Farmers' Cooperative Canning Produce, Selling Chickens, 1930

By James G.K. McClure Jr., editor of the Farmers Federation News, published September 1930

Cannery Paying Out Money

The cannery at Hendersonville has been running overtime for the past month. At the first of the season, things looked black for the cannery. May, June and July were so dry that the tomatoes fruited poorly and the first fruit took blossom end rot.  Later rains have saved part of the crop and we are getting about 25 per cent delivery. Some of the growers brought in as much as 14 tons per acre.

The Southern Railroad inspector came along the other day. He has been inspecting canneries on the Southern Line. He told George Evans we were running the highest product run in the South.

One grower, who has six acres, had an average of 4,300 pounds per acre. Some of the growers have fallen down completely and these we cannot take on again next year. When a man contracts to deliver and does not deliver, we will cut him off. We go out and sell the tomatoes and depend on our contracts, and if a man fails to live up to his contract we cannot have him grow for us another year.

For the past two months we have averaged 40 employees at the cannery, and since September 1^st we have averaged 60. This business is bringing money into Henderson County, both to the farmer and the farmer’s facility.

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Capturing the Chickens

The Farmers’ Federation has just built a poultry buying station and feeding plant at the Newbridge Warehouse. At this point we will pay cash for chickens as they come in from Madison County, Yancey County and north Buncombe. More chickens are hauled over this road probably than any other road in Western North Carolina.

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Frank Gilbreath, the new manager at the Newbridge Warehouse, stands with cash in his hand to pay for every chicken that comes over this road.