66 BULLETIN 123, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
ture for use in the home-canning work in the South. In the home- 
canning work in the Northern and Western States, on the other 
hand, simpler and cheaper methods have been used with marked 
success. The one preferred and now in general use is known as the 
cold-pack method. In this method the vegetables are first blanched 
in live steam for a few moments, then plunge quickly into cold water, 
from which they are removed and packed in the containers. A little 
salt and hot water is added immediately, the containers sealed (glass 
jars partially, tin cans completely), and processed for a period of 
time, depending upon the outfit used and the product being canned. 
(Ref. No. 6.) | 
Vegetables should, if possible, be canned the same day they are 
gathered. 
Where the source of the vegetables is uncertain it is a safeguard 
to blanch or parboil them in well-salted water and drain thoroughly 
before packing them in the jars for either the fractional or the 
continuous process. A small quantity of cooking soda may be added 
to the water in which string beans are parboiled and which is not 
used in the canning process. As vegetables are salted before serv- 
ing, from 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of salt is frequently added to 
each jar. 
The relative economy of the use of fresh vegetables and canned 
ones involves many problems, including convenience, value of time 
and labor, as well as variety and quality of the foods. 
Compare canned green peas with fresh ones in the pods out of 
season and the advantage is with those from the can as to quality 
‘as well as cost. But canned or fresh at the lowest rates for either are 
expensive compared with the amount of nutriment obtainable for the 
same money from the dry green or split yellow peas. 
To illustrate this matter in detail: A 15-cent (pint) can of Lima 
beans yielded 150 beans. The same number of dried Lima beans, 
which are a common domestic as well as a commercial product in 
some localities, would weigh a little over 5 ounces, or a third of a 
pound, and measure less than 1 cupful. The cost of these beans was 
9 cents per pound. In other words, the dried beans would cost 3 or 
4 times less than the canned beans, and with a fair allowance for fuel 
and labor the total cost, when prepared for the table, would be less 
than one-half that of the canned beans. 
The larger the family the greater the gain in the use of such dried 
beans, for even at wholesale rates the cost of the canned would be © 
greater than that of dry beans plus the labor and fuel required for © 
the preparation of the latter. 1 
However, both kinds are wholesome and palatable. Knowing this 
the housekeeper can choose according to her circumstances and pref- 
erences. 
