Thomas Canning Company To Be in Operation by Mid June, Says J.E. Thomas, March 28, 1921

Work on Plant Will Start Soon. . . Thomas Declares Other Canneries Are to be Built Later

J.E. Thomas, president of the Thomas Canning Company, chartered under the laws of North Carolina and capitalized at $50,000 largely raised by qick sales of stock among a small group of farmers and Charlotte business men, says the brick and lumber for erection of the plant will be on the ground this week. The plant will be in operation by the middle of June, Mr. Thomas says. Two-thirds of the stock is already raised and the rest will be raised shortly.

“The plant we are going to put into operation soon,” said Mr. Thomas, “is only one of the number we hope to put up later. It is just the beginning of what ought to be done here. There is no reason why North Carolina should send out of her borders $9,000,000 a year for foodstuff put up in cans when she can grow as good products as Virginia, Maryland, or California. If you go into stores and look upon the shelves, you will see food products in cans brought from these states. We have no ill-feeling at our neighboring states for doing this, but what we ought to do is to prevent their goods coming in here in such large quantities by growing our own products of the same kind.

“We have wonderful soil and climate here. Our seasons are long and our lands fertile and easily cultivated and I see no reason why North Carolina shouldn’t grow her own foodstuff, especially since it looks like cotton is going to be an unprofitable crop hereafter.

“There are about 4,000 bales of cotton in our fields yet, I should judge, because it has been unprofitable to pick it. Why not plant some of this acreage in fruits or vegetables, that can be sold to a canning factory, the product for which is always in demand?

“In our plans at the canning plant we contemplate offering a market for 350 acres of fruits and vegetables, mostly corn, beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, beets and berries. We are contracting with farmers to grow whatever acres they can grow, furnishing them with seed at wholesale cost price. We will have a capacity for 2,000 cans a day. We expect to turn out 500 bottles of catsup a day.”

Machinery for the plant has already been purchased and will be ready for installation as soon as the erection of the plant itself gets far enough along.

From The Charlotte News, Monday evening, March 28, 1921