THE SUNDAY OR"EG OXI AN, PORTLAND, DECEMBER 28, 1919.
Wie
Miracle
THE days of "miracles" have never
passed. Never was the world so
filled with miracles as it is today
the miracle of the faucet which brings
us water from miles away the mir
acle of the gas flame by which we cook
without the discomforts of old-time meth
ods the miracle of the telephone.
Consider, for a moment, the amazing
miracle of canned foods.
The well-known can of corn or peas
or tomatoes on your pantry shelf fairly
bristles with romance what a thrilling
story it could telll
That can of corn, let us say, represents
a cross section of some state famous for
the surpassing quality of its corn crop.
This can of pineapple is reminiscent of
soft and balmy atmosphere and sunny
skies.
Only a little while ago these salmon,
which are such a delight to appetite,
9
were In their native element, leaping' the faHs of
a northern river.
Here is asparagus fruit beans peas
corn tomatoes, etc, each from that part of
the country where climatic conditions, or con
ditions of the soil produce the finest varieties and
consequently have caused canneries to be there
established.
And so it goes. The canning industry covers
the map of the United States, drawing upon prac
tically every region of the country for its product.
Fresh from its native habitat the product
enters the canning factory.
Take canned vegetables. The canning com
panies make annual contracts with farmers for
their yearly yield of marketable vegetables grown
close to the canneries. The contracts frequently
are signed long before the seed is put in the ground.
As soon as the seed is planted the canners send
out representatives, known as field-men. , Each
field-man watches the progress of the crop within
a given area, and offers personal advice to each
farmer in his territory, as to when it should be
harvested.
Once in the cannery the product is handled al
most -wholly by machinery ingenious machin
ery which works far faster and more efficiently
than human hands and never gets tired. The
work is watched at each stage of its progress.
Finally the canned food is sent out to perform
its useful mission in the world of men.
The next time you visit the grocer, glance
with new interest at the canned foods standing
in prim precision on his shelves. They have come
from many different regions yet at last they
meet on common ground, the grocer's shelf and
then your table.
Not long ago canned foods were regarded as
delicacies, far beyond the reach of everyday
pocketbooks.
The vast development of the canning industry
has changed all this. The humblest family now
revels in Columbia River or Alaskan salmon and
blithely orders beans that were grown and pack
ed a dozen states away. The whole country is a
greati en uiting ground for canned foods.
Washington D.C, is the headquarters of the
National Canners Association, whose
research laboratories are there located.
Questions of great moment to the canning In
dustry art there threshed out.
Dr. W. D. Bigelow, assisted by a group of sci
entists, investigates problems bearing on the
scientific aspects of the canning industry.
The results of these investigations are made
known to members of the Association about
1140 of the principal canning establishments of
the country, many with research laboratories of
their own.
The work of the Association is of the utmost
importance to every housewife in tbe land. Bear
this in mind, the next time you call your grocer
on that modern miracle, the telephone, and ask
him to include in your next order, that other
modern miracle, a can of vegetables, fruit, milk,
soup, meat or fish, as the case may be.
National Canners Association
A nation-wide organization formed in 1907.
onsistinK of producers of all varieties of
hermetically sealed canned foods which have
been sterilized by heat. It neither produces,
buys, nor sells. Its purpose is to assure for
the mutual benefit of the industry and the
Subllc. the best canned foods that scientific
nowledge and human skill can produce.
Washington, D. C.