The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1939-1949, 1945-09-20

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es move them along their path.
They pass through the capper,
then through another sterilizer or
pasteurizer and collier and then to
the labeler. The familiar sticker,
with the bunch of luscious Con-
cords thereon that carries the
name of Kennewick to all parts Of
the nation, is put on by a machine
also.
Next, the bottles are placed
back into their original shipping
boxes. An automatic sealer folds
the cover on the box and CLUES 1t
shut, and it's on its way by con-
veyor to another freight car on the
north side of the building for
shipment to a waiting market.
The speed of the rebottling ma
chine is ITO bottles, either quarts
or pints, per minute. Eight hours
per day, 40 hours per week, from
January until September, this
machine sends out its quota until
over four million bottles are fill
ed-and the demand is greater
than the supply!
Building New Unit
Church's now have a new 80 by
160 foot unit under construction
which will triple their capacity
for making and bottling this dis
tinctive product. Presses will total
IL instead of the present number
of four. They plan to be ready to
supply the increased demand that
will follow the advertising Of
Kennewick's naturally sweet
grape Juice.
The net cash return to the far
mers of this area for their grapes
is a large item in the income OF
the territory, being upwards OF
one third of a million dollars, but
there is another very important
contribution to the economic
health of the area. Plant and field
payrolls mount to more than $50
600. This means year round Jobs
for about so people at the plant,
and in the company's vineyards,
plus harvest and pressing time
jobs of three to five times that
number.
AS a crop for the farmer, grapes
are ideal. Readily worked with
average farm machinery, they call
for a minimum of hand work in
relation to their monetary return.
What hand work is necessary Is
not of q pressing nature. Pruning,
tieing and between the plant
wedding can be done in off-season
from the other crops grown in the
area. Even the harvest, and it Of
fers no greater problem than any
other harvest, comes at q time Of
year when practically all other
crops are In.
Including one year for a cover
crop on new land before planting
vines, grapes will bear in the
fourth year. On land previously
used and with soil in good condi-
ton, this year of cover crop Is not
necessary.
In ofhef Field
One would think that grapes
would be enough Of q worry for q
single company, but Church's are
in another field also. The present
plant makes about $500 tons Of
ice per year for the Kennewick
area. The new plant will double
this amount, or about "a to Is
tons per day.
At present there are about 600
frozen food lockers, jammed full
of perishable foods, rented out to
residents of this area. Foods kept
in these lockers are at q tempera-
ture Of from five degrees above
zero to zero. Many garden fresh"
meals are In store for folks who
will be able to 60 to their lockers
for frozen vegetables and fruits
this winter. -
Church's are dependent In part
on the farmers and workers Of
this area. BY the same token, the
people are dependent In part On
Church's. Together they form .
cooperative enterprise In this re-
spect-they are giving the people
of the nation something they can
get from no other source grape
juice that is naturally sweet no
sugar added"