284 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 



canning, are green color, tenderness, and it must be as nearly as 

 possible stringless, or, at any rate, a variety that can be easily 

 handled, leaving no strings on them, when ordinary care is used. 

 Recently the business established by Mr. Wambold has been greatly 

 expanded and others have engaged largely in it, including a consider- 

 able corporation organized to operate in Lake county. 



Peas. The desirable points in this vegetable from a canner's 

 point of view are that they shall be small, green, sweet, and tender. 

 There are a great many varieties which have been handled success- 

 fully in this state, as stated in the chapter on the Pea, such as Pre- 

 mium Gem, Alaska. This vegetable is so dependent on atmospheric 

 moisture that a crop cannot be counted upon every year in the in- 

 terior ; for lack of rains at the time when the plant needed moisture, 

 and apparently irrigation does not solve the difficulty, as the pea 

 seems to need a somewhat moist atmosphere. There has been re- 

 cently in operation a large pea growing interest in eastern Stanis- 

 laus county, operating successfully. 



Tomatoes. That fruit must be of red color, firm, few seeds, 

 and smooth skin, that is, not wrinkled. A medium size answers 

 the purpose better than the extremely large varieties. The tomato 

 is canned largely as indicated in Chapter I, and the culture of the 

 plant is fully discussed in Chapter XXXIII. 



Corn. California makes no record in canning corn. The 

 special corn canneries of the eastern states have manufacturing ad- 

 vantages on their side and the eastern corn grower has also ad- 

 vantages. California has a longer green-corn season, as shown in 

 the chapter on that subject, but that counts more for the table than 

 the cannery. 



A VARIED PRODUCT. 



The statistics given near the end of Chapter I show which vege- 

 tables are greatest in California canning but they do not indicate 

 the great diversity in the varieties used. The following are included 

 in canners' operations : 



Asparagus Celery Peppers (Chili) 



Beans (Lima) Corn Pimientoes 



Beans (Baked) Onions Pumpkin and Squash 



Beans (String) Parsnips Sauerkraut 



Beets Peas Spinach 



Cabbage Potatoes Tomatoes 



Carrots Potatoes (Sweet) Turnips 



DRYING VEGETABLES. 



Very fine samples of dried vegetables have been shown from 

 time to time in California, and the output of a considerable product 

 in this line is clearly feasible if it could command a welcome in the 

 markets. This fact has not yet been demonstrated. The rush to 

 Alaskan gold fields in the summer of 1897 created a demand for 

 considerable quantities of dried vegetables, chiefly potatoes, and the 



