56 BULLETIN 196, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. . 
material, and the development of a strong bitter flavor, more marked at the base and | | 
extending within about 14 inches of the tips. The full-length stalks were not edible, Mi 
but the tips might pass for a low grade. 
The lot held for 96 hours had a poor, sickly yellowish-green cast, and was decidedly 
wrinkled and very tough and bitter throughout its entire length. It was not edible, : 
the bitter principle being strongly developed. This asparagus was kept in a moder- | 
ately cool place, but had no water turned on to keep it moist. It was not subjected | 
to unusual drying. The loss in weight per hundred the first day was about 4 pounds, 
and the most of this was probably from water which had been held between the stalks — 
alter the field washing. On the succeeding days the loss was only from 1 to 2 pounds 
per hundred. The shrunken appearance after 72 hours gave the impression of a much 
greater loss in weight. 
Experiments were also made with the use of lacquered cans, and while the results 
were interesting they have not shown an improvement from any standpoint. The 
most important advance made during the year has been the perfection of the square 
open-topped can. The round can is objectionable because it permits the contents 
to roll when being handled or in transit and breaks off the top and side buds, injuring 
the appearance of the stalk and liquor. 
BEANS, GREEN (PHASEOLUS NANUS). 
String beans form a regular side dish at almost every hotel, and they are generally 
the canned article. There is a large pack of beans each year, and while hotels and 
restaurants were formerly the principal buyers a large demand for home use has been 
created in the past few years. The beans raised for canning are produced in the same 
way as for the market. The growth is best when the season is fairly moist and cool, 
the majority of the beans being produced in northern New York and Michigan. 
More recently large packs have been put up in Wisconsin. 
The beans are picked by hand. They are gathered as young as possible. The best 
are about 24 inches long and less than a fourth of an inch in thickness; the large beans 
become tough and stringy. At the factory the beans are graded in five sizes by means 
of special machinery, the essential feature of which is a series of vibrating screens 
made of rods or bars running in one direction. These rods are generally set 18, 14, 11, 
and 8 sixty-fourths of an inch apart. The beans are fed in over the coarser screen 
first and those which fail to pass through constitute one grade. As the beans pass 
to each succeeding screen the next size is separated, and the smallest pass through 
last. The work is done better than it was formerly done by hand. 
The next step is to snip or string the beans. Some varieties of beans are so nearly 
stringless that the simple snipping of the ends is sufficient, but when they become 
old, hand stringing is necessary. The cutting of the ends, or snipping as it is called, 
can be done well by machinery. It is also the practice to cut the large beans in 
lengths of about 1 inch. All beans are well washed, placed in wire baskets, and 
blanched, or they may be blanched in the cylinders used for peas. -The time required 
for blanching will vary with the age; the small-size young beans will require only 
about 14 minutes, the larger ones if tender will require about 4 minutes, and if hard 
and tough they may require 8 or 9 minutes. It is the rule of good processors to blanch 
until the beans are tender, irrespective of time, and for that reason many prefer the 
basket in a tank of boiling water to the pea blancher. 
The blanched beans are filled into the can by means of a special bean filler. This 
machine carries a tray, holding 4 dozen cans, and has a hopper above it with holes 
corresponding to each can. The beans are poured into the hopper, the quick vi- 
brating motion of which shakes the beans into the can. As a further precaution 
against short weight, each can is weighed and any deficiency in fill is made up by 
hand. A weak hot salt brine is used to fill the interspaces in the cans, which are 
exhausted, capped, and processed for 30 minutes at 240° F., as for peas. A full can 
should weigh not less than 13 ounces, exclusive of the liquor. 
