CANNED GOODS. The preservation of fruits and vegeta bles by hermetically sealing them, is not a new process, but its great development into a separate industry, is comparatively re cent. During the Mexican war, it received its first start as a bus iness in the U. S., and during the rebellion it rapidly developed into a leading industry. To-day the list of articles which are preserved by canning are almost countless, and includes fish, meats, poultry, chowders, plum puddings, sauces, etc. Custom has done away with most of the prejudice arising from fear of poisoning, but there is great room for care in the canning of acid fruits or vegetables. Some goods are now packed in tin cans coated with paraffine wax, and the custom of soldering on the outside only, is very general. Most articles when properly canned, are kept in as good condition as when fresh, and in the case of Lobster and Crab meat which is tinned a few minutes after it is taken from the sea, the advantage is directly on the side of the canned article, as the lobsters and crabs which are carried to the cities and crawl around in the sun for hours, are generally half dead before they reach the consumer, while the tinned meat is firm and fresh. The immense consumption of canned salmon all over the world, shows bow well fish can be packed.
Canned soups are now put up by many of the prominent packers and those of J. W. Huckins Co., Boston, enjoy an excellent reputation.
The canning of shrimps is a very delicate process but it has been brought to perfection by G. W. Dunbar's Sons, of New Orleans,
whose brand of B irataria shrimps is much esteemed.
The New England dish of baked beans is now very extensively canned.
Brawn (which see) has been quite generally introduced to the trade, and has met with considerable sale to saloon-keepers.
The multitude of packers and the great variation in the quality of the goods packed, have caused a very general demand for a guarantee of one year on all canned goods. The subject has been stoutly agitated by the St. Louis Grocer and by the whole gro cery press and the best -packers in the country have agreed to guarantee their goods. Defective canned goods are known as Swells, which on account of their growing frequency of occur ence are becoming a matter of grave importance to those who handle canned goods, and we would warn grocers when they are making purchases not to omit to demand guarantees against the goods becoming unsound. The swells are usually caused by im perfect cooking of the fruit in packing, so that the oxygen is not entirely expelled. Sometimes, also they are caused by an almost imperceptible leak in the can which admits the oxygen. When ever the grocer finds a swelled one among his cans, he should take it for granted that it is unsound and return it at once to the wholesaler — without opening — who in his turn can, in the same way, demand a rebate from the packer.