your soil will judiciously admit of; thoroughly incorporate all fertilizers with the soil; plant seasonably, in a rich and mellow seed bed; cultivate faithfully with approved implements, and, eventually, although you may not acquire princely wealth, you will deserve a far more honorable distinction from those who succeed you, of having made "two blades of grass grow where only one grew before."

CANNING INDUSTRY.

BY LUCIEN THOMPSON.

The farmers of New Hampshire need to find new crops to raise, and those which will give them more returns for the time and labor invested and in a way which will not give everything to the middle-man. The Grange in Durham a short time ago brought up the subject of the canning industry, and after some remarks I was requested to visit the canning establishment at North Berwick, Maine, and report at a subsequent meeting. At the request of the secretary of the Board of Agriculture, I have noted, very briefly, a few facts learned regarding the canning industry and establishment.

First, I paid a visit to the North Berwick canning factory. I found the superintendent absent, but was taken over the factory by a young man who kindly gave me all the facts possible. The buildings were constructed cheaply for only fall use, and hence were not battened, and would let the air through many cracks. They prefer the late Crosby variety, and commence packing about September 1. I estimated the building to be about 175 by 40 feet, with a boiler and retort room 50 by 50 feet and pickleroom 50 by 40 feet. These seemed larger than necessary, and I think there could be a great economy of space. In 1887 there were packed here 300,000 cans of corn. A carload of apples can be put up in two days, and in the building are thirty or forty vats for pickles holding 200 barrels each. The farmers were paid last year from $17,000 to $20,000; a contract was made for 200 acres of corn last year, and another for the next year, when

they pay the farmers for the year's supply, giving $1.87 per hundred pounds for corn, $1.10 for pickles up to four inches in length, and 40 cents per hundred pounds if over four inches. From 150 to 200 men are employed during the busy season, and six men from January to the packing season in making cans. The employés are paid at the rate of $1.25 per day for men and $4.00 a week for girls, the help boarding themselves.

Soon after I called at the place of business of the company in Boston, in which city they have a large business with heavy capital and flourishing trade. The past season 300,000 cans of corn were put up. They said they could buy apples all canned in New York less than they could can them, and that they did not make a success of tomatoes, peas, or beans. Four years ago was a very poor year, but it had been fair since, although quite a number of factories had been built the past season and there was danger of overdoing the business. Certain places desiring them to start in their locality had offered $1,000 toward the building as an inducement to locate, but they had as many factories as they needed, and if their runners did not retail as well as wholesale, business would be very dull.

The industry is favorably spoken of by the farmers of North Berwick. One says: "I planted three acres of corn and received $50 to $55 per acre, and one half an acre of cucumbers and received $90 an acre." Another farmer says: "I planted five acres of corn and averaged $50 to $60 per acre, and three acres of cucumbers which averaged $100 an acre, and they pay twenty-five per cent less than they do at other places in the State." Corn unlabeled is sold for $1.30, and labeled for $1.75 per dozen.

A farmer, who was a member of the Grange, planted five aeres of corn and received $50 an acre, and four acres of cucumbers and received $100 an acre. Most of the work is done by machinery. The farmers get from $500 to $700 by the sale of canned goods, and that they would not otherwise get. The co-operative plan was favored by them, and they believed in the Grange as an organizer. The master of the Grange said a canning factory on the co-operative plan would pay, as the farmers would get all the profits, and that apples would pay better to evap

orate than can.

Another member of the Grange, and one of the best farmers, with large barn, stock, machinery, etc., had charge of the work during the busy season. He raised six acres of corn and averaged $50 an acre, and $75 on some of his land. He gave as his opinion that it paid to raise sweet corn, selling the corn and putting the fodder in the silo, and also that the price of pickles was too low to raise cucumbers profitably. He thought a suitable building would cost from $1,000 to $1,500, without the machinery.

The canning factory contains four apple cutters, and from ten to fifteen girls are employed. After the cans are filled they are put in hot water and boiled twenty-eight minutes, then pricked, resealed, and put in steam retorts, where they are cooked fifty-five minutes more with thirteen and one half pounds of steam pressure. The cans are made by the factory during the dull season, as they can make cheaper than they can buy. of the canning-tin comes packed in boxes from Maryland.

Most

There are eighty-two canning factories in Maine, with an amount invested of from $2,000 to $20,000 each. Now these factories are made to run successfully in Maine and pay their owners good dividends, and some complain that the farmer gets too small a share of the profits. Why cannot the farmers unite and run a canning factory on the co-operative system in the same way as they run so successfully the co-operative creamery all over New England? The farmers by owning the plant can get the entire profit of the business. Especially would I recommend the canning of sweet corn, as the corn-fodder can be put into the silo and will make the first quality of ensilage. Thus the farmer will get no small amount of money from this industry, while other occupations, like raising beef, pork, grain, etc., seem to bring so little gain to the average farmer.

The farmers need to study more and unite in some such undertaking, for co-operation with others is one of the foundations of success in any enterprise. The Grange exercises a vast influence in bringing the farmers together for an interchange of views and in enabling them to act in harmony in various ways. I hope these brief notes may reach the eyes of some of our active New England farmers, and that they may awaken an interest in the

matter enough to discuss the subject with their townspeople so that they will send a committee into Maine during the next canning season and learn what they need to start one of their own and come back and push the matter until they demonstrate that a co-operative canning factory can be successfully run in New Hampshire by its farmers.