RURAL NEW-YORKER 
961 
Horticultural Notes 
The Canneries of Western New York 
To compute the good accruing to the 
growers and to labor in Western New 
York by virtue of the canneries would 
be a task of no mean proportions. So 
interlocked has the prosperity of a dis¬ 
trict here and there been with the growth 
and development of the canning system 
that often the biggest reverse that could 
happen to such a district would be the 
withdrawal of the canning factories. Both 
fruit and vegetables are the grist of 
these plants, and in the more favored 
districts skirting Lake Ontario a close 
network of factories provides an oper¬ 
ating season of nearly eight months each 
year, employing labor formerly idle in 
the Fall, and giving good inside jobs to 
female help, for which only a few years 
ago there was such limited demand that 
women willing to work could only expect 
to earn any money in domestic service. 
Some of the first canneries projected 
seemed to be in advance of their time. 
Stock companies were promoted, and the 
organizing company would put up the 
plant and install the equipment. Very 
often these concerns were so manipulated 
that it amounted to a “freeze-out” of the 
smaller stockholders, many of whom 
would sacrifice their holdings at well 
under the amount invested. 
With the growing intensiveness of 
American life everywhere the canning 
plant took on new importance, and its 
vogue is growing by leaps and bounds. 
Not fully content with the commercial 
plant, the housewife has become a con¬ 
vert to the home canning system, by 
which on a limited scale she can dupli¬ 
cate the work of the big plant, and stock 
her shelves with charged tin cans from 
the home orchard and garden. 
The development of the canning in¬ 
dustry presents a most interesting chap¬ 
ter in American resourcefulness. Fig. 
270 shows a modern daylight plant” of 
reinforced concrete construction designed 
for the processing of both fruits and 
vegetables. This is perhaps the most 
modern plant in Wayne County, N. Y., 
if not in the entire fruit belt. Concrete 
has been used wherever possible, and the 
floors so graded with drainage inlets that 
the entire building can be flushed with 
water in a few minutes. All machinery 
is mobile, in that during its proper sea¬ 
son the equipment needed for that par¬ 
ticular kind of work is easily adjusted. 
A battery of cherry pitters, automatically 
separating the stone from the pulp, in 
turn gives way to the peach equipment, 
by which the peach has its skin removed 
by the lye process and is halved and 
stoned by mechanical means. 
Women operatives are employed mostly 
for trimming the product to be canned. 
A long endless belt, passing between the 
two rows of trimmers, supplies them with 
empty cans and takes away the filled 
ones. ^ Employment at the trimming 
table is strictly “piece work,” and many 
women maintain an average daily wage 
of from $2 to $2.HO. Every convenience 
conducive to cleanliness is provided in 
the better grade of plants, including rest 
rooms, well-fitted lavatories, etc. 
On overtime work a goodly bonus is 
paid, and such is the standing of this 
kind of work among the factory help of 
the, districts that in many instances the 
majority of the employees are those who 
have been engaged with the same factory 
for several years. Oftentimes a valuable 
suggestion or idea originates with these 
people. The gravity labeler, shown in 
Fig. 272. is an instance of a device per¬ 
fected by an employee, and doing auto¬ 
matically and with great precision labeling 
work that had been done previously by 
hand in slow and laborious fashion. For 
years there had been mechanical labelers 
designed for the smaller cans, but when 
it came to the No. 10 size, holding about 
one gallon, the machine would not work, 
and all labels had to be pasted on by 
. n i Gie gravity labeler the cans 
roll down an incline, passing over and 
touching a vat of adhesive. Continuing 
down the incline the can rolls over the 
Afii stack , an<1 Gio label is picked up. 
At rue end of the machine the can has 
its pace siackened by a brace of brushes 
if 1 , 1 ,, 1 ’’, passes under, and this rubs the 
A l> *, Gie mm. As the developer 
i,I do 118 an, l wonderfully efficient 
M : AH you have to do is to 
e m u A 16 ™ , on t ’jalaimled and have a man 
catch them labeled at the other 
No doubt the 
reached their 
deen’r,’ 1 ?" »<T" n iPlished in the past 
vears it u a . lia,f> ^"ring the last few 
the hi! • 188 a fight to keep 
•h!dJ; s w ' th successive 
Vim o' , s, ' KiU ‘- labor and tin 
> return uf normal conditions great 
of the industry may be 
end.’ 
canneries have not yet 
acme of development, much 
on in 
short- 
cans. 
corrections will be made in the canuers’ 
dealings with producers. J. A. McOal- 
lum, a prominent Niagara County grower, 
says that tomatoes during the last five 
years have been sold for about $4 per 
ton less than the cost of production. lie 
also adds that the canners are not alto¬ 
gether downcast over the new movement, 
since it betters conditions with them by 
making their obtaining of crops more de¬ 
pendable, and in having the dealings with 
a large number of people cut down to 
dealing with a comparatively few, thus 
making it easier to do business. 
The leading counties organized in New 
wc have known cases where the soil was 
practically blown away as fast as it could 
be plowed and fitted for seeding. The 
Colorado Experiment Station has worked 
out the following suggestions. A “listed 
furrow ’ means that the soil is plowed up 
over a narrow strip of unplowed ground 
by working both ways, and thus throwing 
the furrows into a ridge. This is another 
argument for keeping light soil well 
stuffed with organic matter: 
If the land is dry, any of our soils will 
blow. Some protection can he afforded 
by drilling the grain crosswise the prevail¬ 
ing direction of the winds. On new 
lands, full of organic matter, this protec¬ 
tion will probably be sufficient in most 
cases. On lands that have been under 
ex- 
pro- 
have 
and 
interests there could 
settled and definitelv 
expansion 
peeted 
dn.Vmr r n,i r s . are "''ganized as a 
been foa?!’’ ’ n J a ' Ion - For years they 
from HiLT''-" 1 a ,S. tate association 
*‘ora this .mining of 
not. help hut he 
Xu-t °"L!l ne8 of a <*ion in which the 
the elm In " r ' i 8 In l )St 1111 portant link 
the making !> iln8 ’ had uo diroet haud 
a chans!,!' SPnt m V? vv,n t er season has seen 
eannin| err° about ’ and this the 
Sevoruf cen»,f- Kro 'y e £ s are organizing in 
New York Thi. C -°,? tral and Western 
ioik. This will mean that some 
m 
in 
-4 "Daylight” Canning Factory. Fig. 270 
Interior 1 icw of Canning Factory. Fig. 271 
Gravity Labeling Device. Fig. 272 
York so far include Niagara. Orleans, 
Mouroe, Wayne, Ontario, Livingston, 
Genesee and Onondaga, a. u. pulvek. 
Trouble from Blowing Wheat 
On the Western plains where high 
winds prevail farmers often have great 
trouble on the lighter soils; the high and 
continuous winds often blow the soil so 
that the seed wheat is uncovcrd and de¬ 
stroyed. ’Phis trouble is not serious on 
most Eastern farms, where hills and wind¬ 
breaks stop the force of the wind, yet 
the plow for several years, in which the 
organic matter has been reduced, or on 
sandy lands, this cross drilling will not 
furnish sufficient protection. The trouble 
with blowing is that the winds start the 
soil to moving. Moving soil loosens up 
more soil, pulverizes it. and soon heavy 
damage and soil movement results. A 
few listed furrows put iu crosswise the 
direction of the prevailing winds will 
almost completely control the blowing. 
The blowing can bo stopped, even after 
it is started, by throwing in the furrows, 
two or three, then leaving a space of a 
few rods,, then throwing in a few more. 
The sandier the land the more frequently 
must the listed furrows be thrown in. 
Good farming and the rotation of crops 
will reduce the danger. But when blow¬ 
ing commences, the throwing in of listed 
furrows constitutes the best protection 
for the immediate situation. Often a few 
listed furrows at the windward side of 
the field will protect the whole field. 
Sometimes it is necessary to put in fur¬ 
rows more frequently at intervals of from 
four to 20 rods. Of course, the listed 
furrows will kill out some wheat, but 
only a relatively small amount, and will 
protect the wheat that is left which might 
otherwise be killed. 
Get Your Money’s Worth 
A Long Island farmer, who was draw¬ 
ing home a load of fertilizer past the 
Institute of Applied Agriculture at Farm- 
in gdale. gave a ride to some of the stu¬ 
dents who were returning from the village. 
The students were studying fertilizers, 
and so asked questions. “What is the 
formula?” The answer was: 8-0.” 
‘‘4'he price?” “Thirty-six dollars a 
ton. The boys were too polite to say 
wliat they thought, but brought me the 
problem, and together we compared its 
value with quoted prices on materials and 
other mixtures. 
Names. and: labels may inspire the 
farmer’s imagination, but plants cannot 
read, and only know what the sack con¬ 
tains. The way we figure is this : 1A-8-0 
means one-half per cent of a ton, or 10 
lbs of nitrogen; eight per cent of a ton, 
or 100 lbs., of available phosphoric acid, 
and no potash. For our acid soils, nitrate 
of soda is the best as well as the cheapest 
source of nitrogen, costing $80 a ton, 
which contains 320 lbs. of nitrogen, or 
25c per lb. Thus, assuming that the ma¬ 
terial is the best, a ton contains $ 2.55 
worth of nitrogen. 
Now anyone can buy acid phosphate at 
a tou, which contains 16 per cent 
available phosphoric acid. As 16 per 
cent of a ton. or 320 lbs., costs $25, a 
pound costs almost exactly eight cents, 
making the 160 lbs. in the ton of fertilizer 
cost $12.80. or the entire ton $15.30, 
while the retail price was $36, leaving 
rm • 1 mo . le Gian $20 a ton excess profit. 
Ibis particular case was unusually raw, 
but it served to start us thinking what it 
costs a farmer to let someone else think 
for him. 
In reality the case is even worse than 
it appears. The value of the nitrogen is 
given ou the assumption that it is equal 
to nitrate of soda, which is by no moans 
the case. In fact, any fertilizer contain¬ 
tsless than three per cent of nitrogen 
is.likely to contain garbage tankage or 
dried swamp muck, which are of almost 
no value for this year’s crop. The less 
nitrogen a fertilizer contains the lower 
the value of what it does contain, especially 
“5 he whole contains less than a total of 
14 per cent plant food. Thus, if we elim¬ 
inate the worthless half per cent of 
nitrogen, we see the real case of eight per 
cent of phosphoric acid selling for $36, 
while twice as much can be bought for 
8 - 0 . An easier way to figure values is 
by units. A unit is one per cent of a 
ton, or 20 lbs., and is always used by the 
wholesale trade. Last Fall, when fore- 
banded farmers were buying the fertilizer, 
acid phosphate cost $24 for 16 per cent. 
or 1. 0 Nitrogen cost from $5 
to $8 a unit, and potash cost $3 for each 
per cent, and were freely sold at those 
figures. 
These prices have not changed greatly, 
and are within reach of anyone who can 
buy a carload for cash. At these rates 
a 4-8-4 potato_ fertilizer should cost 
around $;>0 to $55 a ton, while many are 
charging $65 to $80. A 2-12-2 grain fer- 
tdizer should, sell at $36 or $38, but $48 
to $:>;> is being paid. Labor and crops 
have both advanced more than good fer¬ 
tilizer. which is a strong reason for using 
more than ever before. The Soil Im¬ 
provement Committee representing all the 
makers advise us not to use anv contain¬ 
ing less than 14 per cent of plant food, 
yet we find thousands of farmers using 
such brands as 2 - 6 - 0 . 1 - 8 - 1 . 1 - 8 - 0 , 1 - 0-0 
and 2-S-J. all of which contain low-grade 
ammoniates and from 600 to 1.000 lbs. 
of filler, or. as the agents politely call it, 
conditioner.” In years past leather 
meal, hoofmeal. hair, feathers, wool waste 
and shoddy waste were frowned upon by 
good fertilizer mixers, and swamp muck 
was used in place to grow onions or cel¬ 
ery. but now these “outlaw” materials are 
mixed with the rock phosphate and sul¬ 
phuric acid, aiul cooked in the mixture 
until even a State chemist cannot tell 
what the material has been. It is un¬ 
doubtedly criminal to kill the goose that 
lays the golden egg. but it is imbecility 
to try to feed her on sawdust. Yet that 
is just wh .t thousands of farmers are 
trying to do to their lands by applying 
low-grade fertilizer. n. f. button. 
“Both ob dese here gents,” said t 
witness. Mandy Thomas, rather impress 
with the importance of being in con 
was standin at the corner convers 
with each other pretty hot an’ point 
like. “Relate the conversation.” sn 
the prosecutor. “Ah don’t remember 
sab. said Mandy. thoughtfully, “ ’cc 
dat dey was callin’ each other wh 
de.v is.”—Credit Lost. 
■ Din the woman give any reason fo 
attempting to commit suicide?” asked th 
court. “Yes. your honor,” answered th 
policeman. “What was her reason? 
“She said she wanted to die.” — Every 
body’s. 
