FRUIT CANNING

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVIII, Issue 69, 23 March 1914, Page 6

FRUIT CANNING

•WHAT IT DID FOR CALIFORNIA

Just now, wberi so-much fruit is «Sh~ J° T' lSt6- i n. mW Canterbury orcdaards, .it js-. interesting to see what systematic development- of the fruit

industry and of canning has done elsewhere, and what the work of the. Fruit Growers' Association, which the .Government is desirous of encouraging, may accomplish. The San Francisco Chronicle, in the course of an illustrated special article,. gives some 'glimpses 'of /what it' has meant to California. Here are some extracts:— BIG CANNING PLANTS. At North Beach, in San Francisco, in located a fruit and vegetable cannery, having a capacity of 200,000 cans per day. This plant receives the produce from the valleys tribu-r tary to San Francisco Bay. Sonoma, Napa, Capay valleys and the delta lands of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers to the north aiid east; the sheltered vales amid th© Contra Costa hills and' the upper reaches of the Santa Ciara valley ship their fruit and garden truck to the canneries at San Francisco most expeditiously. Districts further distant are served by special plants. Sain Jose boasts large, c-anneries which handle the\fruits of the famous SantaClara Valley» Bartlett pears and Royal Anne cherries grow especially large and toothsome iv this locality,and by natural selection, they are preferred by their preservers. Another large plant is looted in Yuba City, in the heart of the Sacramento Valley, where peaches and apricots ar<^ grown upon a large scale. Throughout the great interior valleys most of these trade-building' cannei-iiSs' rum; busily from March to Noyedibj^. Upon opening a can of Califbrn'xan fruit you will almost invariably- find that the prepared peaches or peara or apricots or >yhatever the contents may be are uniformly large, tender, yet firm, and swimming in a delicious syrup. The rich, ripe colors delight the ' eye, even as •' the appetising aroma and the palatetickling taste gladden and gratify the senses of odor and flavor. Tb,at alinosfc every one' of tens of millions of_ cans of California fruit which is shipp-qd, to the trade duly conforms to this description is due to the good business sense of the packers. " Their success in building up a world-wide demand for their products "hasi''^depeiid?d. : , uppn' ,the achieving •of •a; world-wide 'reputation for;-;qt^alit^>; quacftjity,i/atidi pUritp;;'';Mid /having. ;won; .Jirstr'pliSc©'. ;i^i % /thfe>Vheartsi) sojr riiiher? ■sfomu^lis; ■' of: their 'ciist-iiniers < they realise that -the- .only way to continue -tcv cater; more -extensively to people of all countries is to serve nothing but the best. Therefore, utmost care is taken by the buyers of the canneries to purchase only the choicest fruit and vegetables, while the operatives are trained to exclude all imperfect^ pieces of produce. ■■ '-'< v THE SECRET PROCESS. There is no secret in the; canning of fruit and vegetables; /Only the well-understood1 sterilising process is Employed. : But. satiiSfaotory results always depend upon the discriminating judgment of the buyer. His particular cannery, is usually located in,'" a produciag region i.' where the fruits are. secured in their perfection of ripeness and promptly transported! to the awaiting cans ere their riper' uess begins to become passe. Cherries and berries are, usually brought/ to the cannery in/ small boxes, just as they are to the retail trade. ' Such, fruits, large and small, must be firm and uncrushed as though they / were, billed to the; most ., fastidious house-' keeper r Also, they must be uniform in size, so as to facilitate their packing in • evenly filled/ cans or jars. Arriving in the canneries, the fruits ■and! vegetables are graded according to their,character. The raw material is then cleaned/ and prepared for the most part-"by. skilled women workers. Peeling is performed by hand only! when it is more, economical to do so. Machinery is coming more extensively into use, but the »thm-skinned tomato is still too delicate for the ruder paring of mechanical devices. The human hand is still mightier than, steel when it comes to flaying tomatoes. Pears ako are. pared, coredj and halved by hand. ' CLEANLINESS WANTED. Cleanliness is a prime essential to the process of canning. All modern canneries are equipped with sanitary floors, in which thorough drainage; is effected/ Each night the floors and' fixtures are/washed and scalded ..until all is .s^weet < and. clean." /Otmost care is taken, to prevent contamiriatioxx\froin ,;4wsfe,/ rSy;:.. or ~ foiilj!airi. The prepared fruit- is placed in, the cans^;; usually ,:^ with syrup made from pure water and sugar. The process of boiling arid hermetically sealing the can or Jar doas the real work of preserving its contents, -While the sugai- is added in varying proportions, according to the demands of the trade to which it is supplied. After filling and sealing, the caiis aro transferred to retorts, where they are boiled in water or in superheated steam at temperatures1 ranging from 212deg. to as high as 260 deg. 'FgJb.. They are then cooled and stacked in the warehouses until shipped. THE CANNING SEASON. In the latter part of March, the California canning season faiz-ly starts with the packing of asparagus. This delectable vegetable is grown most extensively, in the irrigated delta lands of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. And the fame oi California's canned aspa.ragus has made this State first hi the output of this delicacy. Strawberries next engage the attention of the cannery people, the season beginning about May Bth and ending about October 23rd. Then, in rotation, follow peas, cherries, currants, siring beans, and blackberries throughout May and June. On the longest day in the year apricots begin to boil; then follow plums, freestone peaches, nectarines, and pears. In August", clingstone peaches become most popular, and continue so till late in October. Among the vegetables, the tomato is timg of the canr.eries from August 23rd to November 16th. The packing of grapes and quinces completes the autumn's activities. "■ "COME AND SEE.". The managers of. the modern canner.ies. generally invite their patrons to visit the packing plants and satisfy

themselves that the process of can- \ '. ning is conducted upon the most sani- j tary and scientific principles. In j their reports, the California cahriers ; proudly boast that no adulterants or I antiseptics axe. used. , The; hermeti-,; ;■; oally contai4ersraft^liXtely- pre- t • vent decompositaonand/.preclude: the ; ; possibility of poisoning.:, t- It is, there^- \ j fore, absurd to, talk of ptomaine, > ] poisoning resulting from the partak- > ing of preserved fruits and vegetables, \ [ when .ptoniaines are foreign to vegetable products. The cannery people j , of California: have repeatedly declared ' that there,, hks never been an authenticated case,:of,illness or poisoning due to eating their products., ■. • STATE'S CANNERY PRODUCTS. '<■ The normal;! case' !of canned fruit • : contains twenty-four;; cans, each, of : which' averages between twenty-one and twenty-two ounces, in weight. FronvoneH-sixth to one-sevenbh of the k pack is put up in gallon cans. Ac- • • cording to statistics compiled by i; Howard C. Rowley, editor of the \ Pacific Fcnit Grower, there were ; manufactured in 1910 4,008,549 cases iof standard size of canned fruit. In : 1911 4,182,650, and 1912 4,833,900. ;i Of the pack of last season, the ' i principal items were:— j Cases. . i Peaches of all varieties ... 2,214,055 ■} Apricots 898,005 ■; Pears 874,200 | Cherries ...... 351,895 ' j Other varieties of fruits ? and berries ... 495,745 4,833,900 The vegetable pack for 1912 in terms of standard cases was as fol--11 lows:— j _, • Cases. j Tomatoes 1,621,100 ■| Asparagus ... 719,200 iPeaa ... ... 269,425 Beans ... ... ... 84,355 Other vegetables 95,415 2^789^495 In 1912 the grand total of the product of the Californian canneries was 7,673,395 oases. When the returns for 1913 are complete it is believed they will aggregate, 9,000,000 cases. Deducting the Npronts of the cannery ~ stockholders -fr^m th,e.sum of .32,Q0Q,----000 dollars received from i the sates <y£- ■ this ioutput,l; it- ,will■be'-seen vh>&/!oon^ •eidex.able.- i^{i^ ( vSttiri,';;jNni i; ihtb circulation in -California by '/%%& great^?caifrning industry. .•".•>.;;;•■•;■ , '•■■< .; .