TOMATO KETCHUP UNDER THE MICROSCOPE. 11 



with a screen of about 1-inch mesh wire. The cylinder rests on 

 trunnions, so that there is no shaft or arm extending through the 

 inside, and is made to revolve by a cogwheel gearing. The cylinder 

 is so placed as to have a fall of about 1 foot between the ends. A water 

 pipe furnished with small holes is suspended lengthwise somewhat 

 above the center of the cylinder, so that as the fruit is rolled in the 

 cylinder the water is sprayed over it. The tomatoes are fed in at 

 the upper end and as the cylinder revolves they work along toward 

 the lower end. The cylinder revolves about twenty times a minute 

 and it takes about 30 seconds for the fruit to pass through, three or 

 four crates being washed at the same time. This means that the 

 fruit is rolled and tumbled a distance of about 60 feet, with fresh 

 water sprayed over it for the whole distance, as the water when once 

 used passes into the sewer. 



One important point in favor of this arrangement is that there 

 Is sufficient rubbing of the tomatoes against each other to loosen 

 and scour off the dirt, and when this has been done a comparatively 

 small amount of water is required to wash it off. In some washers, 

 even when a great pressure and a great amount of water were used to 

 produce the spray, it was found that much of the dirt came through 

 still clinging to the fruit. This difficulty seems to be due, not to 

 the amount of water used, but to the fact that there is no effective 

 means provided for rubbing the dirt loose. Another point in favor 

 of the washer described is that the soft rot also is quite effectively 

 removed, being pounded to pieces and carried through the screen 

 with the waste water. The chief objection to this form of washer 

 is that the very ripe fruit demanded by some canners and manufac- 

 turers would not survive such rough handling. That of course is 

 an important point, but the question arises, Is it desirable to use such 

 ripe fruit? And the fact remains that the effective removal of the 

 dirt, if the skins are to go into the manufacturing process, is the most 

 important point under consideration, and this or any other effective 

 means by which the cleansing is actually accomplished would be 

 acceptable. 



PULPING. 



The machinery used for pulping was practically the same in all 

 factories. In a few plants the tomatoes or trimmings, as the case 

 may be, were run through a chopper before going to the cyclone 

 pulper. In some the stock was cooked before running it into the 

 pulper, while in others the pulp was made from raw tomatoes. It 

 makes little difference which method is used, so long as there is no 

 material delay between the time of pulping and the using of the 

 pulp. At some places the pulp is run as fast as made into a single 

 vat and drawn out from the same during the day as needed. In this 



