VK(JI I \r.U>. 47 



and steamed for 20 minutes at 220 F. This loosens the skin so that 

 they may be peeled with the best possible results. The peeling is 

 done by hand, as is also the filling of the cans. Only water is n>l 

 on the beets, though salt may be added at the rate of a teaspoonful 

 to the can ; enamel cans should be used, otherwise the beets will be 

 discolored. The process on beets is 245 F. for 1 hour. 



CORN. SWEET (ZEA MAYS). 



Canned corn is the result of the persistence of Isaac Winslow, of 

 Maine. He was a sailor by occupation, and in his wanderings upon 

 the high seas visited France and learned of the method of preserving 

 food by canning. The advantage of such foods, particularly to 

 sailors, was obvious. Mr. Winslow began experimenting on the 

 canning of corn in 1839, the first trials consisting in boiling the corn 

 on the kitchen stove for varying periods of time. The cans were 

 marked and a record kept of each lot. The results were mostly fail- 

 ures, but a sufficient number of cans were saved, and these were of 

 such good quality that the efforts were continued. The succeeding 

 years gave essentially the same result. In 1843 he built a small boiler 

 to generate steam and a wooden box in which to put the cans, so that 

 the cooking might be done in a closed steam chamber. As the results 

 were less successful than in the previous years, the steam box was 

 discarded. It was not until 18*53 that he had sufficient success to war- 

 rant applying for a patent on his method, and it was regarded with 

 so much distrust that the letters were not granted until 1862. Wins- 

 low first packed the corn on the cob, but this was bulky, and he 

 believed that the cob absorbed some of the sweetness. He next pulled 

 the kernels off the cob with a fork, and finally cut the corn with a 

 case knife. Winslow's apparatus and methods were crude, but he 

 discovered the principles which underlie the canning of corn. It 

 may also be said that he and his succevSsors brought fame to Maine 

 corn as a canned product, and this reputation persists to the present 

 time. 



The canning of corn is a large industry in Maine and other States 

 extending from New York to Maryland, west to Iowa, and north to 

 Minnesota. In most of the Eastern States the crop is grown by 

 numerous farmers in small patches of a few acres, while several of 

 the western factories raise their own corn ? covering hundreds of 

 acres. At Hoopeston, 111., two canneries use the product of 7,500 

 acres. Claims are made that certain sections produce better and 

 sweeter corn than others. This is not always sustained by facts, 

 for quality is also affected by the variety and state of maturity when 

 gathered. Again, some canners pay more attention to the quantity 

 of corn grown on an acre than to the quality. The seed used is 

 grown by specialists, as a rule, and a very large part of it comes 



