Milford chronicle., 1930-10-10
CANNING FACTORY EMPLOYS 400
125,OOO Cases Limas Yearly


vided among 400 people, is the con-
tribution of the Draper Canning
Company to the general prosperity
of Milford, for that is the approxi-
mate payroll of the company during
the busy season. The busy season in
the canning of lima beans, which
are their main product, is about
60 days long, starting near the mid
die of August and ending about the
fifteenth of October All this time
there are about 400 people employed
as to compare to the mere handful
on the payroll of fifty years ago
when the Draper Canning Company
was first established. Obviously it
means a great deal to the commun-
| ity of Milford to have such indus
tries as this one.
When one is visiting the factory
he should begin his trip at the vim
ing machine. This is where the
beans are brought in the hull by the
farmer to be vined. The beans in
hull enter a large revolving cylin-
( der and are turned over several
times until they are threshed out
I ldllllS
one bin for the white beans which
fall through first and the other for
green beans. This vining usually
takes about an hour for a good size
load of beans.
After the beans pass through the
viners they go by small elevators to
the tanner "a machine that moves
the beans around while at the same
time blowing the dirt and chaff
from them by electricity. After they
are cleaned by this process they so
to the washing machine. This is a
large cylinder with holes which al
low the dirt to pass through from
the beans. Here the beans are
turned over continuously with a
large spray of water running on
them until they are clean.
They come out of the washing
machine into boxes in which they
are carried to the women who sit
on both sides of tables with trOughs
in them. There are about $50 wO-
men who separate the white beans
from the green ones thus making
two classes of beans.
After this sorting by color is fin
ished they are carried on the eleva-
tors to the grading machine. Here
they are graded into three sizes;
small, medium and tiny.
After they go through this process
they are sent to the blanchers
which cleans them with hot water
before passing them ON to the pick
ing belt.
Here workers are stationed on
each sideto examine and remove
any foreign matter from the beans
as they pass by.
From the picking belt they go to
the filler machine that mOxes them
with brine in small cups that depos-
it the beans in the cans. Each can
is filled about three-fourths full
to allow the beans to swell and
fill the can when they are cooked.
Now the beans are in the cans and
are ready to go to the closing ma
chine. This machine is one of the
most important in the factory. I'm
less the cans are sealed tightly
they will leak and spoil the con-
tents.
After the cans have been sealed
they enter large round racks and
are sent to the retorts. These large
retorts cook three racks of beans
at one time The usual amount of
time required for cooking a No. 2
can, with contents weighing one
pound and four ounces, is foIty-fve
minutes. After the cooking process
the cans enter the cooling tank that
is filled with cold water through
which they go slowly to the ware
house, where men store them in
bins according to grade. When the
cans have cooled sufficiently sam
pies are opened from that days
pack and inspected to make
sure that it is of the highest quality
that there are no brOk-
en- beans, that there is not too much
liquid in the cans that the beans
are graded correctly, and finally
that they have a good taste.
The pack is then labeled by a lab
cling machine which turns out lab
beled cans very rapidly. Using this
machine it takes about one minute
and half to label a case of cans,
have them in the case, and sealed.
At last the beans are ready for
market.
Samples are sometimes sent to
the wholesale buyers in order that
The buyer may see what he is get
Ting. These buyers are scattered all
over the United States and Canada,
and through them the produce of
mir own neighhOrhOod finds its WaV
into the homes and onto the tables
Of every state from here to Califor-
lia. So that no matter Where one
goes it is a ten to one chance that
he canned limas he eats came from
Delaware and more than likely that
hey are part of the three million
pounds of limas that are canned
light here in Milford each year.
Two ieWelry dealers visited school