COMMERCIAL CANNING OF FOODS. 67 
the green should have been left in the field; the only way to reduce this waste to a 
minimum is to employ a system of dockage. 
The first step in manufacture should be proper sorting. This can be done better 
by a few persons than by the many peelers. Tomatoes which are green should be 
taken out and held in crates for one or two days, as may be necessary, but small green 
_ spots may be cut out by the peelers. The tomatoes with rot should be discarded. 
Tomatoes which are small, rough, misshapen, and sound, but which will not peel 
well, can be set aside for pulp. Such a separation will lessen the work and waste in 
the factory and in the end be economical. The sorting is best done upon a conveyer 
table, the tomatoes which are passed being fed directly into the washer. 
The washing should be thorough and done without bruising or crushing the fruit. 
It is preferable that the fruit be dropped into a tank of water and rolled over and over 
gently, either by actually turning the tomato or by strongly agitating the water, and 
then spraying under a strong pressure as they emerge from the water. This latter 
operation is of greater importance than is generally supposed. As before stated, a 
comparatively large volume of water without force behind it is far less efficacious 
than a much smaller volume having force. The latter cuts off the dirt and organisms, 
the former only wets the skin and makes it look bright. Allowing tomatoes to dry 
_ in the sun after washing by each method will clearly demonstrate the difference. 
The water in the tank should be changed continuously by the addition of the water 
used in the spray, an overflow being provided for the tank. The majority of tomato- 
washing machines are inefficient. 
The tomatoes are scalded, while passing slowly through a tank or steam chamber, 
by the continuous action of hot water or steam. The scalding is only sufficient to 
loosen the skin and not to heat or soften the tomato. As the tomato emerges from the 
scalder it is sprayed with cold water, which causes the skin to split and arrests the 
heating of the fruits. 
The clean-scalded tomatoes are delivered to the peelers in various ways, in pails 
and pans by carriers or belts, or by moving table tops, or they are delivered to the 
tables directly upon belts. Various devices have been used to carry the tomatoes 
to and from the peelers and to care for the waste, the object being to secure eleanli- 
-. ness and careful handling of the fruit. The bucket system is an old one and is in 
general use at small factories. The bucket is filled with scalded tomatoes and the 
peeler works from one bucket into another, dropping the refuse into a third bucket 
or into a trough under the table. The objection to the bucket is that the fruit on the 
bottom is mashed more or less before being reached by the peeler, and the same is 
true of the peeled fruit. Wide shallow pans have an advantage over the bucket in 
this respect. In peeling from the special tables, the tendency is to heap the bowls 
too full, which produces the same disadvantages found in using the bucket. Some 
paint the buckets different colors to indicate whether they are to be used for scalded 
tomatoes, peeled tomatoes, or refuse. All buckets or pans should be washed each 
time they are used, no matter how many times a day that may be. All tables and 
conveyers should be washed each time the plant stops, and oftener when needed. 
The peelers hold the tomatoes with the stem toward the palm of the hand, pull 
the skin back from the blossom end, and close the operation by removing the core 
with the point of the knife, keeping it well directed toward the center so as not to 
open the seed cells. This is not only the quickest way to peel the tomato, but keeps it 
whole. Green and undesirable spots are cut out. 
The cans are filled either by hand or by machine. The sanitary or open-top cans 
are filled by hand, as it gives a better appearance to the finished product. In this 
i class the cans are weighed to insure the desired fill. If filled too full, which may 
easily happen, “springers’’ or “flippers’’ may result, and the product be unsalable 
though perfectly wholesome. ‘“Springers’’ or “flippers,’’ as before explained, have 
the appearance of a swell, but are not due to fermentation. Solder-topped cans 
