing. The overseer of thu
: steamer carefully examines each pailful
g as it is spread out, for any neglect among
e the peelers, and removes the unrip,
:. portion if any is found. She also give
e a check for each pailful, which the DO,
: returns to the operative, and thes'
; checks are the certificates of the amour
: of labor performed.
q From the steamer the tomatoes fal
h into hopper, and then into the suffer
which is cylinder worked by treadle
The cans used here are quarts and gal