Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1910-07-08
BIG CANNING SEASON !.
FOR AARSHA[[|0VN
WESTERN GROCER COMPANY
RAPIDLY COMPLETING MODEL
PLANT FOR CANNING.
IMMENSE AMOUNT OF
MACHINERY INSTALLED
New Power Plant is Now Finished and
Power is Connected Up to Canning
cepartment--AII Machinery is Mod
ern. and All Products Fully Steriiized
and Sanitary.
IMMENSE AMOUNT OF
MACHINERY INSTALLED

\ The canning industry in MARSHALL
! town is going 5oahe one of much mag
nitude this = aud at the mills of
the Western Company, one of
the largest factories of the
middle west is now nearing compile
tor Immense quantities of new and
most modern canning machinery is be-
! ing installed at the rate OF one or two
cars per day. and within a fortnight
work will be begun in some of the fill
in" products that the company will
place in tin.
Unlike most canning factories the
plant Of the Western Grocer Company
vii! not be operated during the corn
and tomato season alone. but thruout
the entire year. The new power plant
of the company has been installed, and
connected up with the canning depart
ment Later all the different buildings
comprising the big mills will be con-
nected up, the plant furnishing power,
light, hea. and steam for cooking. Ii
the power plant are two generators,
one 10G-horse power and the other 90.
and both directly connected with the
engine.
Four. Story Cannery.
The canning factory of the Western
Grocer Company is a four-story build
ing. but the first and second stories
have been thrown together in order TO
facilitate manufacturing. Machinery
for different branches Of the work IS
being placed on each hoor, and every
floor is built Of solid cement.
faI,
of the latest pattern comprises twenty
large upright retorts, or cooking ket-
ties. corn dllers. cappers, cutters. silk
ers. etc The cans are not handled by
hand as under the old method. but in
crates operated by steel cranes. which
lower and raise the cans in and out of
The big cookers.
Process Strictly Sanitary.
The process of canning any of the
different products that the company
VIII handle is strictly sanitary. Even
the corn itself is not handled by hum
an hands but by machinery. The large
husking shed is completed. and eight
husking machines viii do the work 900
people have been employed TO do here
,ofore. There is no shoveling of corn
and bruising it before canning. Instead
the teams from the com pany's farms
Will dump from the scales into an ele-
vator that picks the corn UP and dis
tributes il to the luskers. Then, thru
another elevator the corn is lifted TO
the top floor. where it is cut from the
cob by machinery. A double silking
system has been installed. in which the
silks are removed before cutting, and
then a second silker takes out any
small particles of the silks that may
have been missed in the first opera
ton. Every can into which the corn
is placed is thoroughly slerilized in
boiling water and thoroughly washed
before being used.
Start on Hon,iny in Fortnight.
Within two weeks the company ex-
poets to start operations in the canning
department, by canning hominy. This
product is one of the so-called fill
ms" and will be canned between regu-
lar seasons of other products Baked
beans will also be put into tin while
awaiting the arrival of the corn and
tomato season. and red kidney beans
are to be canned
The corn and tomato season will run
from somewhere about the 18th TO goth
of August to the 25th or goth of Sep
TENDER Then will come pumpkin.
sauer kraut. and other products. Among
the products that the com pany will ex-
pertinent III this season is sweet pota-
toes Other experimental products
will be caned, in an effort to give the
department work thruout the entire
year.
Will Can Much Corn.
During the corn and tomato canning
season the company expects to place an
! immense quantity Of these products in
tin 1t is expected that in corn alone
the company will can between $4,000
and 100000 cases, or from 100000 to
100000 cans. In tomatoes the out
put will be somewhere around $4,000
cases. and during the tomato season the
plant will also produce in the neigh
borhood Of 10000 cases of catsup. The
tomato shed is now nearly completed.
Both the corn and tomato sheds will
be lighted with arc lights instead Of
incandescents Both sheds have cement
floors SO that washing will be easy and
thoroughly done. This will avoid the
usual smell that comes in the ordinary
canning factories during the run of
I the corn and tomato seasons.