Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1915-10-27
CORN CANNING.


|
ana IT shares with apples, peas, beans and
a lew other fruits and vegeta bles in being
an heir apparent to the throne in Maine,
where it ranks close to the pack of Ash
foods in value annually.
Maine, III fact, was the pioneer State in
the canning industry, and to It's credit the
state is still leader in it, the value OF it's
canned corn alone this year being around
three and half million dollars, and the
great business has been developed within
practically half a century. Sixty years
ago there was not single canning factory
IN Maine, and now there are more than
200, while the end is not yet.
With this increase in factories has come
the increase of the price OF corn per acre
rising from 80 at the beginning OF the
business to three or four times as much at
the present time. Corn being king, let it
be stated that it assumed its first duties as
reigning monarch in Portland, where in
lslS the FIST shop in the United States, or
IN the world for that matter, was built
Just outside OF the city. The few cases
that were packed and shipped out of the
State gave the new product such a wide
reputation for quality that the demand
increased wonderfully, going SO far as to
make it necessary sometimes, under stress
OF short crop, to pack corn in other
states undo: Maine labels a practice that
was necessarily stopped with the advent
OF the pure food laws, to the great salts
faction and protection OF the Maine
packers.
1t would not be fair to say that the
other foods packed in the State have done
business CD the reputation OF it's canned
corn, but without doubt their success has
been partly due to the excellence of this
Maine product, so that to-day there are
not only corn factories, but large shops
which put up apples, peas, squash, blue
berries and small fruits in their season,
all at good profit and with demand
that has never yet been fully filed.
Maine farmers have only recently boz
| come awake to their possibilities. With
the whole central and western part OF the
State particularly adapted to the raising
CT vegetable and fruits suitable for can
h'hSt hhetc ~ tho tuhnNt VI d lttttlIue
still awaiting the progressive tiller OF the
soil, both IN the line OF private enterprise,
cooperative shops and home canning in
dustries. In some sections the oranges
are already considering the ACCESSIBILITY OF
| entering his business in order to advance
the interest of the farming communities,
while the eyes of outside capital are turn
ing,this way, looking for an opening to
establish factories, that may begin opera
tons with the first dandeiion that shoots
up in the spring, and continuing until the
last squash has been rolled from the rocky
hillside and the yellow pumpkins
gathered from among the corn stalks.
1t is nation OF canned food users, this
United States. Where, half century ago,
everything was purchased by the pound,
the barrel, the tierce, or whatever pack
ages were then in vogue, today the can is
a necessity, and not only do whole
families recourse to the shiny rows of
sttractively- abeled tins on the grocers'
shelves, but the refuse cans thrown into
the dump represent the. expenditure of
millions of dollars.
Canned fish, OF which Maine has almost
monopoly IN New England, at least, are
known all over the world; they are eaten
cotton belt Of the South where fresh foods
would be impractical; and the factories
that are sprinkled along the Maine coast
from Eastport to Portland handle raw ma
terial annually that is converted into
Theoretically sealed goods at total valua-
tion OF more than s., 1000, 600. Add to this
an equal or larger valuation that is con-
servatively placed on the vegetable and
fruit pack and it will be seen at a glance
that the canning business is By no means
the least OF Msine's industries.
Lately the government has taken
cognizance of the opportunity that exists
for home canning and preserving. and the
housewife and her daug hters who wish to
earn pin money or the price Of some long
desired household improvement or luxury
are beginning to learn the science OF at
tractively and proftably preserving the
overplus OF vegetables from the kitchen
garden and the berries and small fruits
that grow wild along the stone walls and
in the Maine pastures. These bring even
larger price than the factory canned
goods, and the business can never be
overcrowded, sales depending wholly on
the amount produced and the quality and
appearance of the goods.
There is hardly rural district in the
State where the canning business cannot
be done successfully in ANAL way; or on
a larger scale. The only problem which
at present faces the would be packer is to
get the farmers to raise more vegeta bles
and fruits. The reputation Of the goods
packed in the State for the last halt CEN
fury will do the rest.