Evening times-Republican., 1920-11-05

housewife needs a canned vegetable.
ALSO, fear there Is a tendency
among US to let competition name
our prices, and to forget what we
learned under food administration
ruling. can not urge you too
strongly to keep an accurate set OF
books. and to keep account Of each
item entering into your costs, and
study where n saving can be made.
Iowa packs about one-fourth of
the sweet corn packed in the United
States, and have seen the state
grow as TO quality from a time when
Iowa corn was being sold at price
ten to fifteen cents per dozen less
than So called standard corn Of east
ern packers to this day, when she is
practically the backbone Of the en-
tire country as to quality and
price. Iowa packers have been able
to ask for and sell their standard
grades OF corn at higher price than
any OF our competitive states. This
speaks Well for the quality OF Iowa
corn. and for the financial response
bility Of her packers.
1 But we must not stop here-more
Of our factories than ever before are
putting up extra standard and fancy
grades Of corn, and here is where we
must continue to grow. M
THE short course at Ames this
past winter was one of the biggest
moves we have ever made In this
direction. 1t will be continued again
this coming year, and l know that
those Gamers who had their repre-
sentatives attend last year win be
johnnie on the spot this year. and
trust those who did not will profit by
the experience of others. and Sill be
on hand this coming year with their
note books, and absorb the many
good points that win be given them.
"The inspection service is another
big step toward the Improvement of
quality. and Iowa is especially for
tunate In, her chief Inspector, and
am glad to say that ] have heard
nothing but praise for our Professor
Harrison. who VIII address us later
on our program. A great deal of
praise is also due for the success OF
this work to the chairman Of the In
spection board, Mr.. j. w. Hill. who
has been Gntiring in his zeal ever
since the beginning Of this work, and
1t q success.
And now about the future-the
1920 packed corn has probably bean
packed at the highest cost In the
experience of the industry, at any
rate since the packing of corn has
been done on a large scale. Prices on
many commodities are greatly de-
moralized. The farmers products
have suffered a great decline, many
items being sold at, less sthan cost to
produce. Factories are reducing
prices to cost and less than cost on
many manufactured products
Wholesalers and retailers are talk
ing losses or selling many items at
cost In fact, the pendulum is on the
downward swing--how far it will go
no one can tell-but the fact remains
that people must eat, and canned
corn is one of the staple foods. There
was no carry over. to amount to any
thing. from 1919. The pack of the
United States was not excessively
large, and at reasonable prices every
case OF corn will be required before
another pack. 1t remains for the
Gamer to realize that his sales will
not be in large volume. as previous
years, and that he may have o',wait
until we'll along in 1921 before dis
posing OF all f4s pack of 1896 and
ytt it IS nU 4oSAysn to sit tight ana not
rock fh04 boat Nh .ssSks yet A,S ,sal
S:.iAnother MATER Which must b.
givensserious cqhstderation by every
Gamer is the srelation between the
canners and the wholesaler. Gamers
have to be excused in past years of
short pack, and heavy sales-of not
having lived up to their contracts.
Today we have the reverse situation,
and the wholesaler in many cases is
cancelling contracts and rejecting
deliveries on the slightest pretense. l
can not urge my canning friends too
strongly to make their word and their
contract as good as a government
bond. and to live up to their contracts
in the strictest sense, and I trust
that our broker friends will pass
the word along to our customers that
it's also up to them to do likewise,
and II the day comes, and it will un-
dcubtedly come soon, when a written
contract will be considered as a mere
scrap Of paper that time will be a
serious one for both buyer and seller.
II wish to take this opportunity to
thank you and every one of you
for your cooperation in this past
year-and to assure you Of the pleas
ure it has been to serve you as your
president, and to earnestly solicit that
you work more closely together than