362 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



N. B. — It is expected that all who preserve fruits and vegeta- 

 bles with the Spratt self-sealing can, will use the directions above 

 given without deviation. 



Be careful not to bruise the caps by dropping, as an indenture 

 prevents them from fitting. 



Mr. Stevenson was asked what amount of experience they had ? 

 and he replied that when these instructions were sU-ictly followed, 

 the failures were not more than two in a thousand ; and that had 

 been a practical hermetical sealer of these cans for fourteen years 

 past. The price of the quart cans was two dollars and a half 

 per dozen. The cans can be used for several years. 



Dr. Waterbury stated his experience on the subject. He had 

 procured cans for ten cents apiece. 



Paul Stillman requested Dr. Wellington to take the chair, and 

 said he had quart cans of tin at eight cents a piece A minister 

 of the gospel was concerned in the business. I have sold a 

 thousand of those cans. The top is soldered on, and can be 

 opened with a chisel or knife. I have soldered with my own 

 hands a dozen of these cans in twenty-five minutes. During 

 these operations my house became quite attractive to my neigh- 

 bors, who all evidently took strong interest in the fruit preserv- 

 ing business. 



Mr. Waring expressed his approbation of the method here ex- 

 hibited by Messrs. Wells & Provost. Every method demanded 

 exactness in execution, or the results could not be warranted. 



Mr. Pardee spoke of his own experience in this business, and 

 more particularly of that of Mr. Smith and his wife, who follow- 

 ed it with the greatest delicacy, zeal and knowledge, yet failed 

 after all in the business, so far as profit is concerned. It is abso- 

 lutely essential that the fruit to be preserved should not be too 

 green or too ripe. I came here to listen, for we want more 

 knowledge about it than we have. Messrs. Wells & Provost are 

 successful in the use of their own cans. They have put up, with- 

 in a month, twelve millions of cucumbers, and about fifteen thou- 

 sand dollars' worth of peaches. Their outlay in a year will pro- 

 bably be five hundred thousand dollars in this preservation busi- 

 ness. They are very worthy operators in it, and are improving. 

 There is no fault in their cans. The preparation of the fruit, and 

 the condition of the fruit, are very delicate points and constitute 

 a diflicult job in common hands. I have made a pin-hole in a 

 can, then in an air pump exhausted the air in the can until its 

 sides of strong tin collapsed. After all my experience I still 



