48 THE CANNING OF FOODS. 



from Connecticut, a State in which no canning of corn is done. The 

 type of corn used now is quite different from that canned several 

 years ago. The effort is to develop a tender, fine-flavored sweet 

 corn. The ears are of two types, those having large, flat kernels 

 arranged in rows and those with small, long kernels irregularly 

 placed. Stowell's Evergreen is typical of the former type and 

 Country Gentleman of the latter. The corn is planted and culti- 

 vated like field corn, and is gathered by snapping off the ear when 

 it is in its prime. The ears are hauled to the factory in the husk 

 in order to protect the kernels from injury in handling and from 

 dirt and exposure. 



A modern corn-canning plant is a large establishment, equipped 

 with valuable automatic machinery to do the work in a rapid, cleanly 

 manner. When the corn arrives at the factory it is dumped from 

 the wagon onto a conveyer, which carries the ears to different parts 

 of the husking shed as they are needed. Most of the husking is 

 done by hand, but this will undoubtedly give way to machine meth- 

 ods, as the husking machines have been almost perfected in the past 

 year. As rapidly as a bushel measure is husked it is put upon a con- 

 veyer, and while on the way to the silking machine is sorted for 

 quality. A high grade can be secured only by selecting ears with 

 grains which are uniformly tender. .Corn which is too old or too 

 young to make a fancy grade of goods is taken out and held until 

 a sufficient quantity accumulates to make a run on a lower grade. 

 The silking is done by means of rapidly revolving rolls and brushes. 

 As the ear revolves on its axis and at the same time is carried for- 

 ward, it is gently wiped by rapidly revolving brushes, which pick 

 up any silk that may be attached. This work is done with re- 

 markable rapidity and by machinery so carefully adjusted for any 

 irregularity in the size of the ears or even in the same ear that there 

 Is no chafing or bruising of the tenderest grains. This process is 

 immediately followed at some factories by a thorough spraying with 

 water, while at others this is omitted, the claim being made that a 

 certain flavor is lost. 



The corn is cut by machinery, and from the time the ear is fed 

 into the cutter until the corn is sealed in the can it is not again 

 touched by hand. The ear is forced through a series of curved 

 knives, mounted in an adjustable circular frame, so that they will 

 accommodate themselves to the varying size of the cob. Scrapers 

 complete the work by removing the grain and soft bits of kernel at 

 the base. The corn again passes through a machine to remove bits 

 of silk, husk, or cob, so that the final product is as clean as labor 

 can make it. This cleaner consists of a series of wire combs, which 

 intermesh as the corn passes through, and- wire cylinders which act 

 as sifters. 



