CHAPTER VIII 



PRESERVED PRODUCTS 



j^ ^ -^EW METHODS OF MANUFACTURE have greatly extended the importance of can- 

 / i^^k I ning and of other methods of preserving, and have widened their influence on crop 

 production. These methods have been largely in the way of perfecting machinery 

 ^ -_ _ _ .^ to take the place of hand-labor in preparing the products, making the cans or 

 3r J ■ I receptacles, and in cooking or sterilizing. The modern art and practice of canning 



1^ fl ■ H are said to have begun with Nicholas Appert, in France, toward the close of the eigh- 

 fl ■ m ■ teenth century. It was about 1810, however, before the method became prominent, at 

 ' ■ M ■ least in England, whence Appert had received financial assistance for his work. Within 

 I ^1 ten years thereafter, Ezra Daggett and his son-in-law, Thomas Kensett, introduced into 

 I ^m New York the method of hermetically sealing perishable products. Later they secured a 

 I MS patent for an improvement in the art of preserving. Nearly or quite contemporaneously, 

 ■ W Charles Mitchell introduced the method into Boston, entering the employment of William 

 m Underwood, who established the firm of William Underwood and Company, in 1822. The 



^ canning of fruits, vegetables and meat products spread slowly for many years, but great impetus 

 was given it by the gold-fever exodus, in 1849 (creating demand for compactly preserved food), later 

 by the Civil War, and thereafter by the rapid growth of cities and the dependence on the market. 

 At first the scientific principles involved were not understood, but they have now been ex- 

 plained by the studies of Tyndall, Pasteur and many others. The underlying principle is sterili- 

 zation, — the killing of the germs that cause change and decay, — and the hermetical sealing to prevent 

 contamination. 



The canning industry has experienced very great extension in this country, gradually moving west- 

 ward with the development of diversified agriculture. The Central West has now become the principal 

 packing section for certain leading goods. This is marked in the westward extension of corn packing. 

 In 1906, Iowa held first place in the output of canned corn, with 1,593,000 cases of two dozen cans 

 each. Pumpkins, peas and other general field crops are heavily packed in the upper Mississippi valley 

 states. The output in different years is likely to fluctuate greatly, however, as between localities or 

 regions. 



The great importance of the various industries that preserve crop products, or extract their juices 

 is shown by the following figures from the Twelfth Census (for 1900) : 



Later statistics, from the Statistical Abstract for 1906, give flgures as follows for canning and pre- 

 serving fruits and vegetables : 



(157) 



