262 ANNUAL. REPORT OF THE Off Doc. 



CANNING OF FRUITS AND VKGETABLKS. 



By Prof. George C. Butz, State College, Pa. 



THE CANNING INDUSTRY. 



The enormous quantity of canned goods that is annually put up 

 by American factories is astounding, to say the least, and when con- 

 sidered commercially, is well worthy the distinction of an industry. 

 The pioceers in the business may have hesitated to invest largely 

 in this stock, but it is certain now that the canning industr}^ is on as 

 permanent a basis as is the iron or coal industry. The successful 

 preserving of fruits and vegetables in tin wrappers in quantities to 

 supply the world and for a price that will carry the goods into the 

 humblest home, has been demonstrated by the experience of more 

 than a quarter of a century. The demand for canned goods steadily 

 increases from year to year, and it may be said eveti now that a large 

 part of our population is wholly depending upon the canner for the 

 fruit and vegetable part of their diet. This is true not only of the 

 millions who dwell in tenements and other thickly populated por- 

 tions of our cities, but also of other millions who formerly grew their 

 fruits and vegetables in private gardens and abandoned them in 

 favor of the canned articles which may be had at a less cost and with 

 less labor. 



A steady increase iu population requiring increased quantities 

 of foods, the introduction of special machinery to economize labor 

 and cheapen production, and the tendency of men to engage in special 

 and limited lines of work, force us to admit our mutual dependence 

 for the products of each others labors. And so the canning indus- 

 try has attracted to itself the men who are specially qualified to 

 prepare and preserve certain foods which could not be enjoyed by 

 millions of their fellowmen, except for this art of canning. The 

 demand for canned goods will continue to grow and it is next to im- 

 possible to estimate the probable development of the next quarter 

 of a century. The growth of the business done in the past decade is a 

 pretty fair index of what may be expected in the future. In the 

 reports published by the American Grocer, the total packs in 

 America of tomatoes and corn for the past ten years are expressed 

 in figures as follows: 



