Long before the transcontinental railway was built — ^when settlers were still making their way slowly across the country in prairie schooners or sailing 'round the Horn— the founders of the DEL MONTE business were already in California, canning and preserving the golden harvests of its most fertile valleys. They were the first in the field. They began as pioneers — in a new land and in a comparatively new industry — with very little capital but with a big ideal — an ideal, which, backed by the determined spirit of '49, has revolutionized the canning business and given the whole world better things to eat. That ideal was to can the finest fruits and vegetables grown, and so to perfect the processes of canning that the finished product should retain its full natural flavor and freshness. They believed that the way to secure the finest fruits and vegetables was to locate their canneries in those sections where soil and climate combined to produce Nature's best. And they believed further that, to preserve that natural goodness at its best, the ripe fruits should be "packed where they ripen the day they are picked." That was the principle upon which the DEL MONTE business was started nearly 60 years ago. And that is the principle upon which it has grown and developed until today the California Packing Corporation is the largest canner of fruits and vegetables in existence and DEL MONTE Quality is recognized the world over as the standard of excellence in foods. A Far Search for DEL MONTE Flavor Fine flavor in fruits and vegetables is what "good breeding" is in people. One is just as much a matter of careful cultivation as the other. Both are developed only under the most favorable environment. 3A Del Monte Canned Fruits and Vegetables That explains why DEL MONTE'S 89 model canneries are situated in the most favored spots of Nature — each location selected for its special fitness to produce certain products of finer flavor and finer quality than can be grown any- where else. It explains further why the California Packing Corporation owns and operates thousands of acres of the most highly developed orchards and gardens in these favored sections — ^why the specialists who prepare DEL MONTE Products have spent their lives in improving old varieties and propagating new ones to perfect DEL MONTE Quality — why, in short, they devote their most vigilant attention to every stage in the growth, harvest and preparation of DEL MONTE Products, from the planting of the seed until the perfectly flavored fruits and vegetables are ready to be served on your table. Please do not confuse the delicious flavor of DEL MONTE California Canned Fruits with some varieties of fresh California fruit, which are necessarily picked green and allowed to ripen on their long journey to market. For DEL MONTE Fruits are always matured and sun-ripened on the tree. And they retain all the fine flavor and delicate bouquet that kindest Nature can impart, because they are "packed where they ripen the day they are picked."

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Long before the transcontinental railway was built — ^when settlers were still making their way slowly across the country in prairie schooners or sailing 'round the Horn— the founders of the DEL MONTE business were already in California, canning and preserving the golden harvests of its most fertile valleys. They were the first in the field. They began as pioneers — in a new land and in a comparatively new industry — with very little capital but with a big ideal — an ideal, which, backed by the determined spirit of '49, has revolutionized the canning business and given the whole world better things to eat. That ideal was to can the finest fruits and vegetables grown, and so to perfect the processes of canning that the finished product should retain its full natural flavor and freshness. They believed that the way to secure the finest fruits and vegetables was to locate their canneries in those sections where soil and climate combined to produce Nature's best. And they believed further that, to preserve that natural goodness at its best, the ripe fruits should be "packed where they ripen the day they are picked." That was the principle upon which the DEL MONTE business was started nearly 60 years ago. And that is the principle upon which it has grown and developed until today the California Packing Corporation is the largest canner of fruits and vegetables in existence and DEL MONTE Quality is recognized the world over as the standard of excellence in foods. A Far Search for DEL MONTE Flavor Fine flavor in fruits and vegetables is what "good breeding" is in people. One is just as much a matter of careful cultivation as the other. Both are developed only under the most favorable environment. 3A Del Monte Canned Fruits and Vegetables That explains why DEL MONTE'S 89 model canneries are situated in the most favored spots of Nature — each location selected for its special fitness to produce certain products of finer flavor and finer quality than can be grown anywhere else. It explains further why the California Packing Corporation owns and operates thousands of acres of the most highly developed orchards and gardens in these favored sections — ^why the specialists who prepare DEL MONTE Products have spent their lives in improving old varieties and propagating new ones to perfect DEL MONTE Quality — why, in short, they devote their most vigilant attention to every stage in the growth, harvest and preparation of DEL MONTE Products, from the planting of the seed until the perfectly flavored fruits and vegetables are ready to be served on your table. Please do not confuse the delicious flavor of DEL MONTE California Canned Fruits with some varieties of fresh California fruit, which are necessarily picked green and allowed to ripen on their long journey to market. For DEL MONTE Fruits are always matured and sun-ripened on the tree. And they retain all the fine flavor and delicate bouquet that kindest Nature can impart, because they are "packed where they ripen the day they are picked."

The bride's cook book