THE CANNED PEA INDUSTRY 49 



more stress on quality, and the grower must recog- 

 nize this, along with the size of the product. 



Blanching the Peas, — This is an important opera- 

 tion with the canner. Young peas will stand either 

 a long or short blanch better than old ones. The ob- 

 ject of blanching is twofold, (i) To remove mu- 

 cous substances from the outside and a part of the 

 green coloring matter; and (2) to drive w^ater into 

 the peas so they will all be tender. A system of 

 perforated cylinders in the blanching process re- 

 moves most of the small, broken peas. From here 

 the peas go into a large filling tank. Empty cans 

 are run down a chute from the floor above and 

 drop into place on a circle connected with the filling 

 tank. Liquor is also added at this time, mechani- 

 cally. The cans, filled, pass on to the soldering 

 machines, thence to the cooking vats, or retorts, 

 where they remain 40 minutes at a temperature of 

 240 degrees. From here they go to the cooling vats 

 and after that to the storage. As the cans are 

 packed in boxes for storage, the ends are pressed 

 in, this having the twofold effect of telling whether 

 or not the can is full and also facilitating the label- 

 ing later. Special labels are put on to suit the trade. 



Size of Cans. — Within recent years quite a trade 

 is developing in gallon cans. This makes the 

 product cheaper and is sold to the hotel and board- 

 ing house trade. When filling, peas are put in to 

 within three-eighths inch of the cap and the liquid 

 just covers the peas. The average fill of a can is 

 such that there will be 14 ounces of peas and seven 

 and one-fourth ounces liquor after the cans have 

 gone through the cooking vat, or the processing, as 

 it is called. The better the grade of pea, the greater 



