The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-04-25
Is A CITY or BEANS,
Grand Rapids and One of Its Pr1ne1'
pal Industries.

Grand Rapids and One of Its Princd'
pal Industries.
IN the matter Of ordinary every day
culture Grand Rapids, Mich, may not
rank with some others, but one con-
rern there handles more beans IN
single year than any other t1rm IN the
United States or in the world. The
company has an elevator for beans, ana
through this elevator between TOO and
BOO car loads Of beans pass annually. A
car load means from $40 to $40 bushels,
and those who are mathemattcally in
.lined pay figure out how many busheis
or how many bakings this total repre-
sents. Most Of the beans handled are
Michigan grown, but often Its neces-
sary to send to Canade and to Europe
for supplies. Last year So, 100000 worth
of beans were imported from Austria
and other European countries, and the
year before the imports were also large.
All these beans did not, Of course 90 to
Grand Rapids, but about 100000 BUSH
els Of the total were taken there to be
sorted, sized. and cleaned. This year
many carloads of beans are coming
from Canada, and as for Europe, In
stead Of exporting, she is calling upon
America for beans, and several large
consignments will be sent over.
Aside from the thrashing-out process
performed by the farmers who grow
them, beans pass through several opera
tons before they are ready for the mar
ket. They are first poured down
chute into the cellar Of the elevator,
then hoisted to the upper floor, where
they pass through machine which
grades them according to size and
cleans them. Then they go through an
automatic weighing machine and that
takes them to the cellar again. To hoist
them back upstairs Is the next opera
ton, and then they are fed ourupon
wide revolving belt which carries them
past half dozen girls who pick out all
the defective and discolored beans so
that none but the best are offered to
buyers. The girls are paid BY the num-
ber Of bad beans they pick out, and in
the busy season in February and March
between eighty and 100 girls, are con-
stantly employed. They can easily take
care Of 1000 bushels day. From the
girls the beans pass into big funnel,
at the bottom of which stands q man
to bag or barrel them for shipment An
average of three carloads are shipped
away daily eleven months in the year,
while in August there is very little II
anything done in the bean line.
New Orleans is one Of the great bean
consuming centers of the United States.
That town takes about 200 carloads an
nually, and the demand is steadily in
creasing. Pittsburg takes many beans
for the miners, while Minneapolis, st
Faul, Duluth, and other towns buy
them by the carload for the lumber
men. Mobile, Ala, calls for about tWen-
ty carloads annually, and Pensacola,
Nashville, and Louisville have all ac-
ouired q fondness for beans. and buy
them by the carload. Comparatively
few beans are shipped from this city
further east than Buffalo, for New
York State Is almost as good a bean
country as Michigan, and the freishts
play an important part in the business.
For the same reason few beans can be
shipped further west than Fargo or
Topeka, because beyond those points
the California crop comes into compe-
tition with a big difference in the
freight rates. Carload shipments to
Vermont and Maine are not infrequent
and occasionally Boston puts IN an
urgent demand which Michigan Is al
ways pleased to supply.
Beans are the same the world oven
whether grown in Michigan or Austria.
It takes little longer, perhaps, for the
European beans to cook than the fresh
nicked American beans but after the
latter have become six months old the
most experienced bean eater cannot
tell the difference. What constitutes
quality in beans is not their flavor, for
In this respect they are all the same,
but the uniformity Of size and the
brightness Of the color. and it is upon
these points that the Michigan beans
excel. The European beans come ali
sizes, and this neceSsitates two or three
sortinss, whereas the entire product Of
Michigan county will be almost e1-
actly the same size. The matter Of
size Is important, for if they are differ
ent there will be lack Of uniformity
In the cooking which will be disastrous
to the dish when it IS brought to the
table. The Canadian bean is almost
as good as the Michigan. and the New
York bean also ranks high.
Beans are quoted In Grand Rapids At
s1.75 a bushel, an advance Of so or 80
cents in the last thirty days. They will
grow on any land that Will produce
wheat, and the yield is from twelve to
thirty bushels to the acre. In growing
them considerable skill and knowledge
Of bean habits are necessary, and 1t
takes an experienced hand to make a
success Of it The crop is about the
same as wheat, and the returns with
wheat at 4S or so cents are about three
! times better. Some Of the old bean
.aisers down ir Livingston County have
crown rich out Of the crop, while their
ieighbors who have devoted themselves
10 wheat have little to show for their
labor.