HOME CANNING. 31 



upon the comparative quality of the fresh product used. On general 

 principles, however, it is desirable that ;i product should not be car- 

 ried over several seasons. The amount of tin dissolved also increases 

 \\ith time, which is an additional reason for not holding canned 

 goods any longer than is absolutely necessary. 



HOME CANNING. 



It is not possible to accurately estimate the amount of home can- 

 ning that is being done, but it must aggregate many millions of cans. 

 In the rural districts in particular it is considered to be a part of 

 the season's work to put up canned foods for the winter, and from 

 50 to 100 cans is no unusual stock for a family. The products canned 

 are usually fruits and berries, as these are the most easily handled 

 under home conditions. 



The household department of numerous weekly papers gives much 

 space to instructions in home canning, and many cook books give 

 recipes and details of the operation. There are also manufacturers 

 of small home-canning equipments who give glowing accounts of 

 the profits to be made from doing such work. Whether it is profit- 

 able to can for home consumption depends upon the cost of the raw 

 material, fuel, and labor. It may be said that it is not generally 

 profitable to buy fruits or vegetables in a city market and put them 

 up in cans. Lots of a bushel, half bushel, or crate generally lack the 

 necessary freshness, are in too small a quantity to permit of grading, 

 and there is too much waste. The labor involved is disproportion- 

 ately large for the amount handled, and the expense for cans and 

 sugar must not be omitted in determining the cost of the finished 

 product. Home canning may be profitable when the raw stock costs 

 little or nothing, when no account is taken of the labor, and the 

 satisfaction of having one's own handiwork is worth more than the 

 money value of the article. 



Home commercial canning is being encouraged to a certain extent 

 and whether it will prove profitable or not will depend upon local 

 conditions. The outfit needed for canning most fruits and tomatoes 

 is very small and where a crop can not be marketed except at a very 

 low price or the labor can not be otherwise advantageously employed, 

 a fair profit may be obtained. The canning of special articles or 

 putting them up in a certain way for an established trade is often 

 successful, but on standard articles like tomatoes, corn, peas, string 

 beans, etc., the chances of home canning in competition with a mod- 

 ern factory are about the same as those of a hand meal grinder as 

 compared with a modern grist mill. The product of the average 

 home cannery will grade in quality on about the same par as country 

 butter. Both depend upon the producer, but as a class neither ranks 

 very high. The small home cannery is useful in saving good food 



