Exhibit 24



                            THE J. M. SMUCKER COMPANY


                            REGISTRATION ON FORM 10-K


                                POWER OF ATTORNEY




         KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that ELIZABETH VALK LONG, director of
The J. M. Smucker Company, hereby appoints Timothy P. Smucker, Richard K.
Smucker, and Steven J. Ellcessor, and each of them, with full power of
substitution, as attorney or attorneys of the undersigned, to execute an Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2002, in a form that The
J. M. Smucker Company deems appropriate and to file the same, with all exhibits
thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, all pursuant to applicable legal provisions, with full
power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and
necessary to be done, as fully to all intents and purposes as the undersigned
director might or could do in person, in furtherance of the foregoing.




                                        /s/ Elizabeth Valk Long
                                        --------------------------
                                        Director