Milford chronicle., 1949-11-25

Whether they are VIP's at GHQ
in Frankfort, Embassy stan IN Mos
COW or homesick CTS at Attn, they
may properly say, Thank you" to
the food processing industry Of this
Eastern Shore. An occasional rare
hamper Of fresh sweet potatoes
may get through by special dispen-
sation on cargo plane. but its dol
lars to kopecks, those folks get
their sweet potatoes in cans, filed
with the tang which prompts,-
More gravy, please" And Hnu-
ther helping"
It has been no cinch, in the past,
for legation chef or a mess sar-
geant to serve sweet potatoes on
the spur Of the moment. Credit for
easing the headaches OF these con-
scientious men, should be given
where credit is due. The Eastern
Shore area now cans over so per
cent Of the nations commercial
pack Of sweet potatoes and John II.
Dulany & Son, Inc, at Fruitland
may be cited for Special Men
tion." in making this palatible veg
etable available not only on state
occasions but for any day in the
year that meals are served in Am
erican households or where folks
reat out.
We might call attention to our
national habit of taking some things
for granted. In this instance we
refer to Dulany's place in the Eas-
tern Shore economy.
Some farmers consider Dulany's
relationship to them in the logic of
Ben Franklin SIT isn't what YOU
grow that counts, but what you
save and SELL We altered Ben's
language a little, but that is where
sweet potatoes and Dulany's sue
cess in creating markets for q par
ticular crop, appear worth a brief
historical resume.
Time was, as any Eastern Shore
farmer knows, when sweet potatoes
were a seasOnally restricted food in
the city consumers diet. They were
difieult to store, temperamental in
transit, and almost a luxury" BY
reason of their short holiday an
pearance, usually from about
Thanksgiving to after the ew Year.
Many cities became acquainted with
sweet potatoes through the push
cart oven and,-"Get your roasted
sweet 'taters-flve cents each!"
When John H. Dulany entered
the canning field fifty years ago,
there was a potential market for
many products, not the least oil
which was sweet potatoes. To meet
the slowly awakening demand for
production on a stable and con-
tinuous basis, canning was the
only logical solution and this de-
veloped many, many headaches.
Mr.. Dulany took the direct road
of private enterprise-trial and err
ror. Under then existing methods
Of canning, any one or all four
kinds Of sweet potatoes might ap-
pear in cans-mushy, black, caked
and, now and then, palatable. But,
at the Dulany establishment, at
Fruitland, Nd, solving the prob
lem of canning sweet potatoes was
No. goal.
The cost to Dulany and other pio-
neers was high. The market was
limited because the product was
uncertain in quality and retail out
lets we're reluctant to load their
shelves with dubious food COM
modify. But, by 1925-27 a slight
silver lining appeared on the dark
cloud Of canning sweet potatoes.
The vacuum process worked well
on whole sweet potatoes and inn
proved the marketing picture for
farmers and it put sweet potatoes
within range of the consumers
pOcketbOOk.
Within three or four years, ]. H.
Stansbury, then superintendent of
the Fruitland plant, solved the pro-
cess of canning sweet potatoes in
syrup, and national consumption
slowly climbed. Nevertheless, many