less than ihe outside cases for the cans, and ov\r /reighl h, on the average, about 

 one tenth. This item of freight alone is worthy of careful consideration. To 

 illustrate : one case of " Alden onions" weighing 58 lbs. gross, is equivalent, for 

 all culinary purposes, to 550 lbs., or five bags of fresh ; one case of "Alden 

 peas" weighing 43 lbs., is equivalent to, and will go as far in family use, as 

 seven cases of canned peas weighing 350 lbs. The same rule will apply to all 

 the fruits and vegetables prepared by this process. Canning is generally done 

 in cities. Fruits for the city are picked from the trees before fully ripe, and the 

 canners use the cheapest of them. The bulk of the articles that go into cans 

 are bruised, wilted, and often in an advanced stage of decomposition. By cook- 

 ing and doctoring them with cheap sugar, and excluding the air, decay is arrested, 

 but they have lost their fruity flavor, which no art can restore. The smallest 

 opening in the can admitting air, quickly destroys the contents. Canned goods, 

 when opened, must be used at once. Not so with Alden goods — you can open 

 the package, remove the quantity you wish to use, without deteriorating the 

 remainder. They will keep for years in any climate. 



FRUIT IN TIN CANS POISONOUS. 



Read what the Boston y^i/^/v/c// of Chemistry has to say on this point : 

 "The impression prevails among those who freely use fruits put up in 

 tin cans, that they are injured thereby, and this impression is in many cases 

 correct. We have long contended that all preserved fruits and vegetables should 

 be dried, or stored in glass, and that no mcfal of any kind should be brought 

 in contact with them. All fruits contain more or less of vegetable acids, and 

 others that are highly corrosive are often formed by fermentation, and the me- 

 talic vessels are considerably acted upon. Tin cans are held together by solder, 

 an alloy into which lead enters largely. This metal is easily corroded by vege- 

 table acids, and poisonous salts are formed. Undoubtedly many persons are 

 greatly injured by eating tomatoes, peaches, etc., which have been placed in 

 tin cans, and we advise our friends to discontinue the use of such articles." 



CAN WE COMPETE WITH EASTERN MANUFACTURERS ? 



Yes ; if we \\ox\^ for and maintain the highest standard 0/ excellence. Herein 

 lies the road to certain success. If we produce a uniformly good article, we 

 can always realize a good price, and successfully compete with Eastern and 

 European manufacturers; and there is no mystery about the Alden business; 

 any person of ordinary capacity can understand and manage it successfully. It 

 only requires careful application. 



Many of the factories in the Eastern States produce nothing but apples, porn, 

 and pumpkins, and nowhere east of the Rocky Mountains can Plums, Prunes, 

 Apricots, Figs and Raisin-grapes be successfully raised. In these fruits Cali- 

 fornia has a monopoly, and the prediction is not unreasonable that in a few 

 years we will supply the $19,000,000 worth of such dried fruits annuallv im- 

 ported into the United States. All our fruits and vegetables are larger and 

 smoother, contain more saccharine matter, and the percentage of yield is largely 



