EIGHTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART X. 657 



hired man, and no misunderstanding can arise as to tlie number of days' 

 worlv. 



ANNUAL INVENTORY. 



On Feb. 1 of each year we pay all outstanding bills and make an 

 effort to settle with every person having an account with us. We measure 

 all hay, corn and other grain on hand and estimate its value according 

 to the local market; estimate the value of horses, tools, machinery, etc.; 

 weigh all cattle and hogs and figure them at city market prices, less 

 freight. Brood sows, being heavy at this season, are not marketable, so 

 are not weighed, but are listed at $15.00 each, regardless of the market. 

 We think this a minimum price should we ever sell out entirely, and 

 as we try to have the same number of brood sows on hand every spring, 

 that item remains practically unchanged from year to year and does not 

 atfect the net results. Feb. 1 is chosen for this inventory because most 

 merchants can have their bills ready at that time, and there are no 

 growing crops except wheat. Everything on the farm is then in the 

 most condensed form. 



SWEET CORN CANNING IN IOWA. 

 Wallaces' Farmer. 



A can of sweet corn is rather a prosaic and insignificant thing in 

 itself, but the economic value of our corn canning industry runs up into 

 the millions of dollars every year. It may be news to many that Iowa 

 leads the Union in the production of canned sweet corn. The next time 

 you open a can of "sugar corn" for corn oysters, corn fritters, escalloped 

 corn, or some other delicious dish, it will perhaps add a bit of spice to 

 this humble article of food if you know something of its "life history," 

 in which some 200 or 300 people have a part. In the typical Iowa country 

 village of Grimes is located a factory devoted to the sweet corn canning 

 industry. The factory is up-to-date, successful, and may be taken as an 

 example of the high-grade canneries of the state. This is a stock com- 

 pany and most of the stock is held in Grimes or by the farmers near 

 Grimes, which makes the plant pretty much of a mutual affair. A 

 description of the methods there employed, when supplemented with the 

 views given herewith, gives one a very clear idea of the whole process. 



In the spring the acreage is contracted for, the present price being 

 $8 a ton net husked corn for Evergreen and $11 for Country Gentleman. 

 About 700 acres is needed to keep the factory going properly during the 

 canning season, and this season extends over three to five weeks, depend- 

 ing on the season. The acreage per farm varies from ninety acres for 

 the largest patron down to small patches of two or three acres, but 

 about twenty to thirty acres is found most profitable for the average 

 grower. More than this necessitates too much hired help at harvest time 

 in order to secure the crop in prime condition. Good seed is of vital 

 importance and is hard to obtain on the general market. During recent 

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