28 BULLETIN 410, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
CANNING ON THE FARM. 
\ 
Canning is an important means of preserving and storing fruits and 
vegetables on the farm for future use. The average number of quart 
cans ‘‘put up” per family for the farms visited (Table XX) was 122 
of fruit and 32 of vegetables, making a total of 154 quart cans. The 
most canning was done in the New Jersey area, the average family 
here ‘‘putting up” 172 quarts of fruit and 58 quarts of vegetables, or a 
total of 230 quart cans. 
Not many vegetables are canned on the farm. The most common 
vegetable used for this purpose is the tomato. Canned peas and corn 
used on the farm table are usually bought. This is probably due to 
the fact that efficient canning methods for handling vegetables are not 
known to many housekeepers. 
The most common fruits used for home canning are peaches and 
berries. Many farmers buy peaches for canning purposes, but 
peaches are not generally bought for immediate use unless the price 
happens to be unusually low. An increase in the variety and quan- 
tity of home-grown fruit would greatly increase the consumption of 
fresh fruit on the farm and encourage canning for winter consumption. 
A knowledge of better methods of canning, insuring better keeping 
qualities and greater ease of performing the work, would no doubt 
increase canning on the farm to good advantage, particularly in the 
case of vegetables. Housekeepers generally realize that it is cheaper 
to can home-grown products than it is to buy them and also insures 
better quality, but with the old method the many hours of extra labor 
before a hot stove is a big discouraging factor. 
TaBLE XX.—Average number of quart cans “put up” on the farm. 
Fruit. Vegetables. Total. 
County and State. 
Per Per Per Per Per Per 
family. | person. | family. | person. | family. | person. 
Glanicester Nig)-----bo-> seen ae ee 172 37 58 12 230 49 
Oxford Mo aks he oh eee ae ee Nes Bee 62 14 21 5 83 19 
Cass, N. Dak..-.--.----------------------- 105 17 28 5 133 22 
Santa Clara, Cal......------- [eect eter eee eee 149 30 20 | 4 169 34 
Average, all families......-..--.-.---- 122 24 32 6 154 31 
STORAGE OF FOOD ON THE FARM. 
The farm is not only a source of food products, but it also serves 
as an ample place of storage. It is not possible to have fresh vege- 
tables and fruits on hand every day, as it is eggs and milk. In order, 
then, to have vegetables and fruits from the farm at times other than 
the short period during which they are in season, some means of 
storage is necessary. Cellars, caves, pits, and basements in barns 
