The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-09-30
SOME STARTLING FIGURES
Bo,etourt and Roanoke Counties Pack
More Tomatoes than Any Other
Two Counties in the United
States Navy Canneries.
tFrom a staff Correspondent


year than are packed In any other county
in America, save Hartford county, Nd
There are between 125 and 1bO canneries,
large and small, in the western half or
tho county alone. The pack this year
WILL it is estimated, reach 250,Voo cases.
The Industry gives employment TO many
hundreds of men, women and chilureh'
besides bringing much money to the coun-
Is every year in the form Of profits on
the canned goods.
The foregoing may give some Idea OF
the magnitude of the industry. but l
am utterly unable TO convey to the reader
the impression made upon me BY drive
through the tomato packing section OF
the county. One can hardly ever get out
or sight Of the canneries They are on
every stream, and in this county of hills
there Is a stream in every hollow. To-
mato fields line the roads on every hand,
except where orchards, groaning under
the weight of as large an apple crop as
the county has ever known. make one
think he Is in old Albemarle.
The tomato crop this year is very heavy.
The crop in Roanoke Is the largest ever
grown In the county. Many canneries
were utterly unable to can all the fruit
raised for them, and hundreds OF bush
els which the farmers brought to the
canneres were hauled out and allowed
to rot. The loss fell on the cannery men
and not on the farmers.
There Is moneys to be made In raising
and packing tomatoes, fair profit Tor
the grower and the packer The average
yield of tomatoes is about $50 bushels
per acre The average price received at
the cannery is twenty-five cents per BUSH
| eli, though at some of the canneries To-
Gated on the railroad the price paid Is
| thirty cents. The fruit is raised by con-
tract. In the spring of the year the pro-
prietor OF the cannery visits the farmers
of the vicinity and contracts with them
to plant a certain number of arces In
tomatoes for which he agrees to pay u
( stipulated price per bushel. He furnishes
| ,he seed and the fertilizer. and the
| amount thus advanced is withheld on tho
sale of the crop. The tomato grows best
OF. moderately fertile land made rich by
| fertilzng.
| The work connected with the cultiva-
| ton OF a crop OF tomtaoes is heart
breaking" as a farmer boy expressed 1t
| to me day or. two ago. The stooplng
| In setting out the plants and picking the
fruit from the vines is about as tiresome
| work as can we'll be imagined. The to-
| matoes are set about two and half feet
apart in rows three feet apart. They are
| cultivated about as corn. The plants are
set out from the Goth of May until the
| 10th of June Tomatoes in this county
! were set as late as the Goth Of June this
year. owing to very backward season.
Tho tomatoes begin to ripen by The mid
die of August The tomato field has to
be gone over every day in the height Of
the season. so fast does the fruit ripen.
J A tomato whose green5is just beginning
| to be tinged with pink on one day will
| be a rich, ripe crimson on the day fol-
| lowing. Picking is much more rapid work
| than would be imagined. A wagon is
driven into the field along a wide row
laid of for the purpose. The tomatoes
are picked in baskets and emptied into
| boxes holding bushef each.
| The appearance Of the first load OF
ripe tomatoes is eagerly watched for by
the men and women who find employ
ment at the canneries. The peelers re-
celve 2 cents a peck and packers are
| paid 11s cents a case for packing the
tomatoes In the cans. All the other
labor is paid for by the day. at the rate
much as the latter sum without working
| specially hard, though some do not n,nke
half that amount. At cannery located
| here the best peelers are two twelve
year-old girls. One OF these peeled sixty
pecks in five hours recently. She was
earning money at the rate OF $2.40 for q
day OF ten hours.
very simple. A complete plant Of the
largest size will not cost much over $500.
Two buildings are necessary, one for n
packng-house and one for warehouse,
The tomatoes are unloaded by the side
OF big vat. which is often located on
the outside Of the cannery. The vat IS
filled with boiling water from the big
boiler In the rear of the building. A
crate holding from five to ten bushels is
filled with the fruit, and by means OF Il
crane lifted and submerged In the vat.
Considerable skill is involved In scald
! Ing the tomatoes. The water Is e;lsily
kept at the proper temperature, but the
length OF time required to make the skin
slip from the tomatoes depends upon
whether they are barely ripe or ripper,
When the toma toes are scalded they are
lifted out by, the crane. emptied Into
buckets, and then carried to the peelerS'
tables and cmptied. These tables nrc
really broad and shallow troughs at
which the peelers stand, armed with
| short knives, with which they slip the
skins with marvellous repidlty, throwing
the peeled fruit into peck measures sit
| ting on the tables by them. When the
measure Is full the foreman punches the
pcele.'s card to show n peck has beer'
peeled, and the peck OF tomatoes Is hur
| rled on to the packer at The next table.
| The packer presses the fruit down intn
the can until it is full and then slides 1t
along to the capper and solderer. Tho
/ capper's duty is to place the round tin
disc on the hole In the top OF tho can.
and the solderer runs the solder around
the cap.
Then comes what appears to be the
most difficult part Of the work, that Of
processing the tomatoes, as the boiling
given to fruit after 1t Is placed In the
cans is called The sealed cans are
placed In a large iron crate swinging
from crane, and the whole are I'm
mersed in tank OF boiling water They
are kept boiling until cooked, 1t requires
an expert to snperintend this work, as
the length of time required to cook the
tomatoes Is regulated by their rlpeness.
Frequently there are what are known as
"swels"--that is. the can bursts al one
OF both ends a packer With whom I
talked thought this due to green toma-
tees though he seemed In doubt asto
the origin of one OF the chief troubles OF
the tomato Gamer.
When the toma toes are cooked they are
lifted from the hot water and loaded
crto truck and hauled over to the ware.