The Republican journal., 1888-01-19
Corn Canning in Maine.
ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF A GREAT INDUS
TRY.
[Brid@ton. Nc. Correspondence New York
tHrilaI |

IfIDunc.
Imagine = Congo savage squatting in his ma
tive wi!ds, as Stanley and his party pass on
still further toward the heart Of the Dark
Continent. and, with glowing eyes and happy
Nisagc. ing his glistcnin@ worries ard revel-
ling with hungry gu>to in the joys of handful
Of sweet corn just poured from can which
had come all the wa, from the good old State
of Maine. Yet it is by 10 means a fancy pic
turc. In polar seas. Oh the pyramid of Chcops
and i'll The shadow Of The great Sphinx. in
cabin and III forccaste on the deep, in the cot
ton and rice fields Of The South, in settlement
and in city. on mountain and in canon of the
far West. on the table of the college president
and in the but of the African savage. a luXt-
riots edible ;lke to the Nassar graduate and
The Mexican "greaserr-among all races and
nation;lities, everywhere, in fact, is found and
cnjoyed preserved and delicious sugar corn
which comes from the State Of Maine.
Within comparatively few years rev
factor has appeared rs Il bow Of promise to the
inancally-preSsod small farmcr-the canning
of sweet corn. Not only promise, but lit
eral vcriication unlocking the doors Of plenty.
Nowadays besides his other crops he manages
To plant from one acre to three acres Of sweet
Germ. and when the latter part of August or
the first OF September has come he breaks of
Tie cars. loads item into his cait, drives of to
the packing factory. dumps them into the
hnskh@ yard. takes his receipt from the fore
man. ail'i in a few days. rs soon rs his lot has
lecn canned and its Yield tabuated on the
clerks books. lie receives his three cents per
can and comes home with = pocketbook pie
thoric with greeuhack>. 1t is 4 sure market
for early III the spring he contracts with the
owners or operators OF the factory TO plant a
certain rIlncr OF acres. and nothing short Of
Hnt0Ward Treatment by the elements of nature
can arrest tie logical sequence.
Furthermore. hot Only in t!e corn itself, but
in the Tabor OF llu,hing the car, cutting the
corn from the cob. pressing it into the can,
boiling. labelling. boxing. making wooden
boxes on ''cises.'' and freightng there is a
large ana direct revenue for an army Of peo} lie
Of both SEXES and all ares. an army much re-
'lUccl Of tate Years. however. hy The introduce
iion of improved machinery.
ORIGIN OF THE INDUSTRY.
The evolution of the sweet corn industry is
;,n iite:, sting phase 0l the life of the down
east Wa-t Garner. About 1Si2 Isaac Wnslow
then i'll France. conceived the idea of presery-
ng 4; en- Vegetables lty lcrmeticaliy sealing
them in cans. lie communicated his plans TO
his brother. Nathan. in Portland, Who soon
began a series Of experiments. From TIE
>hUrtnc>> of the season in which they could be
conducted it took a long time before practical
results were reached. He began canning in
1852 in the town of Westbrook. adjoining
Portland. Since then the corn-cauninu indus
try has crown tn tremendous nronort;ops In
1902 At which time Mr.. Win>low had procured
n complete outfit, sufficient for the primitive
method Of that period. his annual packing was
10000 cans. and until the beginning Of The war
nr.,l!, WV ,In,,+ .,,, ,,,o ~ + Ia ,,,o,,,' t,,
,ar;" of ~" Winuln, .,ii,,,- Cn,ian. ~
l.adius canning firm in the Stale nufs up
,hrrr ,,rI III so,1. ins,.nrrs tiyc timns tLnt
,Ifn,b, Tlr,, ,horn nra Two ntbn, ,rn,t
,.,Lin, ;.onrnrns tho pnr,IarI p.rLi,o Tnm-
l,uuy and HuruI,am e. morrill,. Lesi,les n host
nf snail fartorirs' thr ,.reatcr mart Of whose
nroIu,t, j. rontrolir'I 6y General CharIrs p
Mattock> the president of the WinSlow Com
laliy' '9ilateraily. lne>e lhree great hrms
Whhe making sugar corn Their mann industry
also can more or icS> OF 'rults' vegetables;
meats h>h' e'e'' Such as tomatoes. sheli ana
>tflh@ beans green peas, Succotash. blleher-
itS' "ppleS' ei"hpGtl}eS' pears peaches' ioD-
>'eF>' hh'chtfei' sI'iiioli; claAlS ana oysters;
oot>' Mn't"H' veal turkey chl1keh' potted
>"u>a2t anl SOUPS VI various hlHds.
ne W lh>lqW company nave corn factories
IN brIdGloh; buGklieiI. aih'en' Cahton' Deer
M. Fah'icid' farMih%toh. hiram. Mechanic
ans. Norway. Oakland, Kay mond. llton and
t'aiHW''' fourteen IN all besides SIN lobster
Ia'toFit>. tNo ol WHICH are III Malhe. Two IN
Nova SCOTIA. and TWO at the Magoalene Islands.
ne PORTLAND fackllS company have eleven
corn laclpflts-at Nofhaill, ScbaGo Lake,
NhIIe~- 'Hehuf@, MVHIno'lth, lhthfop. as
,aln9r"' Sk"Whe@an. North Anson, Unity,
" et'S; i.iS" tWenty-SlN lobster factories in New
n'uH:Ni ith ana Nova Scolli. Burnham X
M"Fil!i nave zen corn lactorles-at Scarboro,
l'tillhark' harrison. taSco, Mlnot, Auburn.
south Iari>, llNheid, Farlnln@ton and Nor
I"lSt" , "fh.
iiV ealEihS Oh iopstGFs Is hecoililhg no III
coi>h'cfaple rlNai 10 That OF corn. For in
stance: iWehtN OF the lWenty-slN lobster facto-
f!tS ol lNc loftlanu latklHg 'ompanN during
t he past year produced ,6so,Ooo cans, employ
M -'3uo hailu>. anu making Il total sale OF
ABOUT S2oo'ogo II required about eight and a
nail million !obsteis to Mi all these cans.
FIGURES OF A BIG BUSINESS
Ono h,1oIro,I .,,,l fcrt, o.,as .o,o.o1 u.i,h
,hnnts If +i,,, J,i.rL+ h,,r,Jrl .,,1 ;Lt ';ia
of In r1s in cne c,,ti,,nns linai r ''''''
no .Io,n ;f th,s .,nt,,.,ii, I;srl,,.1 ,.,,,I
lao - nrroct al iot 1oSso,, ~ tho i,,,a, ,n @
rcrtions of N.ino. on,,,al ,-,,i,,,if r. ~
,,,n,a i,,'i - .i li ~.
of 1sSG vIih ,1,rro,, al tGI ~; aso ~ ~ v .
Jolnn rans to tho ,oSn n,alns tranJ to,al !" ~ =
n 1if - cans vh.tot.I,,n,Io. Of noas ~
nnin tI,n niteJ Statns thot "a.r vos 81 ~
W,ne lo1 thr column nacs;ma / Ia 153 nnro
thM,, Nr,land tl a, ut,t =; nv,
ana ot s an %a1 in nnme '".e m asn.i,
Iv th.n tGn rroat S+.tcs of Eov,. VI an
Ohio And these ftc,IrrS tnn ranravo,t .Io
minimum .,,,ount nf Wai,, ,no
imnt aS th.ra ,,,ro - ,1,ni I5,n1l f. p;o,
,rrcnortnJ '''''''e' VI ''''''' ''oi'eS
TLis vear N,ipe.s cor, mock b.s ho., mora
.hunIo;t 1La,, i,.,,a1 tbn ;n,.aotn M ,lojo
Lnim t,,.,t ~; - 'i'N 4 M a., 4 . " '4'e
ocraoc ,n,ln,aI IN .or, roilin'. thron,rho,
tho state is n,yar,,s If 1e ndo aane r tw,,ntr
va sGi,.r, n,;lns n ,hc 'vo,'.t ,f ~
Gol !. n,ni in .hn,,t ,,.s 'at ~
Witt, aI,out tynnt, roy ona ,ara ~
~. ,,aa IN W;ntar;,ort u.iin, 1I"i .o'
at oihar roi,,t' On tbn l,,Irnr or,. LII, - tI
St.,. fN''''' WI wv ''''''' 'o' !" "e'' vi 'he
Ga,,,od o,,n j. truly. oos,,o,,,,;,o,. to, :.
o.s ,,nrtl ,n',+h .aSt nj ot ~, aoi t
0,,.,tn nf tba 49, "in Thot !, ;iI io;, j..
M i;,,t - iIi,,,o'l ~, - :. ~, - ' t'. .,' ~ =.
, ' In i 90 ms 'nc i'.. .nl't IL
o,,toan r,-ii !, ,,h M ,, a. t, ,.ii,a ny
| may be aituced the instance where if roes TO a
missionary port in Africa and has TO be trans
ported ny negroes on foot 900 miles from the
| and Western States to the Rio Grande and be-
| yond. TO san Francisco. Portland and Astoria
| salt Lake City and other centres Of the great
| South and West, almost everywhere are seen
| the familiar cases. bearing on their illumiued
| label the pleasing legend which tells that with.
III may be found Names ''world renowned
sweet corn"
| For as an offset to her long. cold winters
her rocks and hills. and her meteorological
| Typographical aid climatic drawbacks. Maine
| can boast of growing the best apples and sweet
| '"rn Ill the world. Other States may enter the
| ii,lt'. but only to be distanced in the race
Some oi the western States produce quite gooG
canned corn. but 10 other State than Maine