MISCELLANEOUS SUPPLIES FOR COMMERCIAL CANNERS. Acid per carboy ($1.50 allowed for empties), 100 lbs. Air Gauges Air Pump, Hand. Air Pump, Lever.. Air Pump, Wheel.. Paste, per half barrel. $ 4.50 3.00 7.00 12.00 35.00 2.00 .20 .07 1.00 Very few canners now make their own cans. Can-making is a specialty carried on in large factories with aid of improved, patented machinery. As a rule, a cannery whose output does not exceed 5,000 cans daily can buy the cans cheaper than it can make them. Ready-made cans are sold at about $16 per 1,000 for 2-pound cans; $21.50 per 1,000 for 3-pound cans. By the car-load the cans cost a little less. They usually come in crates holding two dozen cans. The same crates are used to ship the packed goods in. Solder costs 17 cents per pound; soldering fluid 32 cents per gallon. Labels are always lithographed in colors, showing the kind of fruit contained and the name and address of canner. Labels cost from $1.25 to $2 per 1,000. LETTUCE-GROWING IN NORTH CAROLINA. W. N. HUTT, STATE HORTICULTURIST. Lettuce-growing in eastern North Carolina during the fall, winter and early spring months, for shipment to northern markets, has become an industry of very considerable importance. The mild climate of the coastal plain of North Carolina, moderated by its proximity to the ocean, the warm winter sunshine of this southern region, together with a loose, warm, loamy soil, give ap parently ideal conditions for the growth of the lettuce plant. A decade or two ago it was not believed that a soft, succulent plant like lettuce could be grown to perfection in this State during the winter months, but experience has amply shown that the finest quality of lettuce can be grown during the winter and. in many places, without any protection whatever. The lettuce grown in covered frames in winter in North Carolina is the finest of its kind. It goes to market in competition with that produced in Florida and in the greenhouses of northern cities. Market records show that North Carolina lettuce brings at all points the highest prices. The northern cities, especially in spring, are always looking for fresh early lettuce. The North Carolina spring lettuce goes to market when the northerner is beginning to tire of his long winter and is sighing for something green. When the North Carolina crop goes forward it takes precedence over lettuce grown farther south. It, in its turn, gives place two weeks later, when the Norfolk product goes forward. Fifteen miles in latitude counts for a day's difference in earliness, or a hundred miles south means about one week in earliness for northern markets. LETTUCE CENTERS. The area devoted to lettuce culture in North Carolina is not large, as the crop is grown by intensive methods of culture which lend themselves to restricted rather than to extensive operations. Wilmington, New Bern and Fayetteville are at present the centers of the industry. Each of these centers represents a special phase of the industry. Wilmington, being far south and having a very mild climate, is the center of a region where much lettuce is grown in covered frames and without heat, while still more is grown in open fields with no protection whatever. New Bern is noted for large lettuce outfits, where lettuce is forced by steam heating and irrigation. The Fayetteville lettuce industry is unique, being largely confined to small lots and parcels of land in and immediately surrounding the town. From these three centers the industry is extending to many other localities. The great demand for North Carolina lettuce will undoubtedly increase the present industry and cause lettuce-growing to be taken up more generally throughout the whole trucking region of eastern North Carolina. CLIMATIC CONDITIONS DURING THE SEASON. From the sowing of the seed for the first or fall crop until the removal of the last of the spring crop is a period of about eight and a half months, or from the middle of August to the first of May. During this period the weather conditions in the eastern counties of the State are quite mild. The temperature rarely drops below 15° F., while the rainfall, though somewhat irregular, averages 3.7 inches per month. The rainfall at New Bern during these months is considerably in excess of that at Wilmington, while the rainfall at Fayetteville is also slightly less than that at New Bern, In the matter of temperature we are not concerned particularly with averages, but with the lowest temperature registered during the time the crop is growing. A careful compilation from the weather reports, made by Assistant Horticulturist F. C. Reimer, shows the following conditions during the past five years: METHODS OF CULTURE. According to location and climatic conditions, lettuce growing in North Carolina is carried on under three different methods: (1) Steam-heated and irrigated frames; (2) Covered frames without heating; (3) Open field culture. Lettuce-growing by heating and irrigation is, as regards the growing, a safe and sure business. It is also the most costly method to install. There is, however, no danger from a sudden drop in temperature, and the crop never need suffer from drought. This method puts on the market the early lettuce that nearly always brings the highest price. The history of steam lettucegrowing in North Carolina has shown that it is a very profitable business. In warm southern locations, where cold snaps are only occasional, lettuce can be readily grown under protecting cotton covers, with no heat except that of the sun's rays. Lettuce is a cool-growing plant that will, when partially grown, bear even being frozen solid. In its succulent condition at heading time, however, it is very tender and is killed by freezing. This last winter (1906-'07) lettuce under experiment, growing in frames and without heat, was frozen solid three different times and showed no bad effects. Freezing at heading time, however, is always fatal. In this climate, where lettuce is grown under frames, there is very little danger of freezing at heading time. At times of freezing the frames are kept covered and the frost draws out so gradually that no bad effect is apparent. When lettuce is frozen great care should be taken to see that the covers are tightly stretched and do not touch or flap against the frozen plants. Whenever a plant is touched while frozen, it is ruined for market. Open field culture of lettuce is possible only in warm southern locations, where freezing is uncommon. It is, of course, more risky than the foregoing methods, but as the cost is trifling in comparison, one can afford to take some risk. This spring, owing to very favorable market conditions at the last of the lettuce season, field-grown lettuce brought the highest prices paid during the year, and the growers of field lettuce made phenomenal profits. A combination of the foregoing methods would lengthen out the lettuce shipping season and would be well worthy of trial by lettuce-growers. In addition to frame culture, it usually pays the southern grower to increase his acreage by the addition of some of the field-grown crop. LETTUCE SOILS. The quality of the lettuce crop is greatly influenced by the kind of soil upon which it is grown, and, while some soils are inferior for the work, their character may be changed to such a degree, by careful management, as to give satisfactory results. The soils which may be used may be divided into three classes-light soils, heavy soils (i. e., those containing a goodly amount of clay), and medium soils, of a loamy character. Of the light soils it may be said that they warm up early in spring, give early crops and produce lettuce of delicate texture, but the heads are not so firm as those grown on heavier soil. These soils are benefited by large applications of stable manure, but after the applications the soils should be rolled or packed so as to render them more firm. Better results will thus be secured. Very light soils will not retain their fertility as well as heavy soils. Plant food is leached from them or carried away, beyond the reach of the |