Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 174, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 August 1917 — GIVE CANNING A FAIR TRIAL [ARTICLE]

GIVE CANNING A FAIR TRIAL

“Don’t judge the success of canning by your first effort with whatever product you happen to find in market when you begin operations,” says a statement Just issued by the United States department of agriJllture. “It is more than likely that if you were a beginner at canning you started with strawberries, the first fruit available. If you did you should- realize that strawberries are one of the most difficult of all products to can satisfactorily. It is next to impossible, in fact, to can this fruit, as distinguished from preserving it (in which case a much larger proportion of sugar is used), so that its color, size, and texture will be preserved. “It is normal, if ordinary canning practices are followed, to have strawberries shrink, turn more or less brown, and float to the top of the jars. The product is palatable, however, and will keep perfectly if the sterilization has been done properly. “Don’t feel, therefore, that your strawberry canning is a failure. Above all, don’t become discouraged and fear that all your canning will be unsatisfactory. Practically every vegetable and fruit worth may be canned and kept in a condition fairly compar-

able in flavor and texture to the fresh product “Canned food will be needed next winter as it has never been needed before. Let your slogan be, therefore: ‘Can all the food you can; dry the succulent foods which cannot be kept well otherwise.’ "In canning, specialize on nutritious foods and concentrate to small bulk by cooking down all vegetables high In water ’content.”