f hour, when it is ready for the cans. These are filled
by women who soon become very dextrous, which is always the case when
the pay is in proportion to the amount of work done. Each can contains
just one and one-half pounds. Exact weight is imperative, as are details
in all manufacturing establishments. Great care is exercised in packing,
so that there are no bruised or broken heads, and that on opening the
can the stalks may appear as well as if cut fresh from the garden. After
the asparagus is in the cans they are filled with a weak brine, which
not only expels the air, but adds materially to the flavor of the
asparagus.

The cans are then taken to the soldering-bench for sealing up. There
systematic labor is noticeable, as every detail of canning must be
carried on systematically to make it profitable. The soldering-irons
used are hollow and the exact size of the caps, which fit perfectly the
grooves made for them. A single turn of the iron finishes the work.
Before the caps are put in their places a small hole is made in each to
allow the gas, which is generated by the heat from the soldering, to
escape. Without this precaution it would be impossible to hermetically
seal the cans. A single drop of solder closes the small opening, and the
cans are ready for the retorts for sterilizing.

[Illustration: FIG. 37--STERILIZING TANK]

Here two methods are employed--dry steam, which is the quicker method,
and boiling in a closed tank. Most of the first-class stock is
sterilized in the latter. This tank (Fig. 37) is in three sections, in
all twenty feet long, each section holding five hundred cans. The cans
are put in iron cribs and are pushed in and taken out with steam
elevators. As soon as the cans are lowered the sections are closed
tightly and the steam is turned on. The first process of sterilization
lasts twenty minutes, when the tank is opened, the cans taken out, and a
vent given each. This permits the accumulated gas to escape, which, if
allowed to remain, would materially injure the quality of the asparagus,
both in flavor and preservation. For this work a small prick punch is
used, which makes a hole not larger than a pin's head. This vent is
almost immediately closed with a single drop of solder and the cans are
again returned to the tanks, where the same operation of cooking is
repeated. Another twenty minutes completes the work, when the cans are
removed to the packing-room, where they are labeled, wrapped