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had trailed it all out, I found much to my surprise, that this can of tomatoes 

 had been the property in turn of all of the following concerns: the retail 

 merchant, a jobber at Denver, a wholesale house in Chicago, a wholesale 

 house in New York City, a commission agent, a canning factory in southern 

 Maryland, whose label appeared on the can, another factory in Maryland 

 who had actually put the product up in tin, and sold it without a label, 

 and lastly the grower, who had sold the product at the rate of $8.50 a 

 ton. Now, I am sure that you people, like myself, appreciate the fact that 

 we need, and always will, a few middlemen. They are legitimate, and as 

 important as the almighty dollar, in the business life, but when it comes to 

 identify a whole bakers' dozen of middlemen with one little measly, 

 insignificant No. 2 can of tomatoes, it is swinging the pendulum too far, 

 and there is no argument in its defense. It is possible that two of these 

 were legitimate, between producer and consumer. The rest of them ought 

 to engage immediately in farming, or some other helpful line of service, 

 and help this country of ours to get a square meal at a reasonable price. 

 This story offers a definite argument for home canning in every community. 

 If the average cost of a can is 4 cents or less, and the retail price is 15 cents, 

 you have a middleman's difference of 11 cents. Then the child who can 

 can 300 of these cans in a single day, can actually earn $33.00 cash per 

 day, for every day spent in eliminating the waste of orchard, field and gar- 

 den. An adult working at the rate of 600 cans per day can turn out a net 

 profit of $66.00 cash, for each day spent in this constructive line of work. 

 You ask, does it pay? No one doubts the fact that there are but very few 

 average people who are making a better cash return showing per day 

 than is offered through this line of work. 



When I say that children can do all of this canning, do it all success- 

 fully, with the saving of time, labor and yet do it more efficiently and at 

 less expense than has been true in connection with the old open kettle 

 method, practiced in most of the homes throughout the country, some of 

 you will necessarily doubt the honesty of my statement, and for this reason, 

 I regret that I am not invited and have not been given time to actually 

 demonstrate with the outfits in the canning of the various vegetables and 

 fruits. My usual method of demonstrating the facts in this home canning 

 work is to bring the equipment before the audience, invite a few of the 

 little girls and boys in the audience to come forward and be instructed in 

 a few moments' time, and then in turn to demonstrate how easy it is to 

 perform the operations in the canning of strawberries, so they will keep 

 flavor, color and texture-; beans, peas and greens, so that they will not only 

 keep color and be fresh for service, but will be a part of the balance ration 

 for every day of the year, and eliminate the necessity of patent medicine, 

 so common in the American home, and that these same children can learn 

 to successfully can sweet corn on the cob, by simply using a little water and 

 salt, and have fresh ears of corn for Christmas dinner, to which friends 

 and loved ones may be invited. This kind of canning is usually done in a 



