I9I7 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page 7 



the fruit when the trays are moved. 

 The prunes remain in these tunnels 

 from 24 to 36 hours. As fast as the 

 prunes are sufliciently dried they are 

 taken out of the other end of the evap- 

 orator and more prunes put in at the 

 front end to take their places. They 

 are immediately sacked in 100-pound 

 manila sacks and as soon as possible 

 taken to the association packing house. 

 Here the grower is given a receipt for 

 the net weight of his prunes and they 

 are run over a grader which sorts out 

 the prunes according to size, and as the 

 large prunes are worth more than the 

 small ones each grower is given credit 

 for his fruit as it actually grades when 

 final settlement is made. From the 

 grader the prunes are then put in bins 

 for each size, where they remain until 

 they are packed. The prunes are next 

 put through the operation known as 

 ■"processing" before being packed, and 

 they go into the boxes hot. Where 

 prunes are sold unfaced they are prac- 

 tically never touched by human hands 

 after being put into the processor, until 

 they are opened in the East by the 

 retailer. Where prunes are sold faced 

 it is necessary for two layers of prunes 

 to be put into the bottom of the boxes, 

 flattened and placed in regular rows, 

 after which more prunes are packed 

 on top of this facing and after the bot- 

 tom is nailed on the box is turned over, 

 and when opened is opened on the 

 faced side, making a beautifully ar- 

 ranged display of faced prunes. About 

 half to two-thirds of the prunes this 

 year were sold faced. This part of the 

 operations of the Salem Fruit Union's 

 plant alone necessitated the employ- 

 ment this fall of from one hundred to 

 one hundred and twenty-five women 

 for a period of about two months. The 

 total pack through their Salem ware- 

 house this year will amount to about 

 two and one-half million pounds, in 

 addition to which they handled about 

 one and one-cpiarter million pounds in 

 other parts of the Willamette Valley. 



Going back to the processing opera- 

 lion, this is done by putting the prunes 

 through a long box or barrel-shaped 

 machine, and turning live dry steam on 

 them. In this machine there are boil- 

 ing-water sprays, which clean the 

 prunes so well that it is impossible to 

 get your hands soiled in handling 

 them when they come out of the 

 processor. This operation reciuires a 

 great deal of care in order not to get 

 too much moisture into the prunes; 

 otherwise they will not keej). The 

 main idea is to get enough heat into the 

 prune to thoroughly sterilize it, and 

 just as little moisture into the fruit as 

 is possible to do so. The gain in weight, 

 due to processing, the past two years 

 has been only about one and three- 

 ([uarters to two per cent. The prunes 

 are packed in 10, 25 and .')0-pound 

 wooden boxes, lined with nice, clean, 

 white watei'proof paper. 40,000 pounds 

 gross weight has been the minimum 

 car ui) to this season, but the minimum 

 has been raised to 00,000 pounds gross 

 weight this year. 



Taking up the loganberry-Juice busi- 

 ness next, we will start with the berry 

 in the logaid)erry yard, or vineyard 



as it is sometimes called. The berries 

 are allowed to get full ripe before pick- 

 ing, and as they are very perishable 

 they are not allowed to stand long, but 

 are rushed to the juice factory as soon 

 as possible. The season for picking 

 commences about the 20th of June to 

 the 1st of July. They are picked in 

 berry hallocks holding approximately 

 one pound each, twenty-four hallocks 

 to a crate, which is built single decked 

 in order that by putting a screen over 

 the tops of the crate the entire crate 

 of berries may be dumped at one opera- 

 tion, saving handling of each hallock 

 separately. The berries are then 

 crushed and run into the press cloths 

 and pressed. The juice is sterilized 

 and put into storage. Later, as fast as 

 sold, it is bottled, labeled, eased and 

 shipped out to the trade. The manu- 

 facture of loganberry juice is a very 

 delicate operation, and requires ex- 

 treme care and cleanliness. 



The canning of fruits is a business 

 which requires a great deal of experi- 

 ence, and the details of this business 

 are so intricate that a short delay or 

 small oversight can do a great deal of 

 damage. Fruit is usually put up in 

 what is known as No. 2, No. 2y-2, No. 3 

 and No. 10 cans, and the grade is known 

 as Special Extra, Extra, Extra Stand- 

 ard, Standard, Seconds, Water and Pie 

 grades, according to the degree of syrup 

 and quality of fruit put in the cans. 

 After the preliminary operation of 

 stemming, peeling, coring or other 

 operation which it may be necessary 

 for the fruit to go through, the fruit 

 is washed thoroughly and the proper 

 quantity of fruit for the size can to be 

 canned is weighed into the can. The 

 cans are then placed on an endless 

 chain which carries them to the 

 syruper, where the proper degree of 

 syrup is turned on and the cans are 

 filled. From here the fruit is auto- 

 matically carried to the exhauster, 

 where live dry steam is turned on. 

 There the fruit is thoroughly heated 

 and the surplus air is driven out of the 

 can, from which machine the fruit is 

 carried to the capping machine, where 

 the lid is crimped onto the can and 

 sealed airtight. From this machine 

 they are carried through the cooker, 

 and the fruit is cooked the proper 

 length of time in the sealed can. From 

 the cooker if is automatically carried to 

 the cooling tanks, where, after a short 

 immersion, it is taken out to the cool- 

 ing room and stacked, where it is left 

 until it is to be cased up, at which time 

 it is looked over carefully, and what 

 are known as the "swells" are taken 

 out. A swell is a can of fruit which, 

 through imperfect sealing or improper 

 cooking, was not suiriciently sterilized 

 to keep, and when fermentation begins 

 gases will form which press the lids of 

 the can out, giving it a swelled appear- 

 ance; hence the name "swells." As 

 soon as the goods are tcsteil for swells 

 and cased they are ready for shipment. 

 40,000 pounds constitutes a minimum 

 car. It is not generally known to the 

 public, but is recognized by the can- 

 ners, that the fruit produced in the 

 Willamette Valle\-, Oregon, is of a very 

 sui)erior (piality for this purpose. This 



is not alone due to the fact that, on 

 account of the particularly favorable 

 climate, small fruits and berries grow 

 to perfection in the Willamette Valley, 

 but also on account of the greater in- 

 tensity of the flavors in fruits grown 

 there. From the fruit-products stand- 

 point the Willamette Valley has a very 

 bright outlook for the future. 



Taking up the making of cider vine- 

 gar, the apples are ground and crushed 

 and the juice pressed from them, the 

 juice then being run into storage tanks 

 for what is known as the alcoholic 

 fermentation. After this is complete, 

 which requires from 60 to 90 days, ac- 

 cording to the temperature, the generat- 

 ing process is taken up. This consists 

 of running the fermented cider through 

 the generators or generating tanks, 

 which are usually five feet in diameter 

 and fourteen feet high, and are con- 

 structed with a false top and a false 

 bottom filled with holes, through which 

 the vinegar seeps. The spaces between 

 these false bottoms and tops are filled 

 with curled beat shavings, over which 

 the vinegar runs, the purpose of these 

 shavings and the false bottom being to 

 expose the vinegar stock to the oxygen 

 in the air, in which process the alcohol 

 in the cider is converted into natural 

 acetic acid. In Oregon the slate law 

 requires a four per cent acetic acid 

 test. This is something known as 40- 

 grain vinegar. In Washington the law 

 requires a four and one-half per cent 

 standard, or a 45-grain vinegar. Vine- 

 gar is sold on the percentage of acetic 

 acid test, which is denoted as 40-grain 

 for four per cent acetic acid, 45 grain 

 for four and one-half per cent acetic 

 acid, oO grain for five per cent acid. 

 After the vinegar has been put through 

 the proper processes it is either bottled 

 or put into barrels, according to the 

 requirements of the trade, and shipped 

 to the wholesale houses, who in turn 

 ship it to the retailers as fast as re- 

 quired. The idea of a good vinegar 

 maker is to produce vinegar that is a 

 beautiful transparent yellow color, 

 which will not precipitate a heavy sedi- 

 ment or cloud up in the bottle. 



By way of summary, there are 

 eighteen dried-fruit-packing plants in 

 Oregon and Clarke County, Washing- 

 ton, and they handled the past year 

 about 40,000,000 pounds of evaporated 

 prunes, 750,000 pounds evaporated lo- 

 ganberries and a considerable quantity 

 of other evaporated fruits and vege- 

 tables. I would judge that there is 

 invested in these plants and their 

 equipment !?275,000, and the total cash 

 brought into the State of Oregon and 

 Clarke County, Washington, by them 

 this year amounted to approximately 

 $3,250,000. There are sixteen canneries 

 operating in Oregon and Clarke County, 

 Washington, and their total pack was 

 525,000 cases, valued at approximately 

 $1,2.50,000. Total ea|)ital invested in 

 canning plants and equipment is a little 

 out of my line, but I presume would 

 not be less than S300.000. I have in- 

 cluded Clarke County, Washington, as 

 it bounds Oregon on the north and is 

 isolated from the rest of the State of 

 Wa.shington and a great proportion of 



Continued on page 17 



