SANITARY CONTROL OF TOMATO-CANNING FACTORIES. 13 
124 square feet per bushel, with an average of about 94. As the to- 
matoes should be fed onto the apron so as to leave at least one-half of 
the space uncovered, a space of about 183 square feet should be pro- 
vided for each bushel. This would mean that a sorting apron 18 
inches wide and moving at the rate of 25 feet per minute would have 
a capacity of about 120 bushels per hour and when handling average 
stock would require the services of six efficient sorters. On this basis 
a separate sorting apron would be required for each 1,200 bushels 
handled per 10-hour day. Such an arrangement provides for the 
most efficient utilization of equipment. In some factories visited the 
arrangement was so poorly planned that the apron was running ten 
times faster than was necessary for handling the volume of stock. 
In other factories the tomatoes were run through at from five to six 
times the normal capacity of the machine and the number of sorters 
was insufficient to handle them under proper conditions. 
SORTING SYSTEMS THAT HAVE FAILED. 
In the past the practice of making pulp from peeling-table waste 
was not uncommon. Much of this pulp, in a more or less concen- 
trated condition, was placed in barrels and disposed of for making 
cheap ketchup. The careless methods employed resulted in many 
condemnations of the product under the Federal Food and Drugs 
Act because the product was decomposed, in whole or in part. Asa 
result of the Government’s campaign against adulterated tomato 
pulp, some of the evils of the practice have abated. 
The pulp commonly used for low-grade ketchups sold at from 75 
cents to $2.50 per barrel, most of it selling for from $1 to $1.75. At 
these prices the manufacturer received only about enough to pay for 
the disposal of the waste which otherwise was an item of expense. 
When it is realized that the stock from which tomato pulp is made 
may contain 20 per cent of rotten tomatoes and yet not give to the 
finished product such plain evidences of their presence as to be de- 
tected by the average consumer, it is easy to understand the tempta- 
tion and opportunity for negligence and carelessness in the manufac. 
ture of the product. 
Some firms, by modifying their methods of manufacture, have been 
attempting to produce from trimmings an article which would be 
satisfactory under pure-food laws, but only a few have been suc- 
cessful, and these only in part. An examination of the prosecutions 
brought against adulterated tomato products during the last six years 
will show that most of these products were made from trimming 
stock. A recognition of these facts has raised the question whether 
it is possible to make a satisfactory pulp from the trimmings. It is 
possible to do this, but the added labor required makes it doubtful 
whether it is profitable. As the tomatoes must be sorted and handled 
