Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 280, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 November 1915 — BERRY PRODUCTS [ARTICLE]

BERRY PRODUCTS

Strawberry Waste Tremendous—Suggestions for Handling Surplus Through Cannery and Cold Storage. Each year thousands of bushels of strawberries go to waste in the larger producing centers of the United States because of low prices or some adverso condition. In many regions of the south 20 to 25 per cent of the crop is never gathered, because the prices toward the end of the season are too low to justify picking the fruit. This la a great loss that should be avoided, with the increasing demands foi strawberry products, such as crushed fruit, jellies, preserves, and marmalades, this loss can be largely reduced, according to a new publication of the department of agriculture (F. B. 664). Within the last few years some of the manufacturers of food products have been putting up fresh strawberries in large quantities for use at soda fountains and in the manufacture of ice cream! This Industry offers Important possibilities to the producer, manufacturer, and consumer. Several large manufacturers buy surplus strawberries and put them up in the field, while others' ship the fruit to their home factory. . One of the best methods of handling the fruit is as follows: Wash the berries thoroughly in cold water, put them into tight barrels with sugar in about equal weights, load in refrigerator cars and ship to cold-storage plant where they can be held until needed. Sometimes the berries are crushed before being put into the barrels, but in most cases they are packed as nearly whole as possible. When ready for use they are taken from storage and manufactured into the various products. If the fruit is in gopd condition at the time it is placed in culd storage, it can be kept for a long time without to any great extent losing its flavor and fresh color.

The keeping of strawberries under refrigeration is a comparatively new undertaking, but results that have been secured indicate that in time this can be made an Important Industry. It is possible to keep the fruit in such a way that its quality is practically unimpaired. In a single storage house 6,000 barrels of crushed sugared strawberries were held at a temperature between 36 degrees and 40 degrees F. Proper storage is an Important matter, for it will enable the grower to dispose of his surplus crop and at the same time will provide the consumer with a wholesome strawberry product throughout the year. When growers are banded together into a large association it of ten should be possible for them to manufacture strawberry by-products at the producing center under the management of the organization.