660 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



From the silking machine it passes to the mixer, where it is mixed with 

 the "syrup," composed of granulated sugar, salt and water. This mixing 

 is done automatically and with absolute accuracy. Some folks have the 

 impression that some sort of an acid or preserving compound is used to 

 keep the corn sweet in the cans, but this is not true. The "syrup" simply 

 flavors the product and adds plumpness or tone to wilted kernels. The 

 cooking is the real secret of preservation. 



From the mixer the corn goes to the preliminary cooker, where it is 

 raised to a temperature of 175 degrees, which is as hot as can be used and 

 make the solder on the caps work. This first cooking is really a process 

 of primary sterilization. The corn is then automatically filled into the 

 cans, which are capped by hand, soldered and tipped by machinery, and 

 stacked into open steel baskets that hold 1,000 cans each. The filled 

 baskets are then conveyed to the cooking retorts, where the sealed cans 

 are steam cooked for about one hour at a temperature of 250 degrees. 

 This cooking is a very important process. The heat must be kept steady 

 and the cooking stopped promptly at the proper time or a low-grade 

 product results. Overcooking makes brown corn and undercooking would 

 promote spoilage. The only reason the factory can put up corn that 

 keeps and the housewife can't is simply because she is not equipped to 

 maintain the corn at the high temperature necessary to perfect keeping. 

 The whole secret of perfect keeping nicely flavored corn is proper cook- 

 ing and the right amount of syrup. 



From the cooking retorts the filled baskets pass through a long cooling 

 tank into the store room and the cans are filled into cases and stored. 

 After the season is over the cans are labeled and packed into cases ready 

 for shipment. This work is usually done as the stock is shipped so the 

 labels are fresh and clean and also to save extra handling. The finished 

 product wholesales at 50 to 65 cents per dozen cans. There is a fair 

 margin of profit in the latter figure, but none for high-grade goods at 

 the former price. The market is vast, but in recent years the demand 

 has not been equal to the supply and many small factories have been 

 closed on account of low prices. New markets and an increased demand 

 have this year advanced prices to a point where most of the factories are 

 making money. 



Nearly every small town is sooner or later enthused with the possi- 

 bilities of a canning factory, but an enterprise of this magnitude cannot 

 be successful at every point. First it requires heavy financial backing. 

 Take the Grimes factory, for instance. This is a two-line factory; that 

 is, there are two complete sets of machines in the mixing, filling and 

 soldering departments. The plant and machinery represent an expendi- 

 ture of over $35,000. A good season means an output of a million to a 

 million and a half cans, this year about one and one-third millions. The 

 can bill alone is over $20,000. Cases represent $6,000 more, labels $2,500, 

 raw product $16,000. The pay roll during the season is $6,000, besides 

 the salaries of the superintendent and the regular employes during the 

 year and extras during the shipping season. Add to this insurance, 

 interest on investment, repairs and incidentals, and it requires nearly 

 $100,000 to swing the enterprise. A one-line plant would require more 

 than half as much, because each additional line does not double the 



