No. 6. DEPARTME3NT OF AGRICULTURE. MT 



oue week from May 1 to June 15. Contracts with the farmers may 

 stipulate the date of plauting to regulate the supply of the crop. 

 Good corn land well ^trepared and fertilized is used for this crop. 

 The yield of ears in the husk as delivered to the cannery is from 

 three to five tons per acre, for which the canners pays |4.5U to |7.00 

 per ton. The lower prices prevail in the west and the higher prices 

 iii the east. Tiie margin of profit to the farmer on the raw material 

 is as small as it is to the packer on the packed goods. 



The cauner prefeis to have the corn in a young stage, just about 

 when it is in the best condition for table use. He directs that the 

 ears should be pulled early in the morning and delivered promptly 

 at the factory. To have a good white product in the can, every detail 

 in handling the raw material must l;e carefully managed. 



The coiilract with the farmer usually provides that the corn will 

 be delivered at the factory according to the directions of the packer, 

 that corn too young or too old may be refused, and that it must be 

 delivered same day as it is pulled. Canners do not like to carry corn 

 over night, hence insisJ i^jpon an early delivery each day. 



As sooo as the corn arrives at the factorv it is husked and the 

 imperfect ears are trimmed of their imperfections and then passed 

 with the good eai's to the cutting machines. The Sprague corn cut- 

 ter is in common use in large factories. It has a capacity of 15,000 

 cans per day. 



Corn IS cut from the cob in two different ways, by the same ma- 

 chinery according to the adjustment of the knives. In one case the 

 kernels are cut oil as nearly whole as possible. The corn is then 

 passed through the silker to remove the silk and then tilled cold into 

 the cans. A weak brine is also added and the cans are then wiped 

 and capped but siot tipped. Tlie cans are then exhausted by being 

 immersed in boiling water for ten minutes to heat the corn and drive 

 out the air. They are then tii)ped and put through the cooking pro- 

 cess which takes place in the retorts at a temperature of 250 degrees 

 Fahrenheit. The time of this process varies with different packers, 

 being from forty to fift^'-five minutes. After this process the cans 

 are passed thi'ough a cold water bath to stop the cookiog within, and 

 to prevent the corn turuirig dark. This metliod is known as the moist 

 pack or cold pack, generally practiced in Maryland. 



The other method of canning corn is called the dry pack or hot 

 pack and is commonly jtracticed in Maine and New York. In fact 

 it is generally being adopted in preference to the other method in 

 all the new corn canning sections. ''Dry pack" corn commands a 

 higher price than the "moist pack" corn. 



The knives of the corn cutter are set to cut off only the upper half 

 of the kernels while the rest is removed by the scrapers in the oon- 



