1915. 
THIS RURAL NEW-YORKER 
209 
A LANCASTER COUNTY INDUSTRY. 
High-class Evaporated Sweet Corn. 
Part IT. 
P REPARING THE CORN.—The modus operandi 
is about as follows: The corn is gathered by 
being pulled from the stalk, either rain or 
shine, as a hatch of the right age for drying must 
either be used or lost. Upon delivery to the dry- 
house it is husked and placed in the steaming vat. 
This is a large trough of wood or metal with a Water 
seal so steam will be confined. The corn is usually 
placed in a cage made of wire netting which, after 
steaming, can be lifted out and delivered to the cut¬ 
ters. or the cutting machine. The steaming usually 
requires 20 minutes. 
THE DRYING PROCESS.—After cutting from 
the cob the corn is placed in the drier and watched 
carefully so as not to brown, as a strong blast of 
air, passing over pipe heated to 330 deg. will burn 
it very dark after the moisture is all extracted. 
It is then run through a miniature shredder to break 
up the small masses of grains which naturally form 
during drying, this being the last operation prior to 
placing either in bags or barrels for shipment. 
Seems very easy and simple, dq.es it not? One 
farmer I know runs his outfit IS to 25 hours each 
day, or day and night, as you please. Others man¬ 
age to finish up each day by a 14 to 16-hour run, 
by a larger overhead outlay, for increased capacity. 
One difficulty often encountered is the trouble to 
secure sufficient help, as August 15 to October 1 is 
usually a busy season on the farm, especially where 
mixed farming is the rule and tobacco is grown, 
and unless one were situated near a village or some 
source where additional help can be secured for that 
period, better go slow in this business. 
MARKETING.—There is no question but that 
evaporated sweet corn, once thoroughly introduced 
to the consuming public of any community, is going 
to be a staple product thereafter. 
Large quantities are sold each season 
in Lancaster, Reading, and other cities , 
into which this article is being intro¬ 
duced. There is one retail grocer in 
Reading who retails as high as 35 bar¬ 
rels of 200 pounds each annually. One 
farmer here supplies 12 barrels of 200 
pounds each, annually, direct to the 
State Asylum of Pennsylvania at Nor¬ 
ristown, which only shows the extent 
to which consumption can be encour¬ 
aged, by proper introduction. The re¬ 
tail price is generally between 20 and 
25 cents per pound, and the acre pro¬ 
duction during a good growing season 
ranges from 15 to 20 bushels of 40 
pounds each. The green husk is fed to 
steers, and greatly relished by them, 
as they give about the same exhibition 
of gluttony as a gourmand going 
through an unwholesome course dinner. 
OUTLAY INVOLVED.—The cost of 
the various plants in use here may 
range from $1,000 to $5,000 and even 
more in one or two instances. Some are constructed 
upon the scientific principles of applying the blast 
of heated air underneath a thick layer of corn 
placed upon a wire cloth, as in the small stove 
drier previously mentioned, which being driven up¬ 
ward carries the moisture away in a very short 
time. Others of a more antiquated and first prin¬ 
ciple design have numerous small trays made of a 
wooden frame four to five feet long, 12 inches wide 
and about two inches deep. These trays have wire 
screen bottoms, and the corn is placed evenly and 
thinly over them. Then the trays, by the hundred, 
or several hundred, according to the magnitude of 
the operation, are placed in a cabinet several inches 
apart, and the hot air driven into one end, where 
it passes over, through, and around, the numerous 
trays, carrying the moisture from one to another, 
and making some corn more soggy than when it was 
first placed into drier. To operate these tray ma¬ 
chines, an attendant is constantly required to jug¬ 
gle them around, and continually exchange one 
for another so the finished product comes out bright 
and free from the appearance of too much heat. A 
pleasant job this, with thermometer 95 deg. outside 
in the shade and the 320 deg. air blast seeking an 
outlet at every crack and crevice. 
BLEACHING.—Right here occurs a thought as to 
how the unscrupulous food doper may in time put 
his seal upon this product. If through inattention 
or carelessness a batch becomes too dark in color 
to grade fancy, possibly the same treatment may 
be applied that is now used to bleach dried peaches, 
apricots, sultana raisins, etc., and instead of an ab¬ 
solutely pure and wholesome food product we will 
have to digest a quantity of sulphur dioxide. Let 
us hope some day the law-makers of this country 
will consider the many consumers of our land, and 
disregard the representations of the few million¬ 
aires, who want to make more millions, regardless 
of the fact that some one else must suffer that they 
A 229-Egg Hen. Fig. 68. 
may pile up wealth, and forbid these noxious 
practices. 
HARD WORK NEEDED.—There will doubtless 
be some readers of this article, who can, with paper 
and pencil figure 100 acres corn 20 bushels per acre, 
40 pounds at 25 cents, as about $20,000 for a few 
weeks’ work and a few dollars’ outlay. All I can 
say to these is that before you get that $20,000 you 
PICKING OVER RED KIDNEY BEANS. Fig. 09. 
will do more real work, more planning, and ex¬ 
perimenting and spend more real money than you 
ever dreamed necessary at the outset. You will 
have to create your markets, which means adver¬ 
tising and continuous application, as you have an 
almost unknown article. This has been the exper- 
Poob Place to Store the Mower. Fig. 70. 
ience of the farmers in this section. But a small 
start and perseverance should win out in the end. 
Lancaster Co., Pa. elmer j. weaver. 
THE FARM MANAGER S SIDE. 
' “ > V f J 
A Record of Practical Experience. 
I AM not throwing bouquets at myself, neither am 
I looking for a job, but I am going to present the 
manager’s side in answer to S. R., on page 1344 
I am going to give a little history of myself, and 1 
have no doubt that many could give a like descrip¬ 
tion of their experiences. 
.1 was born and brought up on a large farm owned 
by my father, who paid for this farm by selling 
milk as low as one cent per quart and pork at 5 y, 
cents. In 1905 I attended Cornell Agricultural Col 
lege, putting in two years there, after which I spent 
one seaspn as supervisor of tests for the Holstein 
Friesian Association. There I married and took a 
position as manager (?). (Will explain that ques¬ 
tion mark later.) So much for experience and 
training at farming. 
The first man to manage for was a retired city 
man who never saw a farm before buying one. a 
very nice man to visit with, but a man who couldn’t 
be told that he was wrong on any subject what¬ 
ever, and a great theorist. When his ideas were 
successes he would pat himself on the chest and 
when they were failures he would invariably blame 
his manager; needless to say the farm didn’t pay. 
and we were both dissatisfied. After a year I con¬ 
cluded that I was merely a passenger, riding along, 
instead of a manager, so made a change which I 
found out was worse yet, but staid the year through, 
only to make another change which actually seemed 
worse yet. In every case the owner was “on the 
job” directing the business, though my name was on 
the stationery in glaring letters as “manager.” Here 
is where the question mark comes in. Was I man¬ 
ager as the term would suggest? Webster says to 
manage means to conduct or control. If this is the 
meaning I am sure I was manager in name only. 
After managing three different farms in three 
years I was fortunate in getting in 
communication with a man west of the 
Mississippi River who has a farm of 
nearly 400 acres in New York State, 
who wanted a real manager, and out 
of 34 applicants I was chosen. This 
was four years ago, and while the 
owner was on a visit last Fall in the 
East he offered me a three-year con¬ 
tract to stay with him at considerably 
more than I had been receiving pre¬ 
viously. Why? I will give figures 
which explain. Our income was $7,377 
and the expenses were $5,482, leaving a 
net gain of $1,895, average per year. 
This of course includes my salary. I 
have seen the owner just four times in 
four years. 
The results would probably have 
been the same had the owner been here. 
I don’t know, but I do know what the 
results were with the owner 2,000 
miles away, when for the three years 
previous I had considered that my ef¬ 
forts had been a complete failure with 
the owner “on the job” daily, and in my present 
position I have less manual labor than at any 
time before. 
I realize that there are many managers (so 
called) who ought to be working with a pick and 
shovel, and also realize that they injure the chances 
of a good position to those who are sincere and 
conscientious, also worthy of responsibility. 
I have in mind now a very plausible young man 
who got a $1,500 position as superintendent of a 
large estate on forged references. He “hung on” 
for two years, but needless to say he was a failure 
in the end. My idea of this business is for the own¬ 
er to say when his prospective manager comes well 
recommended: “I will give you two years to make 
good. If you do I will increase your salary or 
recommend you well if you want to change; if not, 
I will not help you in any way and give you your 
dismissal.” Of course, I am taking it for granted 
that things are in shape to do business, and the 
manager is given a chance to show his mental and 
executive ability, and not watch his every move and 
be ready to criticise if he doesn’t move the same 
as you would. There is no business with such a 
diversity of opinion, ideas, whims, etc., as farming, 
and the less a man knows about it the more certain 
is he of his ability to make his ideas and whims, 
successes and then blame his manager if they are 
merely bubbles in the brain cells. s. b. j. 
Some of our readers say they are going to try to 
make 50,000 questions this year. Well—let them come, 
but don’t strain too hard. Questions framed merely 
for the sake of asking them are not very valuable. We 
have one letter from Australia containing 18 separate 
questions! 
Some men seem to think they can talk all around 
a subject which they do not understand and “get away 
with it.” Here is the way an old farmer puts it: “I 
can always tell when a writer’s pump sucks hot air.” 
