CANNING CLUBS 



1157 



CANNON 



cold water Immediately after blanching, to 

 harden the pulp under the skin and to make it 

 easier to handle products in packing. 



Sterilising, also known as processing. Boiling 

 fruits or vegetables for a certain period after 

 completely sealing the container. The object 

 is to destroy germs. 



Tinning the steel. Putting the hot steel used 

 for capping tins in sal ammoniac and solder, 

 turning the steel several times until it is smooth 

 and bright, and then dipping it in soldering 

 "flux." 



Capping. Soldering the solder-hemmed tops 

 on the cans with the capping steel. 



Tipping. Sealing the air hole or vent in the 

 center of the tin cap. 



Flux. Prepared by adding to muriatic acid 

 as much zinc as will dissolve, and then adding 

 water equal in amount to acid. The fluid is 

 used to clean the steel and to wipe surfaces to 

 be soldered. When applied to tin it adds a 

 coating of zinc, to which the solder will readily 

 adhere. Should be applied carefully and none 

 be permitted to run inside the can. 



It is not possible here to give all of the 

 standard recipes used by club members in can- 

 ning the different varieties of fruits and vege- 

 tables, but the following directions illustrate 

 the methods employed: 



For canning- soft fruits, such as berries, 

 cherries, etc. Can the fruit the day it is picked. 

 Grade ; then rinse by pouring water over fruit 

 through a strainer. Cull, seed and stem. Pack 

 at once in glass jars or tin cans. Add thin, 

 boiling hot syrup. Place rubber and top in place 

 and partially tighten. (Cap and tip tin cans.) 

 Sterilize in hot-water bath outfit sixteen minutes, 

 or in steam-pressure outfit under five pounds 

 steam ten minutes. Remove jars. Tighten cov- 

 ers and invert to cool. Wrap in paper and store. 



For canning tomatoes. Grade according to 

 size, ripeness and color. Scald in hot water so 

 as to loosen skins. Dip quickly into cold water 

 and then take out. Core and skin. Fill con- 

 tainer with whole tomatoes, adding one level 

 teaspoonful of salt to a quart. Place in posi- 

 tion rubber and cap. Partially seal, but not 

 tight. (Cap and tip tin cans.) Sterilize twenty- 

 two minutes in hot-water bath outfit, or fifteen 

 minutes in steam-pressure outfit under five 

 pounds steam. Remove jars, tighten covers, in- 

 vert to cool. Wrap in paper and store. 



Club Demonstrations. Meetings for all the 

 club members, at which the standard methods 

 of canning are demonstrated and principles and 

 terms are explained, are of great practical 

 value. Those conducted in the school, attended 

 both by pupils and their mothers, are of special 

 interest. The teacher or leader makes all ar- 

 rangements before the demonstration begins, 

 placing in order the canning outfit, tables, sup- 

 plies, food products, etc., and seeing that the 

 fire is in readiness. The club members are then 

 called to order, preliminary instructions are 



given, and each pupil is assigned a task. By 

 varying the work, each member is able to 

 participate in all the canning processes, from 

 preparing the containers and fruit to labeling 

 the cans and entering the records. Then follow 

 the clearing up and putting away of the appa- 

 ratus. To add variety and interest contests 

 are sometimes introduced; different members 

 compete to see who is quickest and most effi- 

 cient in canning a specified amount of fruit, or 

 in scalding, filling, labeling, etc. 



The work in canning can be easily correlated 

 with other school subjects geography, history, 

 physiology, reading, composition and arithme- 

 tic and the pupils who cultivate their own 

 plots of ground and can the produce which they 

 themselves raise are learning practical lessons 

 in agriculture. 



How to Organize a Club. The United States 

 Department of Agriculture is making a special 

 effort to interest homes and schools in canning- 

 club work, and to this end is cooperating with 

 state agricultural colleges. In some states there 

 is an agent in charge of boys' and girls' club 

 work at the state college of agriculture, from 

 whom necessary instruction and information 

 concerning the organizing of clubs may be ob- 

 tained. If there is no state agent application 

 should be made to the States Relation Service, 

 Office of Extension Work North and West, 

 Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 

 Report blanks, bulletins and other necessary 

 material will be mailed on request. Club mem- 

 bers are required to attend canning demonstra- 

 tions and special meetings called by state, dis- 

 trict or local leaders, to make exhibits of a 

 specified number of canned products at some 

 fair, to attend and take part in the programs 

 of the local club meetings, and to fill out the 

 regular canning report blanks and forward them 

 to the local leader, state agent or chief of the 

 extension work at Washington. B.M.W. 



Related Subject*. More or less directly con- 

 nected with the above theme are the following 

 articles, which will be found in their alphabetical 

 order in these volumes : 

 Boys' and Girls' Clubs Gardening 

 Food Products, Pre- School Garden 



servation of 



CANNON, kan'un, a term usually applied to 

 big guns, as distinguished from any kind of 

 small firearms. This name was first used about 

 the beginning of the fifteenth century and is 

 derived from the Latin word canna, which 

 means a tube or reed. It is applied to any 

 form of firearm which is fired from a fixed or 



