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COMMERCIAL CANNING OF FOODS. 1 
have been tried at different times without entire success, and while the present lining 
is not perfect, it does effect a marked improvement in many lines of packing. There 
are fruits and vegetables which attack the tin coating with more or less vigor, result- 
ing in a loss of color, flavor, and quality, and at the same time form salts of tin which 
are objectionable. The inside-lacquered cans are especially effective in holding such 
articles as raspberries, cherries, plums, beets, pumpkin, and hominy. They do not 
add to such products as corn, peas, beans, tomatoes, or those which have little action 
upon the tin, Inside coating is accomplished in two ways—by baking the lacquer 
|-on the sheet and by spraying tt on the inside of the finished can; further improve- 
ment in the container may be expected along these lines. 
The tin can is made in a great variety of sizes and shapes, but there are certain 
forms known as standard. 
Sizes of standard cans. 
Number of Diameter Height in Capacity in 
can. in inches. inches. ounces. 
2h 4 11.6 
1 tall 24 41 123 
2 33 495 21.3 
2h 4 43 31D 
3 435 4% 35 
3 tall 4-35 5: 39 
65 63 104 
10 635 635 107 
The size of package used for certain products is fixed by trade custom and not by 
the needs of the consumer. For example, corn, peas, beans, and such products are 
almost exclusively packed in No. 2 cans, tomatoes in No. 3, and California fruits in 
No. 24 cans. The No. 2 can of high-grade peas or corn contains about 22 ounces, or 
too much for one service for a family of two, three, or four persons, and with peas in 
particular the unused portion is not so good when served a second time. A can 
holding 16 ounces would more nearly meet the requirements. The same is true for 
a No. 3 can of tomatoes. The excess is waste in many cases and represents not only 
-good material but the labor expended upon it, a larger can than is necessary, and 
boxing and freight. These are all items which contribute to cost and a consequent 
lessening of the use of canned foods. The No. 24 can was developed as a short weight 
from the No. 3 and does not adequately represent the interval in size between the 
No. 2 and the No.3. The No. 24 sanitary can holds only slightly less than the No. 3 
in the older style, as the latter can not be filled so nearly full and sealed. Recently 
a new style of can has been introduced for California fruits, especially for peaches, 
known as the luncheon size, which is one-half the height of the No. 24. These are 
desirable because they will take in the large pieces of fruits and apparently are meet- 
ingademand. The same style in the square can is being used for asparagus tips. 
At the present time some packers are trying to meet certain demands by varying 
the fill rather than the size of the can. For example, a well-filled can of tomatoes 
might retail at 15 cents, the packer may reduce the quantity, add water, and make 
the cans sell two for a quarter, or carry it to an extreme and sell for 10 cents. A cus- 
tomer finding that the 10-cent can will furnish the amount of tomato wanted and 
without waste will repeat the order. The same methods are used more or less in 
packing fruits, using a quantity which will make the can sell for a certain price. This 
is a crude, unsatisfactory, and manifestly expensive method, and also open to fraud 
by those who are unscrupulous. It would be far better for the packer to determine 
what size is wanted and use such sizes, filling them properly. 
