The sun., 1919-02-23
By ROBERT C. SKERRETT.

~ ROHlBITlON isn't going TO make |
- water any more popular. In
u fact most Of us will do wisely |
II we look askance "a every unneces-
sary drop of it. AS a people we have
not yet realized that for many decades
we have been paying millions of dol
lars annually for water that we didn't
want-water that we might just as
easily have had well nigh for nothing,
by working the pump or turning on
the faucet.
Canned tomatoes are domestic COM
monplace. No one objects to, them
when the fresh vegetable is not avail
able at a reasonable price. And yet
how many of us have stopped to con-
slider just what we actually pay for
tho measure Of tomatoes we get in the
can?
Take, for instance, a case Of canned
tomatoes costing about 81 and con-
tanning two dozen tins, each weighing
two pounds. The Gamers outlay for
the tomatoes themselves did not ex-
coed Is cents. In other words, the ulti-
mate consumer Is spending $3.So for 10
cents worth OF tomatoes and probably
fully 90 per cent. of each two pound
can is tin and water-mostly water!
The economic wastage becomes still
more conspicuous when you realize
that a tax in the way of freight
charges is being levied for the trans
portation of every pound Of that water.
and of the cans and box that make
II possible to ship the tomatoes In
that form. The canned tomato is no
whit more palatable or nourishing
than it's dried rival. The twenty-four
can case tips the scales at sixty
pounds. While the same quantity of
the vegetable when dried weighs only
two and one-quarter pounds and can
be packed in pasteboard containers.
what 1t Means in Freight Rates.
Probably the sacrifices due to the
water content of the canned product
can be made even plainer-particularly
in view of the freight rates now i'm
posed by the United States Railroad
Administration. 1t is practicable to
ship dried in one car what 1t would
take thirty cars to carry of the canned
goods. In carload of canned
tomatoes there are 10000 pounds Of
tin and $4,000 pounds of lumber. a
total of $4,000 pounds. and for thirty
cars freight would have to be paid
on $50 tons Of materials that could in
no wise help the hungry consumer.
An expert has further elaborated upon
the wastage and lost motion involved.
He says:
There is the movement OF the tin
making material from the mines to
the tin plate factory. and the move
ment of the tin plate from the tin
plate factory to the tin can plant: and
the movement OF the logs to the saw
mill and of the lumber thence to the
box shook works, and the shocks from
there to the cannery. The aggregate
OF this service gives us los carloads as
against one carload of dried vegetables!
The cardboard containers are made
q. from waste material, and the cartons.
folded fiat, capable of holding a car
load of 6ssiccated vegetables, can be
carried in a very small space"
Last year we raised 400, 900
bushels of potatoes, and from Govern
ment sources we learn that. only about
80 per cent. of our total potato crop
ever moves out of the territory in
which the tubers are grown. A stag
gerlng percentage of the potatoes are
scrapped or fed to cattle simply be-
cause they are not first class. meas
ured by market standards. or 1t is i'm
possible to ship them away to other
districts for human consumption.
Potato In 7S Per Cent. Water.
The potato is rs per cent. water in
its edible portion. In Germany they
dried in the course OF twelve months
according to the latest available re.
ports, S00,000,000 bushels - substan.
TALLY twice as many potatoes as We
raise in the whole United States an,
nually. Every pound OF those desic.
Gated potatoes was 100 per cent. food
stuff and could be kept many months
without deterioration. This was apar
from the potatoes which were utilize1
in the ordinary fresh condition
Again for fresh vegetables shippet
long distances we pay extravagantly
This is to cover spelling in transit o.
preservation while on the road, beside
taking caro- OF the transportation
charges. x Western grower urge,
Congress about a year ago to TAX
steps to promote dehydration in thi
country. According to him:
Just before I left California I ga,
shipment OF nifty pounds of gree
sprouts about to be despatched to som