The Washington times., 1929-11-12


'e Summer supplies an abundance
Of fresh fruits. But, as the winter
months advance, these fresh
fruits wane, and we gladly turn
to the canned and dried va
rietieS, which not only ably sup
plement the winter standbys, but
. are available all the year round.
Canned fruits as fine favored
and luscious as the best, plucked
fresh in the orchard, can be had
. at reasonable cost-they are pre-
pared for immediate use by the
: rnost-modern scientific methods
! in sanitary cannerieS. These
canned fruits are available in
/ abundant varieties and grades.
In price, they compare favorably
with fresh fruit, for. in the prepa-
) ration for canning, all waste is
removed, and they are ready to
serve.
y The growing of fruit for can
ming is a business in itself, as
only the varieties that have the
y proper size, texture, and flavor
!. are desirable. Some Gamers
grow the fruit themselves, while
Others purchase it direct from
] the grower on contract at the be-
ginning of the season. And,
AtSince it is so important to can
the fruit at just the proper stage
of maturity, and in the freshest
condition possible, canning plants
/ are operated close to the source
, of supply.
II Fruit is delivered at the can
J merry in crates or boxes, which
. are so constructed that the fruit
lis not bruised, crushed, or heated.
! On it's arrival at the cannery, the
. fruit is sorted to eliminate I'M
sound pieces. Then it is graded,
washed, peeled, and trimmed. The
; prepared fruit is then packed into
the tin cans by hand to prevent
! crushing, and the hot sugar syrup
. or water added. Next, a heating
bath of steam or water drives out
the cold air. The cans are then
8 promptly closed by means of ma
chimes called "double-seamers, p"
which are placed on the covers
1 and fastened Theoretically with
out the use of solder. So eff
.cient are these machines, that tin
4 cans are sealed at the rate of 80
y to 100 per minute. After closing
1.-THE cans, the fruit is sterilized in
huge steam retorts or cookers,
then cooked, labeled, and shipped
! TO its destination.
In general, five grades are used
by fruit Gamers in this country
, for table fruit. They are, in the
order of their quality: Fancy,
Choice and Standard. Then there
. are two lower grades known va
riously as Sub-standard, Natural,
Water or Pie grade. Generally
! speaking, Fancy fruits are packed
in heavy syrup, Choice in mod
erately heavy syrup, and Stand
! ard in light syrup. The lower
grades usually canned with a
little sugar. or in water.
I With the large fruits, like
peaches, pears. etc., the larger
and more uniform fruit goes
into the higher grades. So a
can of Fancy peaches will con-
tain the largest peaches, but there
z will be fewer of them than in the
Choice can, because the Choice
contains a slightly smaller-sized
peach.
/, With certain of the smaller
fruits, the quality Of the fruit in
the higher grades does not differ
. materially from that in the lower
grades, the difference being
largely one of the amount of
/ sugar used. The lowest grade of
fruit, known as pie" fruit, is
good, wholesome fruit canned in
1 water. Since this grade of fruit
/. is used primarily as a pie filling,
It matters little if it includes
Il fruit that is small. a trifle over
!. or under ripe, or not uniform in
shape. The housekeeper would
1do well to purchase this grade