38 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



vegetables, he has made a specialty of apple canning. I received 

 a letter from him recently, and he wrote the following in regard 

 to one season's pack in Canada : 



"The writer met with the most satisfactory results, one year 

 when fall fruit was nearly useless, in buying eight thousand 

 barrels, all one kind, 'Duchess of Oldenburg,' number ones, and 

 hand picked, at fifty cents per barrel (without the barrel) and 

 canning them all inside of four weeks, beginning August 22nd. 

 Sold same in Liverpool and Glasgow at a fair profit. This was 

 done in a section where help was plenty — over a hundred girls 

 being employed." 



With the foregoing facts in view, we readily see why the Maine 

 packed apples are not up to the other packs in quality. In this 

 State, the growers cannot afford to sell their number one grafted 

 fruit at canning prices, nor can the canners afford to pay the 

 prices which the growers must get for their grafts. 



The question which now arises is, What kind of fruit must be 

 canned in Maine ? Certain kinds of natural fruit make very fair 

 goods, indeed. They must be of good size, smooth, hard, and 

 free from bruises. 



The size of canning apples must be two inches or over in diam- 

 eter. There is, also, as much danger of the apples being too large 

 as too small. An apple which is over three inches in diameter 

 will swing the knife-arm of the paring machine out so far that 

 the knife will not touch the skin at all. Such apples have to be 

 pared with a hand knife. The best size for paring is two and 

 one-half inches. 



The apples should, also, be smooth as the uneven and rough 

 ones will not pare well. The parer knife will jump over all of 

 the hollows and the apple has to be pared again with the hand 

 knife. It is also impossible to centre these apples on the machine' 

 so that the corer will not take out good apple and leave the core 

 and hulls. This causes the apples to cut to waste. If an apple 

 is soft, it is of no use at all. When it is pressed upon the forks 

 of the machine, it begins to break and when the knife takes hold, 

 the whole goes to pieces and falls into the basket with the parings. 



A sweet apple is worse than useless for canning purposes. 

 One piece of sweet aople will turn a whole can of the best of 

 apples almost black. Discolored apples are unsaleable. 



