AN ECONOMIC STUDY OF THE PRODUCTION OF CANNING CROPS 25 



RETURNS 

 Prices paid 



In 1920 the price received was nearly uniform in the different sections. 

 This was due in part to the activities of the growers' associations, which 

 attempted to secure a uniform price. The prices paid per ton in the 

 various areas were as follows: Orleans, $80 for all varieties; Genesee, 

 $82.50 for the early varieties, and $77.50 for the late varieties except 

 Prince of Wales, for which $82.50 was paid; Steuben, $82 for all varieties; 

 Ontario, a variable price depending on the proportion of peas of different 

 sizes. , 



Buying on a graded basis 



The time when peas are harvested has much to do with the profits of 

 both the farmer and the canner. The interest of both is to get as much 

 money out of the crop as possible. This can be accomplished most satis- 

 factorily to both parties by cutting the peas at as late a date as will permit 

 their being in the tender condition necessary for high quality in the canned 

 product. The companies usually employ "road men" to watch the peas 

 of the different growers and order them cut when they are at the proper 

 stage. The better and more experienced road men aim to have the peas 

 cut at a stage when the yield will be good but the peas will still be in good 

 condition for canning. With favorable weather they are usually successful 

 in this. 



Most of the canning companies pay a flat price per ton for peas. Some- 

 times the contracts call for two prices one for fancy and one for standard 

 peas. If the peas are cut when ordered by the company's road men, 

 they are usually paid for as fancy peas. A few companies pay for peas 

 according to the proportion of the different sizes. One of these is the 

 company operating in the Ontario area. After the peas are threshed, 

 a sample of them is mechanically graded according to size. The number 

 of pounds of each size in 100 pounds of peas, and the price per hundred 

 of the load, are then calculated. The prices paid in 1920 at this plant 

 were as follows: 



Alaska variety 



1. 10 cents a pound for peas that went thru a i8/64-inch mesh 



2. 8 cents a pound for peas that went thru a 2O/64-inch mesh 



3. 3 cents a pound for peas that went thru a 22/64-inch mesh 



4. 2 cents a pound for peas that would not go thru a 22/64-inch mesh 



Sweet Wrinkled varieties 



1. 10 cents a pound for peas that went thru a 2O/64-inch mesh 



2. 8 cents a pound for peas that went thru a 22/64-inch mesh 



3. 3 cents a pound for peas that went thru a 24/64-inch mesh 



4. 2 cents a pound for peas that would not go thru a 24/64-inch mesh 



If when calculated on the above basis the average price per ton was 

 not $81.25 for the entire crop of the Alaska variety, or $76.25 for the entire 

 crop of the Sweet Wrinkled varieties, a minimum price of $81.25 per ton 

 was paid for the former and $76.25 for the latter. 



Whether this system is as satisfactory to the farmer as the payment of 

 a flat price depends on the comparative yields and prices under the two 



