The form of the chemist's report on tomato purée and tomato catsup follows. These reports should be made in duplicate, one copy going to the sales department, and the other to the warehouse foreman. A copy is made by the chemist in the laboratory record book.

Size of chemist's report 51⁄2 by 81⁄2 inches. Headed "Tomato Pulp" or "Tomato Catsup" or whatever the product with date line. Then at left "Treatment No."; "Laboratory No." and "Can Mark"; these to record the number of the treatment, the laboratory number and the marks on the cans. Then "Tank No." to record the number of the tank batch. Under the heading, "Gallons Raw Materials," will be "Before Boiling," and "After Boiling," to record the gallons of material in the tank at these times. Under the heading, "Produced" will be "Gallon Cans," and "Five Gallon Cans," to record the production. To the right will be the "Specific Gravity"; "Yeast and Spores per onesixtieth mm."; "Bacteria per c.c.," and "Molds in of

Fields. chemist.

to record the analysis as made by the

The treatment number, the laboratory numbers, and the lot number marked on the cans should be the same. It will then be easy to determine the analysis of any lot in the warehouse when shipped.

MR. A. W. BITTING of the United States Department of Agriculture, in Bulletin 196, published excellent descriptions of the methods of handling and preparing the various fruits, vegetables, and other canned products in the canning plant, and those parts of the following articles enclosed in quotation marks have been taken from this bulletin. The description of the various grades of fruit given are the standards adopted by the Canners' League of California, and the descriptions of the various varieties of fruit given are partly furnished by Mr. Geo. C. Roeding, president of the California Nurseries Company, Niles, California, and one of the leading horticulturists and fruit experts of the State of California. Other descriptions of fruits are taken from Downing's Fruits and altogether the compilation is one that will be very valuable and instructive to the fruit and vegetable canner.

Assignment No. 1

FRUITS

General Discussion-Bulletin 196

THE first essential is that the fruits be harvested when in

Tprime condition, handled with care to prevent injury or

bruising, and conveyed with speed from the tree or vine to the factory. For canning purposes it is not necessary, and may not be desirable, that all fruits be as far advanced or as soft as for eating, but they should be ripe, with the flavor characteristic of the ripe fruit. They should not be so far advanced that they will not withstand the ordinary cooking necessary for sterilization without breaking to pieces. The prime condition for canning is that state of maturity in which the flavor and other characteristic qualities have been developed to the maximum and may be retained during sterilization.

Bruised or damaged fruit can not be made attractive, and its use involves heavy waste. The proper handling of the fruit is therefore very important. Apricots, peaches, pears, etc., should be handled in shallow boxes which will not hold more than 45 pounds and will not admit of more than three or four layers of fruit. The top should be protected with cleats, so that one box can be set upon another without touching the fruit, thus insuring some ventilation. The small fruitsstrawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and loganberriesare handled almost exclusively in chests. The California packers have developed this part of the business to a higher degree of perfection than those in any other section of the country. The conical basket used in handling tomatoes in the East should be abolished. The depth is too great and the shape such that the weight of superimposed fruit wedges the lower layers tightly together, causing crushing, rotting, and excessive waste. The baskets are weak, do not stack without bruising or cutting the fruit, and easily become disarranged or broken in shipping.

Rapid transfer of the fruit to the factory after it has been picked is very essential. Deterioration in flavor and weight begins early; conditions favor the growth of organisms, and

bacteria, yeast, and mold may develop wherever the fruits press together or the skins are broken. Delicate fruits, such as berries, if picked in the morning should be at the factory in the afternoon, or if picked in the evening should be delivered in the morning. Fruits with hard skins will last much longer, but the rule with all should be quick action. One of the disadvantages of a factory located in a city is the delay in receiving fruit promptly; dependence upon the surplus of the fresh fruit market is hazardous.

One source of trouble and a cause of spoilage of much fruit is contamination from sour and moldy boxes. When a box is used several times it becomes permanently infected and a cause of infection by spoilage organisms. This can be controlled without much difficulty by having a tight room in which the worst boxes are placed after they are emptied, with steam turned on to saturate the atmosphere and sulphur burned or sulphurous acid gas liberated to act as a disinfectant. This does not require a large place, much time,

or expense.

To test the effect of box infection upon spoilage, strawberries, loganberries, and raspberries were obtained and each lot divided into two parts. One part was placed in clean new veneer boxes and the second part in boxes which had been used and become slightly moldy. They were held under the same conditions for 48 hours, at the end of which time each berry was examined. Twenty per cent of those in the new boxes showed some mold, while 80 per cent of those in the used boxes showed infection. When tomatoes cost $15 a ton, fruits from $30 to $60 a ton, and berries from $60 to $100 a ton, the importance of reducing the waste from packing to the minimum becomes obvious.

The standard California berry case is made of good lumber and in a careful manner so that it may be used for shipping purposes for several seasons. The length is 41 inches, width 171⁄2 inches, and height 16 inches. The interior is divided by three partitions into four compartments, each with five drawers. The drawer is 151⁄2 inches long, 834 inches wide, and 2 inches deep. A hinged door closes over the front of the drawers so that they remain securely in place. The material used in the chest is three-quarters of an inch thick, the par

titions being 1 inch. The veneer boxes used are 4 by 5 by 11⁄2 inches or 7 by 8 by 11⁄2 inches.

In canning fruits the general practice is to fill the cans as level full as is possible without crushing or mashing, and then add the necessary sirup to fill the interstices. The amount of fruit used depends upon the variety, the size of pieces, and the state of maturity. When seven or eight large pieces of peaches or pears fill a can, the spaces between them are much greater than when 20 pieces are used. Under such conditions it is obvious that weight alone is not the proper standard for passing judgment, as in the former case the can may be full and contain only 17 or 18 ounces, while in the latter there may be 20 ounces or more. In medium-sized fruits, as peaches, pears, and apricots, a difference of 1 or 2 ounces may easily result from layering the fruits in the cans. This is done with display material in glass, but since it can not be done by machinery that refinement is not used in packing in tin, though some arranging is done on the better grades to insure a fair degree of uniformity in the pack. Such fruits as strawberries and raspberries will differ to the extent of 2 ounces in the packing weight, 20 ounces or more of raspberries being easily packed in a No. 21⁄2 can, while it might require much crushing of strawberries to attain that result. Each product should be packed closely and according to its individual characteristics and not according to a set rule for a whole line.

Canning Fruits and Vegetables

APPLES

The best varieties of apples for canning purposes, are the Yellow Bellflower, Baldwin, Russet, Newtown Pippin, and the Rhode Island Greening.

"Apples used for canning should be of varieties that cook well. They should be slightly acid, smooth and sound, and without bruised spots. Poor apples can not be used in canning and make a first-class product. The peeling is done by hand or power peelers and the core removed by the same operation or with a coring machine. Apples which are intended for dumplings are left whole and graded into sizes to give a certain number to the can, but those intended for pies or other cooking purposes are sliced in quarters or