Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1911-06-09
The Canning Industry on a Small
Scale.

Away back in the year 1926 Thos.
, Kennsett and Ezra Daggett obtained
: government patents for putting up
canned goods In Theoretically sealed
cans. The operation was very crude
In those days, but the principle was
the same then as now, viz: placing
the goods in air-tight receptacles and
subjecting these to heat sufficient to
kill the ferment germs. This process
of sterilization under steam pressure
has become well recognized by all
scientists and chemists, but such in
formation, however, has been largely
confined to the commercial canning
industry and as a result, until more
recently, there have been very few
individual Gamers or small canning
factories In the United States. The
canning industry has been clouded in
mystery to the rank and file of hui
manity. Just why this has been so
would be hard to ascertain, since, in
reality, the process of steriliz cation
and the canning of raw products in
general is very simple and is easily
understood by any one of ordinary
intelligence. There are no secret
lcontrivances or chemicals used. 1t
is simply matter of applying suffic-
iently intense heat the required time,
such process killing every germ
known to science. The contents of
any receptacle, no matter of what
material it is made, subjected to this
degree of heat, will be properly steri-
lized. And if the contents are kept
away from the germ laden air, fer
mentation and putrification will
never set in. 1t is to be remember
ed however, that the temperature OF
water in an open kettle will neNe CT
rise above PIP degrees Fahrenheit.
No matter how hot the fire or how long
| 1t is applied, the water will remain
at exactly PIP degrees. But by con-
filming the water in a steam tight
boiler, Immediately the temperature
of heat will rise to a much higher
degree. This is what is meant by
| sterilization under steam pressure. "
| These facts are well known among
the people of Europe, especially
those of France and Germany, and.
as a result, the canning industry in,
those countries is largely done by in
| dlVliual farmers and fruit raisers.
The canning of raw products is
rapidly coming to the front as one of
the largest industries in the world
and is growing at a tremendous rate.
1t is an industry which, when proper
ly understood and appreciated, does
not demand large investments of
capital. AS to the magnitude of this
industry, it is only necessary to call
attention to the aggregate selling
price of canned tomatoes and sugar
corn alone, which is considerably in
excess of $20,000,000 each year in
the United States. Add to this the
canning of corn, peas, beans, fruits
ETC., and the aggregate value of can
ned goods actually sold on the mar
ket runs into many times twenty mil
lions expressed in dollars and cents.
There is perhaps no industry that
pays larger and more steady divi-
dends. Considering the enormous
profits derived from the marketing
OF canned goods, it is evident that
the frult grower and the farmer
simply drops out of the game just
where the real profits begin. In
other words, the grower of fruit ana
vegetables, by installing a small out
fit at cost of from $500 to per-
haps $4,000, should be able to put
the profits, arising from the canning
of his own products, into his own
POCKET.
For instance: An acre of tomatoes
will yield on an average, seven tons
OF tomatoes. These when sold to
the Gamer at the average price of
$3.50 per ton, yield a gross return OF
| So9.5O. These seven tons of toma-
I, s, on the other hand, will fill, at
the minimum, 400 dozen cans,
which, sold to the dealer at $500 per
dozen, represents a value of $4,000,
or an aggregate of $360.50 in excess
of producers receipts for the raw
stock. OF this amount, $175 will
fully cover every expense, including
boxes, labels, etc, leaving a net pro-
fit of $245.00 per acre-or over four
times the gross receipts of the pro-
Queer. This same rate of profit APP
plies to other fruits and vegetables
with some slight variations, leaving
it mere matter of simple arithmetic
to appreciate that the individual
farmer and fruitgrower is the loser
every year by not canning and mar
| getting his own produpt