The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1877-11-08
How Tomatoes are 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 a 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 eli
mates and to the remotest countries.
There is hardly any limit to the demand
/ for these goods, so that factory will
4 make good home market for nearly
all fruits and vegetables that can not be
! disposed of in the fresh condition. 1t
is a 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 a cheap food supply for the million.
An almost inconceivable 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
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
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 115 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,
in some cases, 400 bushels to the acre,
which pays fairly for rather bulky crop.
The company furnish crates, holding
just 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
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 a boy dis
tributes the fruit among the peelers with
in.
Thirty-six women and girls attend to
this department. They are arranged at
the sides of troughs, elevated sufficiently
for convenient handling, each workman
having pail and box for the deposit
of the skins and refuse; each tomato is
peeled and cleaned of all decay and
green around the stem. The price paid
for this work is 80 cents pail, and the
days work is from 80 to 40 pals to each
operative, according to her skill and ac-
tivity. The pals are carried by boys to
the steamer, which is upon an elevated
platform, and discharges into the hop
per for packing. The overseer of the
steamer carefully examines each pailful,
as it spread out, for any neglect among
the peelers, and removes the unripe
portion if any is found. She also gives
a check for each pailful, which the boy
returns to the operative, and these
checks. are the certificates of the amount
of labor performed.
From the steamer the tomatoes fall
into hopper, and then into the suffer,
which is a cylinder worked by a treadle.
The cans used here are quarts and gal
Ions, of which large stock is kept on
hand in the loft above the packing
room. The cans are passed down to
the packer by trough, which is kept
constantly full. The filling is done
through hole about an inch and a half
in diameter in the top of each can. This
hole is placed over the end of the stuff
fer, and with slight pressure of the
foot upon the treadle, the packer fills
his can, and nearly excludes all air and
water. The next step in the process is
regulating the cans for soldering Some
of the cans are little toe full, and some
do not contain quite enough. This work
is done by two girls. A boy fits the
caps over the holes, and puts seven cans
upon tray, and delivers them to the
solderers. This is done by boys at the
Gulden's patent Gaping machine, which
is exceedingly ingenious, and saves a
great deal of labor The can to be cap
ped is put upon the platform of the ma
chine. The soldering-iron, semi-cir-
cular piece of iron, adjusted to the size
of the cap, which the workman turns
with one hand, while he holds the strip
/ of solder in the other A stream of gas
made from naphtha is thrown from the
burner upon the soldering iron, which
melts the solder and seals the can as
fast as it can be turned upon the plat
form. Two cans are sealed every min
ute, when every thing is ready. A boy
will seal from 700 to 1000 cans in day,
and the pay is &c. per 100. This work
was formerly done by men at cost of
81 or IS a day, consuming twice as
much solder, and this is a good illustra-
ton of the value of labOr-saying ma
chinery.
The cans pass Immediately from the