BETTER FRUIT 



AN ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE PUBLISHED MONTHLY IN THE INTEREST OF MODERN, PROGRESSIVE FRUIT GROWING AND MARKETING 



Growing Vegetables for the Cannery and Evaporator 



By A. G. B. Bouquet, Division of Horticulture, Section of Vegetable Gardening, Oregon Agricultural College 



TIME was when vegetables were of 

 minor importance in the packing 

 of various horticultural products 

 in canneries, and more recently in 

 evaporators. The packing of a few 

 vegetables was done between the hand- 

 ling of fruits and so helped to keep the 

 plant running more uniformly and 

 somewhat enlarged the output. This 

 situation has now been considerably 

 changed, for the quality of Oregon pro- 

 ducts being more widely and favorably 

 known and with vegetables playing an 

 important part in the feeding of the 

 warring nations, there has been an in- 

 creased activity in the vegetable mar- 

 ket and the packs in all canneries have 

 been greatly enlarged. At the present 

 time the Oregon output is of consider- 

 able importance, and offers to the vege- 

 table grower a market for all or part of 

 his crop which formerly did not exist. 

 Vegetable growers are interested in the 

 welfare and advancement of the can- 

 ning and evaporating industries, for 

 they have made it possible for them to 

 grow many tons of perishable produce 

 and many growers have been in a large 

 measure dependent upon the factories 

 for the sale of their products. In view 

 of the somewhat limited opportunities 

 for marketing fresh vegetables in the 

 markets of the state, the cannery and 

 evaporator have stimulated production 

 in districts where they are operating 

 and elsewhere, and in case of a glut on 

 the market of a certain vegetable this 

 crop could be diverted to a factory 

 handling it for the purpose of process- 

 ing it. 



With some crops such as celery there 

 is a great amount of waste due to the 

 strippings of the stalks in the prepara- 

 tion of the bunches for the crates. I 

 saw in a celery field recently strippings 

 which I later figured to be worth not 

 less than two hundred dollars to the 

 grower at the price ordinarily paid for 

 celery, namely, thirty dollars per ton. 

 In the case of some other crops such as 

 onions, the smaller bulbs which may be 

 graded out for lack of size would make 

 just as good onions for dehydrating as 

 the larger bulbs. Cabbage that is burst 

 slightly will be as fully acceptable as 

 that which is solid if the cabbage is 

 going to the kraut factory. 



Oregon has already made a reputa- 

 tion for itself in the vegetables which it 

 has packed and is packing. A letter to 

 me recently from a cannery manager 

 here in the state reveals the fact that, 

 according to one of the best authorities 

 on the subject, the Northwest will be 

 looked for in the future for the largest 

 amount of string beans in the country. 

 What is true of the quality of the beans 

 is true of practically all of our canned 



vegetables. Premium prices, or prices 

 above par, have been paid for Oregon 

 products. The growth of the industry 

 is on an upward grade and undoubtedly 

 will continue in its growth. 



As far as the success of the cannery 

 or evaporator is concerned it is neces- 

 sary, for the greatest economy, to have 

 the same located in an area where vege- 

 tables of all kinds may be suitably 

 grown. A strictly fruit-growing area 

 may not be well suited to vegetables 

 and vice versa. Some of our best vege- 

 table-growing districts in the state are 

 at the present time producing little 

 fruit, so that the factory may not al- 

 ways be able to be so located as to be 

 supplied with both kinds of products 

 from nearby territory. Growers should 

 be able to receive more money if the 

 majority of the produce is nearby 

 grown, so that the factory is not put to 

 the expense of paying costly freight 

 bills, as some of our factories are forced 

 to do, going even into other states in 

 order to get their raw material. Our 

 problems in regard to this business do 

 not lie in the ability of the soil and 

 climate here to produce quality vege- 

 tables, if the grower will do his part in 

 proper production and delivery. 



Where one knows the price that he 

 will obtain for a certain crop and he is 

 sure of the market where it is to be 

 sold, growing a vegetable under con- 

 tract will be found satisfactory and 

 ordinarily profitable, provided, how- 

 ever, the grower meets the conditions 

 that are necessary for producing vege- 

 tables of good quality, obtains no less 

 than a normal yield, and delivers the 

 product in suitable condition. The suc- 

 cess of the grower in these particulars 

 and the prosperity of the factory are, 

 therefore, two correlated factors. The 

 success of the one cannot be accom- 

 plished without the success of the 

 other. 



Two important factors in profitable 

 vegetable gardening on a contract basis 

 or for a co-operative concern are: (1) 

 The securing of a normal yield or more 

 than a normal yield, and (2) the re- 

 duction of the items in the cost of pro- 

 duction to a minimum When no more 

 than the contract price is to be ob- 

 tained it can readily be seen that, to 

 put this business on a profitable basis, 

 there must be obtained a certain ton- 

 nage which will offset the cost of pro- 

 duction and give the grower a reason- 

 able profit. I will refer to this propo- 

 sition a little later on. 



One of the greatest problems in the 

 relation of the factory to the grower at 

 the present time, or at any other time, 

 is the amount of raw material that will 

 be delivered to the factory by the 



grower. Very often this is a shortage 

 rather than an oversupply. The fac- 

 tory management is never certain of 

 their possibilities of securing their 

 needs of the raw products. This uncer- 

 tainty was well exemplified by this last 

 season's pack, when, due to the dry 

 summer season and the late spring, 

 many vegetable areas failed entirely to 

 deliver anything near a normal yield. 

 One acreage of beets, for example, that 

 normally would have given an average 

 yield from forty-five acres produced no 

 more than would be obtained from ten 

 acres. In a similar way, another can- 

 nery found that the pack of string beans 

 this year did not equal the output of 

 last year, although the contract of acre- 

 age was almost twice as large as in 

 1916. This shortage of delivery may be 

 due to classes of factors — one control- 

 able and the other uncontrolable. Un- 

 favorable weather conditions are be- 

 yond our dictation, but we can have 

 something to say about soil selection, 

 soil fertilization, maintenance of moist- 

 ure, planting and caring for the crop, 

 and the conditions of the vegetables at 

 delivery. Crop shortage is unprofit- 

 able to the grower and disappointing to 

 the factory which relies upon him to 

 fill a contract delivery, the plant in turn 

 being looked to for a definite supply 

 by the brokers or jobbers. The con- 

 trolable factors affecting what kind of 

 a delivery will be made and whether 

 vegetable growing for the factory is 

 profitable or not are some of the im- 

 portant problems which I have in mind. 



Concerning the distribution of seed 

 to growers, I do not doubt but that 

 considerable care is used in getting the 

 best that can be obtained. It is well to 

 bear in mind, however, that merely the 

 question of what variety is to be dis- 

 tributed is not entirely solving the seed 

 problem from the grower's standpoint. 

 Of great importance is the question of 

 the seed strains, the quality of which 

 may be good, bad or indifferent. 



Recent field trials by experiment 

 stations show that the differences in 

 the yield and type of different strains 

 of the same variety are caused entirely 

 by the quality and breeding of the 

 strain to such an extent that in grow- 

 ing cabbage, for instance, the market- 

 able value of one strain would be worth 

 twice as much as that of another, the 

 poor strains not paying the cost of pro- 

 duction of the crop grown from them. 

 Just what plan is to be followed in 

 buying seed to secure the best is not for 

 me to say here, but it is of the utmost 

 importance that more attention be 

 given to seed quality and seed strains 

 which are to be given growers to plant. 

 The question of what beets your grower 



