Bryan morning eagle. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1898-1909, 1903-04-10
THE SMALL cANNERY.

ana Ranch writes:
Two years ago q few of my
neighbors and myself, being en-
gagged in trucking and fruit growing
in small way and not being in
line with the car load shippers,
decided our only hope to insure
success was in putting up a small
cannery. Whe got subscribed
$3.50 and believed that with a little
more we would have enough to
start, but at this stage Of the game
some promoters struck US. They
assured us that il was useless TO
start with less than $4,000 TO s. 900;
SO our subscribers dropped out.
One neigbor with five acres in ber-
ries and ! with five acres Of toma.
toes decided 10 60 through with It
anyway. We put in the full
amount of $50 in a factory" and
about $500 in cans. The local
markets were good that year, so
we canned very few tomatoes, only
about 1000 cans Of berries, 200
cans Of peaches. Peaches sold
readily at $3.50 per dozen. Toma-
toes and berries at Si.20. Two
men. one woman and three little
children operated the factory"
With our inexperience we put up
500 TO 600 cans a day. Having
no experience or instruction, we
of course made some mistakes and
lost more fruit than we should
have done; but on the whole, put
up good stuff, which our custom.
ers said compared favorably with
California goods, and superior to
eastern packed goods.
Last year ] went 10 East Texas,
a. manager OF a 30-acre tomato
farm. agitated the question Of a
small cannery, but the promoters
struck Us again and this time sue.
ceeded in raising a subscription Of
$1,000 and built a factory; but
the community put all they could
raise in building and machinery,
and nothing at all for operating
expenses, and there was not
enough stuff raised TO run it one
day in the week; hence il was not
run at all aud stands there to-day
as a monument to the-wel the
town can say, I've have cannery."
At the end Of the season when
we had shipped several cars Of
stuff and got nearly enough out
Of them TO pay for freight and
baskets, got out my little $50
outfit, and few cans had left
over and put up some Of the scat
tering fruits and tomatoes. With
the same force / mentioned before
we gathered and put up in 3 weeks,
about $3.50 90 worth of canned
goods, some days making as high
as 500 a day; sold all my stuff at
top price as soon as samples were
shown the jobber.
Now / am not running down
big canneries. They are all right
in their place, some firms having
100000 or more proftably invest
ed in them. But little canneries
are the thing for little people.
u A truck grower with few acres
Of fruit may invest $50 to 800 in a
little factory and make big returns
on the investment, and be indie
pendent Of glutted markets.
This year a few Of Us are going
into it a little deeper. We will
have something over 100 acres in
tomatoes with a number Of small
orchards 10 draw on. We will
put up $1,000 or $500 in house
and machinery and $1,000 cash
! laid aside for a starter on running
expenses. We will be able to put
up 5000 cans a day, but if our
crop is short and We don't need
to run full capacity we wont have
a lot OF expensive machinery lying
idle.
My "experience"is being drawn
out rather long. so for fear some
brother will call me down, will
say amen. Wishing Farm and
Ranch and all diyersiiers much