132 LUTHER BURBANK 



Cutting below the ground keeps the peas fresh 

 and also insures getting the entire crop. 



A wagon immediately follows, gathering up 

 the pod-laden vines like a load of hay, and 

 hauling them to the factory, where they are 

 fed by machinery into a sheller, which consists 

 of two big cylinders with vulcanized rubber 

 cups on their surfaces, so arranged that the air 

 pressure splits the pods open without crushing 

 them. 



The peas roll down an inclined plane with per- 

 forations of different sizes, and are thus auto- 

 matically sorted into five grades, just as oranges 

 of different sizes are sorted in California. The 

 peas all fall into clean running water and are im- 

 mediately canned without being touched. It may 

 be interesting to add that a factory of this type 

 has a record of putting canned peas on the shelves 

 of the grocer within two hours of the time when 

 they were growing on the vine in the field. 



Peas in cans under these circumstances may be 

 fresher and better than those purchased in the 

 pod usually are. 



These details as to canning obviously have no 

 direct bearing on the methods of the plant devel- 

 oper. But they explain the specifications that 

 were given along with the order for the hew 

 variety. 



