UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA agricultural experiment station COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE E. J. WlCKSON, Acting Director BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA CIRCULAR No. 33. (August, 1907.) I. PACKING PRUNES IN CANS. II. CANE SUGAR vs. BEET SUGAR. By G. W. SHAW. PACKING PRUNES IN CANS. In October, 1905, in cooperation with Mr. Luther Bowers, then of Santa Clara, an experiment was undertaken in packing prunes in cans. The reasons which led up to this experiment were, the desirability, first, of finding some method of preventing the sugaring of prunes when shipped into tropical climates ; second, of finding a method whereby a grower could easily undertake the packing of his own prunes, espe- cially those of fancy grade, if he so desired. It was the object of this experiment to enable canned prunes to be put on the market in their natural state without any form of "processing," and in an inviting, pliable condition. There has always been an objection raised by many consumers to the so-called "processing" which the fruit undergoes at the hands of many packers, by which a poor quality of fruit is so covered up by various methods as to make it appear much better than the real quality of the fruit would warrant. The particular charac- teristic desired by many consumers is absolute protection against foreign matter of any kind in the fruit purchased. It is safe to say that in most cases prunes, as ordinarily placed upon the market, have been subjected to a variety of treatments before they reach the hands of the consumer. In this experiment 250 pounds of prunes of size 30 to 40, of excellent quality, were dry-packed, under pressure, in the so-called "sanitary cans," and hermetically sealed. These were subsequently sterilized by the application of heat. The prunes were packed in the ordinary 214-pound can. Two cases of these were subsequently shipped to the Philippines, where they were held under most unfavorable conditions for a period of a year, and finally returned to the Station for exam- ination. Under ordinary treatment prunes in that climate would have — 2 — been entirely "sugared," thus materially lessening their market value. These prunes were subsequently submitted to many experts, and the request made for their opinion as to the quality of the prune. The expression of some of these brokers is hereto appended : Sussman, AVormser & Co., wholesale grocers, San Francisco, write? ' ' The quality of the fruit is all that could be desired. It is problemat- ical whether the domestic trade will take kindly to these goods, but it appears to us that they commend themselves for shipment to the tropics. ' ' California Fruit Canners' Association writes: "We have very care- fully scrutinized the condition of these goods, and find them all that can be desired. The only possible objection that we can raise against them is the cost of packing them in this style. We assume you are aware that a considerable quantity of California dried fruits is suc- cessfully exported to India in tin-lined cases, results being very, satis- factory. ' ' The C. S. Morey Mercantile Company, of Denver, says: "We are frank to say that we were surprised at the excellent quality of the goods, and believe that if they can be put up at a price which will enable them to reach the great consuming public, in a reasonable compe- tition with prunes processed in the ordinary way and shipped as dried fruit, these goods should sell, and sell readily. So far as the flavor of these prunes is concerned they are better, in the writer's estimation, than any prunes we have ever tasted." Paxton & Gallagher Company, Omaha, Neb. : ' ' Our opinion is as follows : If the prunes can be packed in tins to sell at a popular price they will be a winner. The can we cut was in perfect condition, and we believe they will sell freely, providing, of course, they can be placed on the market to retail at popular prices." Cobb, Bates & Yerxa Co., of Boston, Mass., say: "We have examined the prunes, and find the quality very fine. I can readily see that, in the style of package which you have sent, the prunes will keep much better; but, in our climate, that is not a matter of so much consider- ation. ' ' H. C. McKenzie, broker, Philadelphia, Pa.: "I have examined the prunes carefully; the goods are in perfect condition, and I would say that if these goods are packed in ten-pound tins, twenty-five-pound tins or fifty-pound tins, they should have a good commercial value, particularly in hot climates. Some of the Eastern merchants have packed prunes for shipment to Jamaica, the Bermudas, and other warm climates for some years past. * * * These prunes that you have packed in this tin are of very good quality, and I should say they have not changed any since the day you packed them. ' ' — 3 — From these letters it appears that notwithstanding the prunes have been subjected to nearly two years of unfavorable storage, yet their condition remains essentially the same as when placed in the can. The only question that would seem to arise in this matter is the possibility of packing them in cans at a price which the public would be willing to pay. In this connection it may be said, that inasmuch as it is proposed to pack these prunes at a stage when they carry a much larger percentage of moisture than is ordinarily the case with dried fruit, the increased weight of the product due to this extra moisture will, in all probability, make up for the difference in the cost of the can, and there will hardly be an increase in the cost of handling the fruit in so packing it over that of a processed fruit, because it will do away with the necessity of the handling due to that operation and also with the cost of the materials used in " processing." Prunes so packed and sealed can be guaranteed and kept indefinitely without deterioration or ''sugaring." One of the great advantages of this process is, that the grower can pack his fruit in either the dried or partially dried con- dition with absolute assurance of delivery to the market in exactly the same condition in which it leaves his hands. It is but fair to say that, since this experiment was undertaken, Mr. Bowers has been granted a patent which claims to cover some phases of handling prunes in this manner. — 4 — CANE SUGAR vs. BEET SUGAR. The relative merits of sugar from beets and that from cane have been a mooted question ever since beet sugar has become such an important factor in the sugar market. The friends of sugar from cane early in the days of the beet-sugar industry maintained that beet sugar was repulsive, ill-flavored, ill-looking, and entirely inferior to cane sugar. As soon as it was found that sugar, white and pure from a technical standpoint, could be made in the beet-sugar factory directly from beets, and that this sugar would analyze as close to 100 per cent, as the product from cane, the friends of the latter advanced other arguments, especially to the effect that beet sugar could not be used for various purposes for which the older cane product had long been employed. Even to-day the question is often under discussion. On account of this, and the numer- ous statements made in public meetings and in the columns of certain newspapers that beet sugar can not be safely used for purposes of fruit preserving and canning, and the fact that this idea is quite prevalent among housekeepers, cannery men, and confectioners, certain experiments were undertaken in the canning of fruit and the making of jellies, using beet sugar, and checking the results against the same kinds of fruits prepared in the same manner with cane sugar. The Sources of the Sugar. — The sugar from cane was purchased from the Western Sugar Refinery, San Francisco, Cal., and was guaranteed to be from cane. The sugar tested 99.7 per cent, pure sucrose. The beet sugar was made directly from beets grown at Oxnard, Cal., and was manufactured by the American Beet Sugar Company, the sugar having been donated by that company for the purposes of this test. Analysis showed this sugar to be 99.8 per cent, pure sugar, and thus fully equal to the cane product in sugar value. Both of these sugars had been " blued" with ultramarine after the common practice in sugar manufacture, and thus was not different from the sugar found on the market. The Fruit and the Method. — The fruit used in the experiments com- prised cherries, apricots, plums, peaches, and pears. Each of these was preserved in different strengths of syrup in the ordinary methods of canning employed in the commercial canneries, as well as after the methods followed in the household practice of canning and jelly- making. In the cannery the method of procedure was to make up a concen- trated sugar solution by dissolving 350 pounds of sugar in tanks, as shown in Figure 1, and then reducing the concentrated solution to the desired density by transferring a quantity of the concentrated solution to a tank reserved for that strength of solution, and reducing the density to the desired degree as shown on a spindle. In the case of apricots, both peeled and unpeeled fruit were put up after the ordinary cannery methods, and in the regular course of work with syrup showing 40 per cent, sugar; with green-gage plums, 10 per cent, syrup was used; with pears, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40 and 55 per cent, syrup respectively was used, and with peaches 40 per cent, syrup. In most instances all these strengths were used both in the case of sugar from cane and sugar from beets, but in the case of one cannery only beet sugar was used. In the making of the syrup some difference was noted in the action of different grades of sugar. The beet sugar caused the more froth in the making of syrup, but further investigation led to the con- clusion that this was due to the fact that the granulation of the beet sugar was much finer than that of the cane, therefore causing more air to become entangled during the stirring than in the case of the sugar from cane. This was shown by the use of cane sugar of about the same gran- ulation in another batch of syrup, in which case the same frothing occurred as with the beet product. This has been noted in other in- stances, and canners are wont to count this against the beet sugar, but it is only the result of not comparing sugars of the same granulation. This difference in the action due to difference of granulation was the only apparent difference arising during the making of the syrup. This is not an essential difference between these sugars, however, as the char- acter of the granulation is entirely dependent upon the wish of the manufacturer, the methods of boiling and granulation being the same in both cases. The sugar ordinarily used by the canners is known as FIG. 1. Syrup Tanks. dry, coarse, granulated — a grade which is not commonly made by the beet sugar manufacturers, because there has not yet been the demand sufficient to warrant its production, but it could be made by them as readily as the ordinary granulation. The several kinds of fruit were placed in cases in the ordinary manner, and stored' in a rather unfavorable location for a period of two years, cans of each variety being opened from time to time to observe the change, if any. Of the 2,000 cans which were thus treated only 6 cans from the beet- sugar lot and 7 from the cane-sugar lot spoiled during the two years, and these were evidently due to imperfect sealing of the cans, thus showing the utter lack of foundation for the idea that fruits do not keep well when pre- served with beet sugar, and that such sugar does not work well in the cannery. In the household trials both apricots and peaches were canned in a 40 per cent, syrup, 50 cans in each lot, the ordinary Mason jars being used as containers in each case. From these not a single can spoiled during the two- year period. In the jelly trials apples and currants were used as the basis, equal quantities of juice and sugar being used, and the mixture boiled until of the right consistency to jell. The product in each case was as clear as it is possible for jelly to be, and not the slightest difficulty was experienced in the making of it. In connection with this work an attempt was made to trace numerous reports to the effect that fruit had been lost through the use of beet sugar, but in not a single case was it found that the person so losing fruit positively knew that the sugar from the beet had been used. The following is typical of all of the answers received to letters of inquiry on the subject : FIG. 2. Syruping Apparatus used in Experiment. ''I know nothing of the relative merits of beet sugar and the cane sugar, and merely stated that I had been told that the one was sweeter than the other, and a lady at the table stated that some years ago she had been given to understand that beet sugar was not good to put up preserves. ' ' The general discussion was based on this subject, without any per- sonal experience, and entirely upon hearsay evidence. Writing concern- ing this subject, one of the largest and best known preservers of California fruit says : "We have used this (beet sugar) very largely in our work for the past four or five years, using it almost exclusively in our fruit department, and we put up as fine goods as can be made. We think that alone speaks well for beet sugar. While it will not cook quite as white as the cane sugar and boils easier, yet with most goods we find it is fully as good as the cane sugar. "We do not use any antiseptics whatever in our fruits and have no trouble with the keeping qualities. Any other information we can give you, we will be glad to." The secret of success in canning lies in a perfect sterilizing of the fruit and syrup, and one of the canners in replying to an inquiry as to their use of beet sugar expressed the matter very tersely in the following words : "While we have not so far used beet sugar, yet we believe we would have no more difficulty in sterilizing beet-sugar syrup than cane-sugar syrup or water." In the early days of sugar refining there may possibly have been some foundation for an objection of this kind, but it certainly does not exist to-day with the most modern methods of manufacture adopted by the beet-sugar houses. The sugar which is used by the larger canners is made without the ordinary bluing used in other sugars. There are two kinds of bluing which have been used upon sugar, viz., methyl blue and ultramarine blue. The former coloring matter is undoubtedly open to the objection that in contact with certain acids it is either intensified in color, or if the color of the fruit is yellow it imparts a greenish tinge, both of which undesirable con- ditions were experienced in the early days of sugar manufacture. Methyl blue, however, is seldom used for this purpose to-day, ultra- marine blue being used instead. About two pounds of this material being used for 100,000 pounds of sugar. The utter folly of this idea that beet sugar can not be used for canning purposes is further emphasized by the fact that practically all the sugar used in Germany and France for the purposes of canning 8 — and preserving is from the beet, and for many years American refined beet sugar was used without complaint in this country, because the mass of the people were not aware that it was derived from the beet. This sugar was brought here as raw sugar from Europe, refined at American refineries, and consumers purchased it under the false idea that it was cane sugar. But as the industry began to grow rapidly in the United States attention was directed to the source of sugar, and there has arisen this popular error, which may have been somewhat fostered by interested parties. People have become so accustomed to the term "cane sugar" that they do not realize that within the last few years the bulk of the world 's sugar supply has shifted from cane to beet. In 1853 the world's sugar supply was 1,184,000 long tons, of which 304,000 tons were ac- credited to the sugar beet, or about 21 per cent. In 1905 practi- cally two thirds of the world's sugar was de- rived from the sugar beet. The growth of the in- dustry in the United States has been second only to its growth in the sugar world. As an American industry it is less than forty years old, for it was in 1869 that the first plant to manufacture beet sugar successfully in a commercial way was erected in California. For the first twenty years the industry grew but slowly, so that in 1890 there were but three factories. Before the close of 1901, however, the number had increased to 30 (increase of 900 per cent, in ten years), while in 1906 the number of factories in operation in the United States was 61, an increase of over 100 per cent, in the past six years, and several new ones are scheduled for the campaign of 1907, not to mention others operating in Canada. "We must admit, then, that the industry is quite beyond the experimental stage and has become a reality in this country, and a factor worthy the attention of the people. It is highly desirable that the use of beet sugar should be encouraged in every way possible, and that such mistaken ideas as those indicated at the outset of this discussion should be corrected. FIG. 3. Jelly made with Beet Sugar.