The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1916-03-31
BAIRD's EXCELLENT SPEECH.

1OulIIIIflEdA 8. uGHV-I
cred the following interesting ad-
dress at the meeting Of the Co
Operative Canning Club IN This
city week before last:
Ladies' appreciate very mach
the honor o. your requesting MP to
make an address relative to jyour
Canning Club, and regres that1I am
not in position to enlighten ygas very
much as to the art of cannsf1g, as 1
know absolutely nothing relative to
such subject. On the hand,
however, | wish e say that I am
heartily in synnpalhy With such a
movement, and can ryadily realize
the great benefits tina he derived
from an orgarlsation f this kind.
AS you very probal ! knew that I
am not posted On INNING, l pre-
sumo your motive III requesting me
to be with on this evening is, that
you wish q representative of the City
to know jul the nature Of the work
you propos 70 dc and thereby be in
position - give son their co-opera-
ton.
The idaa Of fJganizing a Canning
Club in our CITY, and securing the
cooperation 81 4 great many of our
citizens ii earning vegetables, which
can ba grown IN abundance, the sur
plus being r,ow often destroyed or
allowed TO tasteriorale from lack of
consumntioa Is very much in line
with an saeaE advanced to me by MI.
c.. c. Nichols ona weeks ago. He
stated. tosataQce that he had cured
a greco mari 1afn4fvn his plantation,
and vas not III ,ition to dispose of
them. He re9 amended that the
Business LaagIta in some way assist
in pnrting sufh Jroduce on the mar
ket, VI be done through u
# such faz2 production could be
inspected and handled by some Of
our iocaf gocers and could be
thoroughly recommended to the con-
sumers Of Greenwood and surround
ing sections have no doubt that
hams and other produce could be
disposed Of readily. My idea is that
canned vegetables could be handled
in the same way. If our Canning
Club could can vegetables under a
rigid inspection by persons under
standing this work, they could be sold
to local grocers, or even direct to
1orr of C.ooxr,o>J ~ 4Lo xo,-l,o4
prices. Certainly our citizens would
much prefer purchasing our products
at home rather than that manufac-
toured by foreign states; thereby
keeping money at home which should
not go out of u section to foreign
markets. Another benefit would be
derived from your Canning Club;
and that is, interest certain citizens
of Greenwood in making good gar
dens that V.ald supply them through
out the yedf. In the regular season
they coueakase vegetables for their
owl&Ss1FSNssgTes by a little extra work
enoh. vegetables could be produced
to uAply their tables the entire win
ter by canning. We all know the
benefits that are derived from whole
some food, and the only way we can
secure wholesome food is by what is
known as well balanced food; that is,
our diet being foods Of different
proprieties.
Our laboring class, as you know,
are too prone to confine themselves
strictly to a meat and bread diet,
which according to our best authori-
ties, is not the most healthful and
strength giving diet. The paying
: out of cash for canned vegetables at
= retail prices affects very materially a
certain class Of our people. While
on the other hand, the canning of
vegetables at possibly sixty to
se~venty-fve per cent cheaper than
they could be bought at retail would
surely interest the majority of peo-
pie in canning their WI vegetables,
especially so when the report of
those posted is that fresh vegetables
properly canned with care are much
more palatable, as well as heathful,
than the imported canned goods.
I gather that it is the intention of
this Club to ask assistance from the
8 City very probably in purchasing
certain equipment. I believe it would
, be considered favorably by the Board
to donate to this club an economical
outfit. This however, would have to
be submitted in the regular form and
passed on at a business meeting.
I understand that it is your idea to
use the cooking department of the
public schools for doing the actual
canning. I see no objection to such
a proceeding provided our school
trustees and management recon-
mends and does not object to this
department being used in that way.
To make your organization a
thorough success is going to require
naturally a great deal Of work. I
see, however, from the ladies present
IT. -