Milford chronicle., 1922-02-17


and packer.
On the packs of tomatoes and fruits,
made back in 1889 and 1890, lost con
sderaby more than 1 possessed il
worldly goods. 1t took me five years o.
hard work to recover my losses and gel
started again. To accomplish this, il
1891, began selling canned goods fol
other packers on a brokerage basis, anC
have continued to do so until the present
time. My observations during the q
years experience as a broker has covered
n large part of the United States. But
on the growing of this vegetable it has
been largely confined to the Maryland
Delaware Peninsula.
In some sections of the country, the to-
niato grower does not need the canner
Throughout the entire south and south
Nest where a large acrease is grown an
3laUy. there is not a single tomato can
ming factory of any note. IN the past lew
wears, some canning experiments have
been made in Texas and Arkansas. but
have made no appreciable headway. In
fact, the tomato industry south of the
latitude of Norfolk, Virginia, from the
Atlantic to the Pacific Coast depends en-
tirely on the green market. The State
of California was also in this list until
about five years ago, since which time
the canning of tomatoes has developed
so rapidly that California stands second
in the United States in the number OF
cases of canned tomatoes produced an
nualIv Maryland alone ranking higher.
The states in which the major pbrtlon OF
the tomatoes grown for canning ana
manufacturing purposes, are produced
are as follows: Maryland, California IN
diana. Missouri, Delaware, New Jersey
New York. Utah, Illinois, Kentucky Ohio,
PENNSYLVANIA, Tennessee, Virginia, ana
West Virginia. The volume of the pack
in the several states is in the order mem
toned. A few plants have also been es-
-slished in Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa.
lssnra ska. Kansas, Colorado and Ore
ron so that YOU can readily see the to-
mato is being successfully grown Tor
market and canning purposes IN more
than three-fourths of the states in the
Union. Its Importance can even better
he appreciated when ten you that Tor
money value, it ranks third in the veg
atable kingdom, white and sweet pota-
toes being the only two vegetable crops
in the United States that surpass the
once despised Love Apple, now various
" called "Tomat," Tomato" ''Toma-
to-" Tomato" each term measuring the
esteem in which it is held.
The tomato is a crop that can be pro-
duced under a wide variety of conditions
but to make it profitable for canning or
manufacturing purposes where good
quality and large quantity than the above
climate and a long growing season COM
bined are the first essential requisites
The Middle Atlantic States have this in
the highest degree and the coast section
of central California would come next
Farther south, the temperature IS too
high in the ripening period, causing
very poor quality, watery insipid, too
much seed, pulp and not enough solid
meat. While farther north, the growing
season is too short to mature Il full crop
though the quality is better than in the
south. Therefore in neither the extreme
north or south would it, be possible to |
produce tomatoes for general manufac-
turing purposes on profitable basis.
Tomatoes are grown extensively in the |
far south as previously stated, but for
the green market only. They are usual
" picked green and ripened under par
tial refrigeration, and I venture the as
sertion that not one here has ever eaten
a good, really good, tomato grown and
marketed under these conditions. Yet
the northern markets afford a price for
this product to justify their extensive |
cultivation. In California, Utah, Colora- |
do and some sections of Florida, the crop |
is grown under irrigation and as a rule, |
the average crop is twice that of ours.
So much for the general situation. This |
short survey of conditions outside our !
own domain the Maryland-Delaware Pen |
insula, is no doubt a proper introduction |
to the question what About Toma-
toes?" in this particular territory.
Our principal competitors in canned to-
matoes are the states of Ohio, Indiana
Illinois and Missouri which occupy the
same latiudinal positions as the Mary
land-Delaware Peninsula, and extending
the same lines westward, it includes
Colorado, Utah and the central coast
section of California so that I would say /,
9O% of all canned tomatoes produced in
the United States lie between the lati-
tude of Cape Charles and Wilmington.
The states of Ohio, southern Michigan,
Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and Tennessee
furnish supply almost sufficient for the
needs of the central west from Pitts
burgh to st. Louis Omaha, Kansas City,
Chicago and the minor distributing
points included in that territory. Far
her west, Utah and California have bet
ter freight rates than we have and thus
get the business. Just here, I might call
your attention to the fact that only a
lew years ago this Peninsula supplied
practically all this territory just mem
Toned, including Arkansas and Texas.
Vow we get an occasional order only, for
he prevailing freight rates make it pro-
libitive.
l was in Sioux City, Iowa, a few weeks
lgo in conversation with one of OUR job
ler customers who showed me the situ- !
lton by a very simple illustration. He
said to me, you want $4.4O per dozen 7
or No. tomatoes" !" The freight to Sioux sC
1ity is about 4Sc per dozen: carriage in I
md out SC per dozen, freight to GUS 5
omer so miles out, 15c per dozen; his I
artage &c per dozen, making total Y
Without jobber or retailers profit, S2.2O t
er dozen. Add the jobbers' profit of Is {
o 70 cents, and the retailers profit OF %
o 55 CENTS would make u total of $500 e
r 2515c per can to the consumer. He 1
hen said the farmers con only get lie n
er bushel for their corn. In other words, !
takes 11s bushels good corn to buy one |
an of our tomatoes IIe then put the n
uestion suuarely up to me whether 1 Il