Year: 1878

he large consumption OF canned goods
in this country, and the market which is
open for them in Europe, the great vari-
ETY. of farm products which the factories
demand. and the near home market
which they make for perishable fruits
and vegetables, renders this industry a
matter of interest to all intelligent farm
ers. Beside meats and fish preserved by
this method, nearly all the more common
and perishable fruits and vegetables are
canned and made available for food dur
ing the whole year. A canning factory
is one of the most useful and economical
institutions that can be established in
an agricultural community. The process
of preserving is now so well understood
and the work is so thoroughly done that
the goods will keep for years, and can be
sent on long sea voyages to all climates
and to the Temotest countries. There is
hardly any limit to'the demand for these
goods, so that factory will make a good
home market for nearly all fruits and
vegetables that cannot be disposed of in
the fresh condition 1t is complete
remedy for any glut in the local markets
for when the hucksters or middlemen
cease to pay living prices, the factory
takes the overplus. The packing com
panies are one important factor in the
solution of the question of a cheap food
supply for the million. An almost in
conceivable amount of wholesome food
is gathered and marketed at cheap rates
that would otherwise be lost. In many
ways this industry stimulates the produc-
tion Of fruits and vegetables in districts
remote from large markets. 1t gathers
up the fragments, so that nothing is lost


Mr. w. Cliff of Mystic Bridge Conn,
writing to the Country Gentleman, says
Your readers will be interested in de
scription of the canning process as car
ried on by the Dudley Packing Company
at their factory, established in this place
the present season. The capital called
for in a factory that will use up a thou
sand bushels of tomatoes a day is about
$4,000 The company began with toma-
toes, because the demand for them is
very large, and they can be grown i'm
quantity on short notice. Seeds were
distributed during the winter and spring,
and the farmers pledged themselves to
cultivate at least lis acres of tomatoes,
and the price was fixed at 30 cents a
bushel. 1t was regarded as an expert
ment, many of the farmers doubling
whether the crop would pay at that price.
The company engaged to take all that
they would raise. Both parties have
kept their engagements, and not only
has the factory consumed all the toma-
toes produced in this vicinity, but large
quantities have been brought from New
Jersey by steamer and rail for packing
here. The yield on good land, well cul
tivated, has reached in some cases 400
bushels to the acre, which pays fairly for
a rather bulky crop.


"The company furnish crates, holding
Just a bushel open at the top, and fur
nished with projecting posts at the cor
ners, so that they can be packed one
crate on the top of another without dam
aging the fruit. The payments are in
cash on delivery of the goods. The first
operation in the canning process is the
scaldng of the fruit to loosen the skin.
The scalding tank Is feet long, feet
wide and 2 deep, and stands upon the
platform, outside of the building. near
the door. This tank is filled with water
and kept near the boiling point by steam.
A sieve of iron wire fits into the top of
the tank, and receives two bushels Of to-
matoes for a charge A Jet of steam is
turned into the water, and the tomatoes
remain in it a half minute, when they are
raised by the sieve, which turns on a
hinge, and are dropped into two boxes at
the lower end of the tank. Two men
manage the scalding tank and a boy dis
tributes the fruit among the peelers
within.


"Thirty-six women and girls attend to
this department. They are arranged at
the sides of troughs, elevated sufficiently
for convenient handling, each workman
having a pail and box for the deposit
of the skins and refuse; each tomato is
peeled and cleaned Of all decay and green
around the stem. The price paid for this
work is 81 cents a pail and the days
work is from 30 to 40 pals to each oper
ative, according to her skill and activity.
The pals are carried by boys to the
steamer, which is upon an elevated plat
form, and discharges into the hopper for
packing. The overseer of the steamer
carefully examines each pailful, as it is
spread out, for any neglect among the
peelers, and removes the unripe portion
| it any is found. She also gives a check
for each pailful. which the boy returns to
the operative and these checks are the
certificates OF the amount of labor per-
| formed.


From the steamar the tomatoes fall
into a hopper, and then into stuffer,
which is a cylinder worked by treadle.
/ The cans used here are quarts and gal
/ Ions, of which a large stock is kept on
| hand in the loft above the packing room


The cans are passed down to the packer


by trough, which is kept constantly
/ full. The filling is done through a hole


about an inch and a half in diameter in


the top of each can. This hole is placed
over the end of the stuffer, and with a


slight pressure Of the foot upon the


treadle, the packer fills his can, and


nearly excludes all air and water. The


next step in the process is regulating the
cans for soldering Some of the cans are