The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1893-03-30
CANNING FACTORIES.
HOW TO START AND OPER-
ATE THEM SUCCESSFULLY.

The South Could Beat the Worlt
on Canned Goods, Says a Prac.
tical and Experienced Man..
J.B. Lanier, of Salisbury, Talks
to a South Carolinian on This
Interesting Subject.
w. F. Williamson, of Winnsboro,
c., makes the following inquiries
"Will you please tell me how mucl
money it would take to establish the
business of canning fruit and vegeta
bles, and whether such an enterpris.
would pay9"
Looking to the end of getting tn.
best information available on the
above subject, reporter went to Sails
bury, N. c., to interview ]. B. Lanier
About five years ago Mr.. Lanier went
into the business of canning fruits and
vegetables, continued in the busines:
four years and then gave it up. Mr.
Lanier is an energetic, enterprising
and successful business man and his
account of the canning business will be
about as accurate as could be obtained
especially with reference to its sue.
cesslul establishment in the South. The
information communicated was in a
conversation which is herewith given in
substance
I" Mr.. Lanier, would you object to
give some information about the bust
ness of canning fruits and vegetables"
asked the reporter.
"Give me an idea of what sort OF
information. you want, and I'll give it
to you if | can"
"What is the cost of the necessary
plant or equipment and is there any
profit in the business?"
"To start with the first question" :"
answered Mr.. Lanier, "the plant
necessary to can fruits or vegetables on
any ordinary scale is insignificant. An
outfit could be put up for less than
$1,000, with which about fifty hands
could pack 5000 cans per day. This
outfit would consist of a steam boiler
8 or 10 horse power, besides which the
cooking kettles, piping and other
appliances would not cost over $500.
l could show anybody a complete plant
here at any time, but it is not in
operation now. There are no secrets
about the business, and the processes
are very simple indeed. Anyone of
good ordinary intelligence can learn
to properly prepare and pack most Of
the fruits and vegetables in few days.
The work can be done in any ordinary
building that will afford shelter. One
thousand dollars ought to fit plant
up in good shape if building is
available.
"Now to go on to the second
question. While l am out of the
business, at least temporarily, it is not
because there was no money in it. The
conditions surrounding the business
here made it very harassing one and
| had other business to look after to
such an extent that | preferred to quit
rather than attempt to correct the con-
ditions to suit the business. These
prejudicial conditions are about as
follows:
"The farmers do not make busi-
ness of raising fruits or vegetables and
it is hard to get them to cooperate in
a way to make sure of a regular supply
of good stuff to pack and some days
they would bring five times as much
as we could handle, and of course we
couldn't buy it all. Then those who
failed to sell would tell everybody we
didn't want any more stuff, and then
we would be very scant for couple Of
days. Then, too, they would bring
good, bad and Indifferent stuff,
entalling considerable work to sort out
and get what was fit to pack. These
irregularities made the matter of
handling the labor difficult. One day
we would have more hands than we
had work for, and the next day we
would have more stuff than we had
hands 10 work. planted some
vegetables myself and always made
out we'll with what got off my own
farm. My tomatoes were considered
especially fine wherever | sold them.
In Maryland the farmers are educated
to so arrange their vegetable and fruit
products as that they can take just SO
much to the packing houses every day
and they are informed that none hut
selected products are wanted.
"The whole business must be done
inside of four months, and most of it
is done inside of 60 days. If peaches
could always be relied on in this sec
section as crop, profit of at least
IS per cent. could easily be made on
them alone but sometimes we have
no peaches at all. Garden peas are
also in good demand, and would be
very profitable, but could get very
few, and even when l tried to raise
them myself the results were very
poor. They don't seem to grow we'll
about Salisbury.
"The simple establishing of can
ming factory and a knowledge of how
to treat and pack fruit and vegetables,
is not enough to make success of the
business. 1t must be understood what
sort of goods are in demand and will
bring good prices, and provision must
be made to get regular supply of
stuff. 1t won't do to rely on the
farmers until they get much better
acquainted with the business than they
are now. Apples, beans and corn are
low priced and Improbable. Peaches,
garden pears and cherries are always
high-priced and profitable. The best
results got were from vegetables
raised myself, and from peaches, and
l think it would be best for anyone
going into the business to start
,,arat,hfo fr,;t re1vipr nt