COMMERCIAL CANNING OF FOODS. 43 
The finished product is graded the same as the blackberry. The shrinkage is some- 
what greater and the berries mat together more. In the experiments the fruit packed 
in water, 10°, 20°, and 30° sirup showed more shrinkage and softening and disinte- 
erated more in shipping than that packed in the higher sirups. The 50° sirup gave 
| the best results in appearance, but the 60° produced the best flavor. 
PEACHES (PRUNUS PERSICA). 
The peach is probably the most popular fruit canned, and the quantity so used is 
enormous. It leadsall other fruitsin value. The principal packing is done in Califor- 
nia, New York, and Michigan. The conditions for growth are so favorable on the 
western coast, and peaches acquire such size that they are purchased on the basis of 
being 2} inches or more in diameter, those below that size being received at a reduced 
price. The eastern packers can not make such close discrimination. A number of 
varieties are used, but practically all are grouped as cling, or lemon cling, and free- 
stone. The cling is the favorite in the West, and the freestone in the East. The 
term ‘‘lemon cling’’ really refers to a nearly extinct variety, and in the future labels 
will read ‘‘ yellow cling.”’ 
The growing, picking, and handling are the same as for the market. The picking is 
done by hand and should take place just when the peach is beginning to turn soft. 
The flavor should be clearly developed, for it will not develop after the fruit leaves the 
tree. The delivery to the factory is made in the standard box, and, while the neces- 
sity for prompt working is not so great as with berries, the peach, if ripe, can not 
safely stand for more than two or three days. In case of a rush, it may be held in cold 
storage for a few days, but at the sacrifice of quality. 
At the factory the method of procedure depends upon the manner in which the 
peeling is done, whether by hand or by lye. | Ii the lye-peeling system is used, the 
boxes of peaches are delivered to the pitters. As the peaches are pitted, they are 
placed in other boxes and there may or may not be an attempt at some grading for 
quality. The grading for size occurs later. It isat this point in the work that decided 
improvement could be made. The trucking of boxes of peaches into the factory and 
empty boxes and boxes of pits out is not conducive to a clean floor. The handling of 
the pitted peaches in numerous small boxes, while it may be clean, and in most cases 
is clean, is not in line with sanitary methods. Wooden boxes become foul with cut 
fruit and can not be easily cleaned. Trucking back and forth in the factory is not 
the best nor the easiest way to convey the fruit. Moreover, there isa tendency to allow 
some split fruit to stand for an unnecessary length of time. 
The real work should begin by demanding that graded fruit be brought to the factory, 
or by emptying the box of peaches upon a conveyer and having a few persons remove 
the green and defective fruit before it reaches the pitters. The 5, 10, or 12 per cent 
which will not make the better grades should be taken out at the start and worked 
separately. This will relieve the pitters of part of their work, relieve the fillers of part 
of their inspection, and prevent holding up such fruit for a long time after it is split. 
A part of it will not be worth using, and labor all along the line will be saved. It is 
the first step in right grading. The objection urged is that it makes one more handling 
and causes bruising of fruit. A single conveyer system could easily be designed to 
carry the peaches to the pitters, and from the pitters to the peeling machine, thus 
eliminating the box system and trucking. It can be made decidedly more cleanly, 
and cleanliness is necessary in every step of factory work. While none of the fruit or 
refuse which falls upon the floor in trucking comes in contact with the fruit to be eaten, 
it does not look well and is conducive to carelessness in other operations. Strict clean- 
liness can be enforced only by making all parts clean, whether they come in contact 
with the food or not, and a factory can not be graded as sanitary while any part is 
unclean. 
