The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1875-04-30

The Alden improvements in its
Processes---wh Changed -Corers and
Peclers---M Markets for the Products.
There are now on record in the
Patent Office Of the United States N
different patent dryers. Whether
this large number Of dryers is the
cause or effect Of the unprecedented
drouth Of the past two or three years,
am not sufficiently skilled in
meteorology to determine. For the
apparently simple process Of drying, q
large class Of persons seem to think
it is a very easy matter to construct a
machine that will surpass all others
in its drying capacity, quality Of pro-
ducts, cheapness of construction and
economy of management
The sesquipedalian terms, deliydra-
tion, pneumatic evaporation, super
maturation, and other ations, and the
theories and scientific treatises put
forth first by Charles Alden, man Of
genuine scientific knowledge and ex-
perience, copied to a greater Or less
degree by the large number Of per-
sons who think they have invented
something valuable, and who
have patented little dry box,
have so enveloped the subject Of dry
ing fruits in the fogs and vapors Of
ungrammatical and technical phra-
seologies, that it is necessary to have
these mists evaporated to make it
clear to an ordinary mind. This sub
iect has been invested with too much
theory; too little actual experience
and results have been promulgated.
The fruit-growers and farmers do not
care to know what is the theoretical
capacity Of a dryer, what the theo-
retlcal cost per pound Of its product,
what quality theoretically can be
made (some nice looking specimens
can be produced in almost any little
theoretical box)-but they do want to
know how much hare you produced
as commercial article, from season
to season on regular day by day
operations for months in each year;
what is its average quality thus man
ufactured in large quantities; what
is its market value; what does it
cost; what the demand for it; does it
command remunerative price, and
what valuable disposition is made OF
the waste cores and skins, &c. These
practical suggestions l shall attempt
to answer as to the Alden process, in
which are now invested a million and
a half of dollars, and which is the
only process that has risen to suffi-
cient dignity.and importance to com
mand for its products distinctive
recognition and remunerative prices
in the worlds markets.
BY request Of the president l pre-
pared and read paper on the Alden
process before this society in 1871.
l was thoroughly conversant with the
subject theoretically, and talked quite
Iearnedly, l presume, Of pneumatic
evaporation, ETC., but my experience
was confined to a few weeks offavor'
able operations, and consequently
limited.
My four years practical experience
has demonstrated that theories may
be very plausible and beautiful, but
actual trial frequently proves then
very delusive. A thousand and ont
little difficulties, which had not beer
anticipated or provided for, presented
themselves; expected results were
frequently rot obtained, and moditi
cations had continually TO be made
\ "a model machine Especially fruit
dryer which has to contend with st
many different phases and sudder
changes in the atmosphere) may turn
out some nice specimens or perform
quite satisfactorily, when a manu-
featuring machine on the same pat
tern, in regular day by day opera
tions, will prove perfect allure
After one regular years work, w
found steam factories would max
nice fruit, but their expense in con
struction and operation rendered
them in most cases unprofitabl
(although few, under especial.
favorable circumstances, have return
ed fair profts), and they are nov
generally abandoned or reconstructed
steam being dispensed with. Wit
our permanent cash investment Q
over fifty thousand dollars in steam
factories, we prefer to take no NOR
steam in ours Any ordinary per
; son who has ever ran steam works 6
any kind is aware Of the trouble
vexation, delay and expense incurred
Your pumps, or your valves, or you
pipes, or trap, or something are j
\ perpetual rebellion, some one ofther
refusing to do duty just at a tim
that is most inconvenient. And the
> that remarkable parsonage, a first
class engineer, is a necessity. Hi
theoretical knowledge is always pei
feet, but he usually fails, practically
: at the most critical moment, and
machine shop, a continued tinkerin
. and an endless sxpeiise are indi
pensable:
The cost Of heating with steai
:, works was several times that of OF
; improved method by direct hea
\ Our several years experience b;
. modified the Alden profess quit
materially in detail, but the gre
general principle Of moving platform
or James in currents Of heated a
I. with the current has stood the te
i and proved the correct method
b drying OF evaporating fruits an
i Il vegetables. | might say here q
e. Alden evaporator il a vertical chan
Der q feet or 81 feet square and
rn.4 A.. - faa4 hfnynY ttyffs, tfWi