The fields are carefully picked over every day or two, and only perfectly ripe fruit is gathered. Hawaiian pineapples are rich in sugar when fully matured, but if picked green, they contain little sugar, and gain none after they are taken from the plant. Extensive experiments have shown that the Smooth Cayenne variety is far superior to all others, and it is now the only one grown in the Islands. In no instance are the fields more than a few miles from the cannery, and the fruit is put in the tins as soon as possible after it is picked. The Hawaiian canneries are equipped with labour-saving machinery. Aside from grading the slices and filling the cans, all the work is done by machines. The employees who handle the fruit wear rubber gloves with gauntlets, and the most modern sanitary methods are observed throughout. Every night everything in the factory is washed, steamed and scrubbed as clean as possible. When the fruit arrives at the cannery, it passes into a machine which first cuts off both ends, then takes out the core and removes the rind. It is then conveyed to another, which slices the whole pineapple in one operation. From here it passes on a moving belt in front of a line of workers, who select the perfect cylindrical pieces for the first grade. From the packing table the tins go to the syrup machine, where the fruit is covered with a syrup made of clear water and granulated sugar, thence to the exhaust box and double sealer, where it is heated and the cover sealed on the can. Then the can is conveyed to the cooker, where it is submerged in boiling water from twenty to thirty-five minutes, after which it is left in the cooling room about twelve hours, and then stacked in the warehouse until required for shipment. The history of this industry is interesting. Only small amounts were canned previous to the year 1901. There has been a steady increase ever since, with a total output in 1914 of over 2,000,000 cases from nine canneries. Nothing like this rapid increase in production and distribution has ever been known before in the canned-fruit trade. California, as every one knows, is the greatest fruit-producing section in the world, and her canned fruits are found in practically every market, yet her average total pack, of every variety except apples, from 1901 to 1910, was only about one-third more than the pack of Hawaiian pineapples alone in 1914. The total value of those shipped to the United States for the year ending June 30, 1915, was nearly $6,000,000.