Gustavus A. Eisen

—In describing the processes of drying, curing, packing, assorting, etc., I have followed only methods which should be used by every conscientious raisin grower and packer. These methods are now actually in use, not by every packer and grower, but by the best of them, by those who strive to produce a very superior article, which will compare favorably with and compete successfully with the best products of Malaga or other foreign raisin districts. Too much poor curing and packing is done in every raisin district, to the great detriment of the district, its growers and its packers. The cause of so much poor work is undoubtedly due to the method of selling the raisins in bulk for a previously fixed sum, whether the crop is good, bad or indifferent. For many years no inducements were held out to the grower to produce a very superior article, and as a consequence the packer got very little first-class raisins to pack. When raisins are paid for according to their quality alone, there will be plenty of first-class raisins, and both packers and growers will be the gainers. The former will get more first-class fruit to pack, the latter will find it to their advantage to produce it. During the last season (1889 to 1890), a change was inaugurated, and a grading of prices according to the quality of the raisins has been insisted on. When this system is fully carried out, and when the grower knows at the beginning of the season that he can get a higher price for his superior raisins, California will produce as many high-grade raisins as Malaga or any other raisin district. Already now our average raisins are better than the average Malagas, and all that our growers ask for are inducements to produce the best. With a view to promote the attainment of these expectations, the following has been written. Raisins may be produced by cheaper methods than those which I advocate, but only great care, judgment and study will accomplish the best results. In the raisin industry it pays to produce the best, and to attain this very little extra care is required.

Time of Ripening.

—Varying with different localities and seasons, the Muscat grape ripens in California between the 10th of August and the 30th of September. The earliest points where raisin grapes are now grown are probably Palm Valley in San Bernardino county and the plains of Kern county. In both these localities Muscats have been known to be ripe as early as July, but neither locality has yet produced any great quantity of raisins, and can hardly be considered as a raisin center. The earliness of the San Joaquin valley generally is probably caused by its small elevation above the sea, which is about three hundred feet for Fresno, and increasing as we go farther south. San Bernardino county again, somewhat later as to ripening, is, as far as its raisin centers are concerned, more elevated, or from one thousand to two thousand feet or more. The nearness to the sea has there also some influence to retard the maturing of the grapes, and it is certain that in Southern California the later ripening of the raisin grapes is principally due to this cause. Thus the picking in Riverside commences between the 10th and the 30th of September, and while the other raisin districts in the southern part of California may vary some, still the ripening season coincides very nearly with that of Riverside. In Highlands the grapes are said to ripen two weeks later than at Riverside. In El Cajon the grapes ripen between the 1st and 10th of September. In Fresno the Muscatel raisin grapes ripen in the end of August, and generally by the 20th of August the picking has begun everywhere on the drier soils, while on the wet soils it is generally retarded from one to two weeks. As a rule the dryness of the soil influences considerably the ripening of the grapes, and even the quality of the soil is not without some influence, as on sandy, warm soil grapes ripen much earlier than on heavy land. As an illustration of such early ripening, we may mention that, on certain gravelly soils northwest or north of Santa Ana, the Muscat grapes ripen two weeks earlier than on the heavier and finer soils in the immediate vicinity. The growers take advantage of this early ripening to sell their Muscat grapes fresh instead of drying them.

In Salt river and Gila valleys in Arizona the grapes are said to ripen much earlier than in California, but so far the vineyards there are not old enough to have been greatly benefited by this early ripening. On the plains of Kern county the ripening is hastened by the nature of the soil, and possibly also by the nearness to the desert and the desert wind, by the greater distance from the sea, and by a less amount of rainfall. In Malaga the grapes ripen several weeks earlier than in Fresno; in fact, the whole Mediterranean region seems to be earlier than California. As a general rule, we may state that the Muscat grapes ripen later in Southern California than in the central portion of the State. In regard to Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, the farther we go towards the south the earlier do the grapes ripen. But in every district there are localities which are earlier than others. The Muscat and Muscatel ripen earlier than the Sultana, which latter grape begins to ripen earlier than the Muscat, but attains perfection much later than any other of our raisin grapes. Thompson Seedless ripens in Yolo about August 10th, and is thus our earliest raisin grape.

Signs of Maturity.

—There are three different ways by which the ripeness of a grape can be tested,—saccharometer, taste or color. The saccharometer is a well-known instrument, consisting of a graded glass tube that will sink to different depths in liquors containing different percentages of sugar. There are different kinds of saccharometers, but the most practical one for the general raisin-grower is one divided in one hundred degrees, each degree showing one per cent of sugar to every hundred of water. Thus, if the saccharometer sinks down to twenty-five, we know that the water or must contains twenty-five per cent of saccharine water and seventy-five per cent of water. To properly test the grapes, a few bunches should be picked from several vines, the juice should be squeezed out and passed through a towel or otherwise strained. The must is then poured into the test tube, and the saccharometer inserted. If it shows twenty-five degrees or more of sugar, the grapes will make good raisins, but for very superior raisins several degrees more of saccharine are needed. It is not unusual to find the grapes reach thirty degrees in favored localities and in favorable seasons. Only inexperienced vineyardists will require the aid of the saccharometer to determine the state of ripening of the grapes; the more experienced judge by taste and color.

The taste of course is the most commonly used method for ascertaining the ripeness of the raisin grapes. Every grower experienced or not should examine his grapes repeatedly. To give directions for tasting the ripeness of the grapes is of course impossible; it must be learned, and can only be learned by practice. It is enough to say here that the grapes should taste very sweet, contain no acid, and if possible be rather solid.

The color is also a valuable adjunct in determining the ripeness of the raisin grapes. Fully ripe and perfect fruit should be amber yellow, somewhat transparent and waxy. If this color is combined with great sweetness, and in Muscatels with absence of acidity, we can be sure that the grapes are ripe. Some grapes do, however, especially when too much exposed to the sun, acquire the yellow amber tint without being sweet, but they are readily distinguished from the ripe grapes by their being of smaller size and harder, tasteless and acid. Such grapes never develop into good, mature grapes, and do not make good raisins. I may also remark that not all ripe grapes become amber colored. Those that grow in the shade and on very damp ground remain always green, although they acquire a certain sweetness, and will make good raisins. The Muscat grapes will make salable raisins even if not fully ripe, but in order to make superior and good raisins all grapes should be “dead” ripe, especially so if the grapes are to be dipped in lye. If unripe or partially ripe grapes of Muscats and Sultanas are dipped, they make very poor and red raisins; it would have been better-if they had never been dipped. This is especially the case with the Sultana, which begins to ripen and is eatable long before the Muscat, but which only makes a good dipped raisin after the Muscat has been ripe for some time. Three or four days make a great difference sometimes in the amount of sugar in the grapes, and consequently in the quality of the raisins, and the experienced grower will keep his grapes on the vines as long as possible to attain the greatest possible amount of sweetness. But on the other hand it takes judgment to foresee how sweet the grapes will be, as in unfavorable seasons they will not attain their full sweetness even if allowed to hang long on the vines. To know the time after which the grapes do not increase in sugar requires much experience and acquaintance with the locality where they are grown. In this respect different years vary very much.

Picking.

—Many vineyardists pick their raisins too green or before they are fully ripe. Not all raisins ripen at the same time, and to make the best possible raisins out of the grapes, it is necessary to pick over the vineyard several times, each time picking only the ripest grapes. In places where there are two crops of grapes, at least two pickings are absolutely necessary, and in many places two pickings are enough. The green grapes of the first crop are then left to be picked with the second crop, at which time they will probably be perfectly ripe and very choice. But if the vineyard is small and manageable, and the owner wishes to realize the most that he possibly can, he should make at least three different pickings, each time taking care only to pick those grapes which are fully ripe and which would make a first-class quality of raisins. As long as the smaller vineyardists sell their raisins in bulk at a contracted price of so much a pound for any kind or quality of raisins, we cannot expect any great improvement in the too common mode of picking, where good, bad and indifferent grapes go on the trays together. But I am certain that in a few years this will or must change. Raisins in sweatboxes will bring the price they are actually worth, and it will be to the interest of every grower to pick his grapes at the time they will make the best possible raisins, even if extra labor is required for the work. The pickers generally use small, pointed knives for separating the bunches, and they are preferable to small shears, as better enabling the picker to reach farther in between bunches and branches, and to cut the former without injuring the branch.

In picking the bunches, great care should be taken, much more than is at present in use. It is always best to begin picking in the poorest part of the vineyard, as it will take some time for the pickers to learn; they are almost certain to pick in the beginning too many green grapes. The poorest part of the vineyard is also apt to have the ripest grapes. The large, fine bunches should be handled with the utmost care, in order that the bloom of the grapes may not be injured. The bunches generally should be handled by the stems only, or, if this is impracticable, by the stem as much as possible. In separating a large bunch from the vine, the bunch should be cut as close to the stem as possible, and at the end of the stem of the bunch there should remain a portion of that broader part by which the bunch is attached to the main branch. There is nothing prettier on a bunch of raisins than this broad end of the bunch; it gives an idea of strength and oddity to the raisin cluster, showing the buyer at a glance that it is a cluster which was once solidly attached to the vine. Many raisin-packers place this broad end of the bunch so as to protrude above or between the berries, as if inviting the purchaser to take hold of it and thus lift the luscious bunch out of the box. With the poorer and smaller bunches, no such care in cutting need be exercised, and it would be to no benefit to so cut a small, poor bunch that it would cause the purchaser to believe it was a large bunch. Poorer bunches might therefore be cut with short stems. As to the handling of the bunches, the intelligent grower will soon learn how to instruct his men. If vine branches interfere with the lifting of the bunch from the vine, some of them may be cut without any injury to the vine, but too many branches cut this way will cause a new growth to start, which often is derived from the best fruit buds for the ensuing season, and which always is apt to be injured from frost.

A picker should average not less than fifty trays a day of cleaned and assorted grapes. At this rate the picking of twenty pounds of grapes costs about two and a half cents. Some persons employing white labor claimed to have lowered the cost of picking to one and three-quarter cents per tray of twenty pounds, but I failed to learn how these grapes had been handled, cleaned and assorted. The picking of the grapes is facilitated by previous care given the vines. Neglected and entangled vines are much more difficult and expensive to pick than those which have been properly cared for and correctly pruned the season before. The same may be said as regards vines between the branches of which weeds have been allowed to grow. In picking from such vines, the grapes are always torn, the best bunches destroyed and many grapes wasted on the ground.

Raisin Vineyard Truck.

Cleaning.

—When the bunch is picked or cut from the stem, it should be cleaned. If it is a first-class or even an ordinary layer bunch, every sunburnt berry, every leaf, twig or other conspicuous foreign substance, must be carefully removed with the picker’s right hand, while the left hand holds the bunch by the stem. This cleaning must some time be done, and at no time can it be performed with better results than when the grapes are green. The stems are then soft and flexible, while later on they are brittle, and in endeavoring to remove foreign substances many berries will be detached, or sometimes even the whole bunch broken. This cleaning of the bunch does not need to extend to third-rate or small bunches, which are to be used for loose raisins. The latter can be cleaned very rapidly with machinery, and it would only be a waste of time to clean them by hand-picking. The use of a pair of bellows is also very practical. With them much of the spider webs and smaller refuse can be removed, which could not be gotten rid of in any other way. A few hands should therefore go over all finer bunches and blow them clean, especially if sand or dust have accumulated on the trays or bunches. If the grapes are carefully assorted when picked, and the different grades placed on separate trays as they should be, this cleaning is done rapidly, as the largest part of the crop, which only will make loose raisins, need not be cleaned.

Drying on Trays.

—As soon as the grapes begin to ripen, the trays should be distributed along the rows in the vineyard. They may either first be placed in piles at every row where the roads cross the vineyard, or at once distributed along the vines. The former method is to be preferred, as it protects the trays from dirt and dust, and in distributing afterwards it gives the pickers a more varied labor, often welcome as a change from the cramped position necessary in picking. Muscat vines in proper bearing require one or two trays to the vine, while for young vines one tray will suffice. The probable quantity needed should be ascertained beforehand in order that the trays may be properly distributed. The ripe grapes are always placed directly on the trays, and not previously picked in boxes. In placing the bunches on the trays, the proper way for each picker should be to have two trays, one for each grade. On one tray he places all the large bunches that promise to make first-class bunch raisins; on the other tray he places again all inferior bunches and loose berries. The smaller bunches and loose berries may be placed any way almost, as long as they are not heaped on top of each other. The largest bunches should be placed with the stem side down, as this side will, when cured, become the finest and will eventually by the careful packer be placed upwards in the box. That part of the raisin which in drying touches the tray will also present, when cured, a flat surface with several concentric layers, which are considered a prominent feature in the perfect raisin.

The general method of drying is, however, to place good, bad and indifferent bunches together on the same tray, with no attempt at assorting. While this method may do when superior raisins are not required, and when no higher price is paid for better grades, it will be found a very inferior practice when the grower desires to pack himself, in order to reap all the benefit he can out of his crop. For all superior raisins, I therefore strongly recommend the assorting of the raisins on the trays as having the following advantages. It requires less handling of the large bunches. The large bunches dry the slowest, and by having them from the beginning separated from the small and the loose the latter can be brought away to the sweatboxes, when ready, without necessitating the reassorting and handling from the trays, which at this time, when the stems are very brittle, is always expensive as well as injurious to the fine bunches. The larger bunches, which are to produce layer raisins, require less drying, as they are to be sweated or equalized before being packed. The smaller and inferior bunches, on the contrary, must be stemmed and assorted by machinery before they are equalized, and immediately after they are taken from the trays. In order to “stem” readily these raisins must be rather overdried, as if soft they would tear from the stems instead of having the latter broken. We can therefore perceive the advantage of having the two grades on different trays. Without the necessity of assorting we can simply take up our “layer” trays when they are ready and allow our “loose” to remain as long out as necessary, without fear of having the layers overdried. By this assorting when green, each grade can be treated separately in a quick and effective way.

A tray two by three feet may be made to comfortably hold from eighteen to twenty pounds of grapes. The first crop should be placed pretty close on the trays, not allowing any part of the tray to be visible, as the reflected heat will be too great and may injure the raisins. The second crop should be packed less close, as the reflected heat from the surface of the tray will help to dry the grapes. This of course only refers to localities where the temperature during the first drying is very high. The warmer it is the closer should the bunches be packed on the trays, and on the contrary when later on in the season, or when the drying weather is unfavorable, plenty of space should be given the grapes. It is often said that grapes, to make good raisins, should not only dry, but cure. There is much truth in this. Good raisins should dry and cure at the same time, by which is meant that a chemical process is taking place, which is something else than the mere evaporation of the water in the grape. The heat necessary and favorable for drying the grapes is different in different localities. At certain temperatures the raisins will get cooked and spoil, assume a red color, lose their sweetness, become sour and hard, and covered with large, sharply defined corrugations,—signs of a very inferior or even entirely worthless raisin. In Riverside the grapes are said to cook at from 98 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade. In Fresno the grapes dry and cure well up to a temperature of 105 degrees, and in El Cajon they do not spoil until 103 degrees are reached. I would think that from 90 to 103 degrees in the shade would be the best temperature for drying perfectly ripe and sweet Muscat grapes. When the grapes are very ripe, a much higher temperature will not injure them, while unripe and sour grapes, especially of the second crop, will burn or cook at a lower temperature than would be the proper one for ripe grapes.

It is not always advisable to stop picking when the heat becomes too great. A better method is to stack the trays in the field, so as to protect the raisins from the sun. When the heat subsides, the trays are again spread. The expense and trouble of stacking the trays is not as great as may be supposed, and a few hours will generally suffice to stack a large vineyard with the regular picking gang. Some packers have suggested that to secure good raisins the trays should be stacked for several weeks in the beginning of the period of drying. For the production of our usual dark-colored raisins this is not necessary nor even advisable, except when the heat is such that the raisins would cook and spoil. With a little experience this cooking of the grapes can be readily detected by the smell emitted by the grapes. As soon as they are in the least injured by the heat, a cooked flavor begins to pervade the whole vineyard. When this peculiar flavor is noticed, and when the berries begin to show small red and soft blotches on the side facing the afternoon sun, the stacking should be commenced as quickly as possible. If the trays are kept in piles for several days, the injured grapes will partially recover and at least to some extent regain their color. Greatly injured grapes will dry much slower, sometimes remaining several weeks behind those which were not injured by the sun. Slightly discolored raisins may partially regain their color by sweating, but they will not improve otherwise.

After the trays are filled with grapes, the best way is to put several rows of trays together, or rather to place the trays from three rows of vines along one of the spaces between the rows. This gives more compactness to the crop, makes it easier to handle the trays, and facilitates the stacking of the trays, their turning and reversing, or any labor with the trays that may be required. By thus clearing some of the spaces between the rows, admission for trucks and wagons is had close to the trays.

Turning.

—After the grapes have been exposed to the sun for some days, they must be turned. By this time it will be found that the grapes have dried principally on the upper side, while the lower side is yet comparatively green. The time when the turning of the grapes should be done depends entirely on the weather. One-half of the drying process should be over, and this requires a longer or shorter time. When the time for turning is at hand, it will be found that the under side of the grapes, or rather the side of each berry that was placed against the trays, has flattened out and shows concentric circles, which are considered of much beauty, and greatly valued in all good raisins. When they are well formed and established, it is generally time to turn. If the grapes are turned before these concentric circles are hardened, the latter will open and become less distinct. Another objection to turning too early is that the upper side of the grapes, if not properly dried before turning, will dry but very slowly afterwards, and often so slowly that the raisins may have to be turned a second time, which will prove both expensive and to the disadvantage of the raisins. One turning is always enough, and the only one proper. There are several ways to turn. The Malaga grower, with his raisin floors, must turn his raisins by hand. The great advantage of our trays is that we can turn much quicker. The turning is done in our vineyards by placing one tray on the top of another and then turning them quickly over, when in changing the tray the bottom side of the bunches will be found to be up.

This turning, however, requires some little knack, so as not to drop any raisins on the ground. The trays may be turned either the short or the long way. If the long way, one tray is first placed on the top of the other, and two men catch hold of the long opposite sides of the trays by placing their hands on the outside quarters of the edge and then pressing firmly. This keeps the raisins steady between the trays, and in turning rapidly, if the bunches are at all entire, few or no raisins will be dropped. In turning the short way, the men grasp with their opposite hands at the middle of the short sides, while with their other hands they catch the outside quarters of one of the long sides. By turning quickly over the long side that is held by the hands of the turners, the operation may be performed without dropping any berries. In small vineyards, where the owner must perform the work alone, he may turn the trays without any help whatever, though, naturally, his work will be somewhat slower. He can operate by the aid of a small contrivance called the catcher, a most simple but very effective little tool. It resembles a miniature stool like those used by the milkers of cows. The seat or top may be twelve inches long by six wide, made from one-inch lumber. On one side are inserted four pegs, each about six inches long. The two opposite ones are inserted very close together, but spread strongly outward. After one tray has been placed on the top of the other, the catcher is pushed over the long edge of the trays, which of course will cause them to jam tightly together on that side. By now grasping the trays on the opposite edge, they may be turned without the aid of any one else, and without any loss of raisins. Some use steel clips for the same purpose, but the common home-made wooden catch is undoubtedly the most practical method, as it is the cheapest.

Turning should, as much as possible, be done in the morning or at least in the forenoon while the air is yet cool and the stems of the raisins damp. The pressure of the tray will not then cause the stems to break off and the quality of the raisins to be lowered. If the bunch raisins are on separate trays, which is best, they may be turned earlier in the day than the second grade, which is not apt to be greatly damaged by the breaking of the stems, as they are to be stemmed anyhow.

Reversing.

—This is an operation not properly understood by every raisin-grower, but is still of the utmost importance, especially for the first-class bunches of the first crop, which naturally dry more slowly than the smaller bunches. But the method is also very useful for the second crop, when late in the season the drying is slow and uncertain. The reversing consists simply in reversing the trays on the ground in such a way that the edges which first faced the north afterwards face the south, or vice versa. The object of reversing is plain. It will nearly always be found that the raisins at the top or on the side of the tray nearest the north will dry much more slowly than those on the side facing the south, especially so as soon as the weather begins to turn colder. To prevent this and insure equal drying at the top and bottom, the reversing is performed after the trays have first been turned. This will enable the grower to get his raisins in several days sooner than he otherwise would. Indeed, at the critical period of drying, when fall rains may set in and injure the raisins, it is of the utmost importance to hurry the crop as much as possible; the reversing is at this time almost as important as turning. I have seen the second crop of many a vineyard seriously injured by rain, and its drying delayed only through neglect to reverse the trays. The effect of reversing is oftentimes very striking, and one grower who reverses his trays in time may get his crop in safely, while his neighbor who neglects reversing may lose a great part of his. A few days’ delay at this time of the year is often fatal to the whole second crop, and no pains should be spared in order to hasten the drying by every possible means available.

Slanting the Trays.

—The practice of raising one end of the tray higher than the other is of very questionable value. In the fore part of the drying season, the heat from the sun is such that the raisins receive all the heat they require without being raised at an angle against the sun. Towards the end of the season, I have found that, when the trays have been raised, those grapes which lie on the lower edge of the tray, and accordingly nearest to the ground, dry the quickest, while those at the upper edge dry considerably slower. The cause is that the air a foot above the ground is much cooler than close to the ground; the large space under the raised tray also serves as a cooling room to cool the tray. In some direct experiments made, it was found that, as regards the tail end of the first crop, the raised trays came in several days later than the trays which had remained flat on the ground. In advocating that the trays should not be tilted, I must not be understood to mean that it is not beneficial to keep the tray in a tilted position when there is a close background to sufficiently heat the air equally at the upper and lower end of the trays. This can only be secured by either placing the trays against the side of a hill or on specially prepared drying floors, which are described further on. In this connection I may suggest that when the heat of the sun is not great, and when the raisins dry slowly, the placing of an empty tray behind the drying tray, in order to reflect the sun on the raisins, will considerably hasten their drying. This is a valuable aid in drying, especially when the second crop is late.

Elevating the Trays.

—The practice of elevating the trays containing the tail end of the second crop is a good one. The best way is to place the trays on the top of the vines, when it will be found that the free circulation of air underneath will help to dry the raisins and prevent rot and mold. This method is only adopted after fall rains, but is then of great help in drying the crop.

Stacking Against Rain and Dew.

—The stacking of the trays is also a valuable help in keeping out dew and cold. Late in the season, when it takes several hours of sunlight to dry the night dews, the stacked trays will be dry when the first rays of the sun are out. When heavy rains are expected, the grapes, whether partially dried or not, should always be stacked. It will keep the stems from rotting off from the berries, and will generally save the crop from being seriously injured. Some growers have an idea that only the partially dried grapes should be stacked, but the green ones are equally benefited.

There are several ways of stacking. The flat-stacking is used principally when the raisins are very dry, and when it is of importance that no air should enter the trays. In flat-stacking, one tray is simply placed on the top of the other, and the circulation of air thus brought to a minimum. In rainy weather, however, the roof-stacking is to be preferred. Instead of placing one tray on the top of another, the trays are placed in two piles joining each other in such a way that the inner end of every tray overlaps the edge of the tray in the adjoining pile. This lifting up of one edge of the tray gives to the whole pile a roof-like appearance, and the angle in which the trays join together becomes steeper the higher the pile grows, until, at the height of three or four feet, the trays slant so much that the raisins cannot rest on them, but are in danger of sliding off, when, of course, the pile should not be made any higher. It takes several times longer to stack the trays in roof fashion than to simply pile them up flat. The advantage of roof-stacking is that it admits more air, and sheds the rain better. In damp weather the piles should not be covered on the sides for any length of time, as the raisins will then mold more rapidly. If, instead of joining two piles of trays, three piles are made to join, the center stack will be flat, while much air is admitted to the raisins. In this stacking the first two trays are placed flat on the ground at almost the distance of one tray. Another tray is made to rest on the inner edge of the lower trays and cover the intermediate space, and so on. This method gives twice as much air space between the trays as regular flat-stacking, and is to be recommended when the weather is damp. A combination of this last method and roof-stacking is used by some, every grower almost having his favorite way to stack. It must be remembered that in very rainy weather no kind of stacking will be of any value, while, when the showers are few and far between, stacking may save the crop.

Stacking is especially valuable in conjunction with dryers, when protection during a few days only is all that is needed. One man can stack about five hundred trays an hour, and the regular picking gang can stack a whole vineyard in a few hours. Should the rain be very heavy and no dryer handy, it is of no use to try to save the crop after the mold has begun to make its appearance, and when the berries have begun to rot. It is then far better to dump the whole crop in the field rather than to spend time, money and anxiety on raisins which must in any case become a total loss.

Taking Up.

—When, at last, the raisins are sufficiently dried, they must be taken up as quickly as possible. This process again consists of three different labors,—the stacking, assorting and boxing. It is of great importance to know exactly when the raisins have sufficiently dried to be ready for the sweatboxes. This can properly only be ascertained by experience, still a few directions will materially help the inexperienced grower in his judgment. A perfect raisin should be neither too hard nor too soft. A raisin is too soft when, after rolling it between the fingers, the least particle of juice exudes through the cracked skin or meat. Such raisins will “sugar” in course of time, and not keep a year. If the raisins, or a majority of them, on a bunch are too wet, they should be spread to the sun for some time longer. If, however, there are only a few underdried raisins in a bunch, the bunch may be taken in, and the soft raisins clipped off afterwards. A raisin is too dry when, in pressing and rolling it between two fingers, the pulp does not move readily inside the skin. Such overdried raisins will not again become first-class raisins; their skin will always be tough, and their color will be somewhat inferior. If but slightly overdried, they may be brought out by equalizing. To know when the raisins are in a proper condition to take up is most important to every raisin-man, and he should never neglect to watch his trays early and late. Upon his good judgment and watchfulness depend the quality of his crop. To prevent too rapid drying out after the raisins are nearly ready, the practice now is to stack the trays in the field.

This stacking simply consists in placing the trays which contain the ready raisins on top of each other, in piles five feet high. On the top of every such pile are placed several loose trays crosswise, so as to shelter the pile from the sun, and possibly even from rain, and other trays are raised up against the sides of the pile in order to exclude as much air as possible. If, however, the raisins are rather underdried, the side trays may be left out so as to allow the raisins to dry more. It is always best to stack the trays before the raisins are fully dried, as they will finish drying and curing in the stack much better than in the sun. The underdried raisins will thus dry just enough, while the overdried ones, or those just right, will not dry much more.

After the stacking is done, the assorting is in order. This consists in taking out every bunch that is not sufficiently dried to go into the sweatbox, and placing them on new trays to dry more. At this time, also, the bad or inferior and red berries may be taken out, if present in a very large quantity on good bunches; but when there are only a few on, it is better not to touch the bunch, as, in handling it, it is only too apt to break. Any further picking out of bad berries had better be deferred to the packing-house. The boxing and assorting, which may be considered together, consist in transferring the different grades of the now dried raisins to separate sweatboxes. This is done in two ways. The number one bunches, which have been placed on separate trays, may now simply be slid into the sweatbox, by a dexterous movement of the tray. Between every two layers of these first-class bunches should be placed a stout manilla paper cut so as to exactly fit the box. It is of importance to have the paper just fit the box, and not be too large nor too small, as in either case the raisins are apt to become mixed and the bunches broken. But, if the grapes have not been assorted from the beginning on separate trays, more work will be required to get them into the sweatboxes. Every bunch must be carefully taken up by hand from the tray, and then placed on the paper in the box. But in doing so many bunches are necessarily broken, as even careful hands cannot help frequent mishaps, while ignorant and careless workmen may do an immense injury to the crop. Too few manilla papers are generally used. Some packers require only two papers in every box, while six or eight, or at least five, papers should be the proper number for every box of very choice or even ordinary layers. We must remember that, the more papers we use, the less apt are the bunches to be injured, but even the best layer bunches will not suffer if placed two layers high between every paper. On top and in the bottom of every box must be one paper, so as to keep out dust. The loose and inferior raisins, which either have been left on the tray after the layers are picked out, or which from the beginning have been placed on separate trays, may now, when perfectly dry, be simply dumped in sweatboxes without any paper.

We have thus at least two kinds of sweatboxes. One kind contains those raisins which are destined to make layers, and which require sweating and equalizing before they can be packed. The other kind contains the loose and drier berries, which are to go immediately to the stemmer and grader, and which would not separate from the stems if they were made to equalize.

Covering.

—If the weather has been favorable, the raisins may have been dried and cured in twelve days. Of these twelve days, the first seven or eight were used for drying the upper side of the raisins. On the seventh or eighth day they were turned, and on the twelfth day they were ready to put in the sweatboxes. But this is fast drying, and drying under favorable circumstances, with a dry wind blowing gently all the time. But sometimes it takes a much longer time to dry, say from fourteen to twenty-one days. In Fresno, where the weather is less favorable, the drying of the first crop may require from two to three weeks. In El Cajon it always takes two or three weeks for the raisins to dry, and in Orange county the drying sometimes requires from thirty days to five weeks. In Malaga the drying is accomplished quicker than in California, because there they cover the raisin floors every night with canvas, and in the morning, when the canvas is unrolled, the raisins are yet warm. The drying, then, has been continued all night, and the raisins have not had time to cool when they meet the first rays of the sun. In California, again, our raisins are cold, possibly even wet with dew or rain, and it sometimes takes the sun until noon to dry up the moisture accumulated through the night.

To counteract this absorption of moisture, many of the raisin-growers in Orange county, California, especially around Santa Ana and McPherson, cover the trays with canvas every night. This method is to be recommended wherever there is any difficulty in curing either the first or the second crop. If this method is employed, I am satisfied that raisins could be grown and properly cured in localities where otherwise no raisin cult is possible. The method of covering the raisin trays at Santa Ana is as follows, varied by different growers, but in the main the same everywhere. The trays are placed together in long rows; about twenty yards long is found to be most convenient. The width of the row is just the width of two trays, or five feet. Thus the row of trays laden with raisin grapes is about sixty feet long by five feet wide. Along the north end of this long row of trays are driven down small posts every six or ten feet, and left extending about two feet above the ground. Along the south side of the row of trays smaller posts are driven down at the same distances, but not allowed to extend so high above the surface of the soil. These pegs or small posts may best be slanting outward, or from the trays. Along the high posts is strung a wire in such a way that it cannot easily get loose. To a long canvas cover are now secured small rings for running on the wire, and on the other side larger rings to hook over the smaller posts in front. If the canvas is only one yard wide, two widths must be sewed together so as to make the canvas six feet wide. The trays, which are two and one-half feet by three feet, when placed side by side will just form a drying floor of five feet, large enough to be covered by the canvas six feet wide. The cost of canvas is six and one-half cents a yard by the bale.

The manner of using the canvas is very simple. The canvas cover, which is stationary, is attached to the wire and the higher posts. Every evening the cover is thrown over the trays, the front or lower edge is hooked by the aid of the rings over the pegs in the ground, and the trays thus securely sheltered. In the morning, when the sun is up, the cover is thrown back over the higher posts, and the trays fully exposed. The trouble to cover is not very great; two men can cover forty tons of grapes in half an hour, and generally it is considered that the picking-gang can cover the whole crop in half an hour’s time every evening, and it takes them as long to uncover in the morning. If well cared for and properly dried, and stored away in the autumn after the crop is all in, this canvas cover, with its posts, will last six or seven years, and if painted or oiled would probably last still longer. One yard of canvas can cover thirty pounds of grapes, and for the purpose of utilizing the full space, the trays are made two and one-half by three feet.

Such is the process practiced in Orange county. If adopted elsewhere, it would enable many localities to produce good raisins, where the climatic conditions are such that no drying is now practicable. The process is not as good as the one employed in Malaga, but it has some advantages which make it very acceptable. It enables the grower to use trays, and it makes drying-floors unnecessary, and the spaces in the vineyard can be used without taking away room from the vines. On the other hand, the drying-floors of Malaga are warmer and more secure, and almost absolutely safe in case of rain.

Drying-floors.

—While, in some parts of California, the first crop dries generally without any difficulty, in other parts rain and dew very frequently interfere with the drying of even the first crop. In many places where raisin-curing is not successful, the same could be practiced profitably if we would adopt the system of drying-floors used in Spain. Even in localities where the first-crop raisins dry well, the second crop is always exposed to more or less rain, and the raisin-grower annually loses large sums of money on account of not being able to hasten the drying of the second crop. But it is doubtful if the Malaga drying-floors will ever be found practical and come into general use with us. They take considerable space from the vineyard, and are very expensive, but they are very secure, and when once built are very profitable. A limited number of such floors would be very useful in every vineyard, especially for drying the second crop. At present no such floors exist in this State. The following description gives an idea of how they may be constructed:

These drying-floors may be built of brick with the long sides as long as required, while the short sides should be about twelve feet long. The back wall is six feet high, while the front wall is only six inches high, which, with the above length of side wall, would give enough slope. In Malaga the interior is filled with black gravel and tamped hard, but for our purpose probably nothing would be superior to asphaltum, bituminous rock or cement. It must first be ascertained if bituminous rock would not impart a flavor to the grapes, in which case cement would be the most useful flooring. In order to allow the rain to run off, the front wall should be pierced with small holes close to the ground, but this would only be necessary in case the bed is filled with gravel, or no cement floor exists on top of it. Along the back part of the floor should be set a row of uprights of two by four lumber, driven securely in the ground. On the top of each post is set an eyelet, through which runs a stout wire along the whole back of the frame. A canvas cover long enough to reach the whole length of the floor should be used for covering, and, in order to secure it to the wire and the posts, it should be hemmed and furnished with small rings to run on the wire. In front similar rings are set in order that the canvas may be secured to the smaller posts and kept down in case of wind. On such floors common trays may be used. To make the canvas impervious to rain, it may be painted with boiled linseed oil. The above are only suggestions based on the Spanish drying-floors. For a full description of them, I beg to refer to the article on Malaga. In using linseed oil, care should be taken that only pure oil is used. There is linseed oil which contains chemicals which rapidly rot the canvas.

Dryers.

—The subject of dryers is of great importance to the California grower. The last few years have fully demonstrated that every raisin vineyard, no matter where it is situated, should have one or more dryers, in order that the last of the crop may be dried properly when the rain sets in. Many years these dryers are not required, but from time to time they prove of vast value, and if properly constructed are much superior to any drying-floor. But so far no perfect dryer has ever been constructed. Most dryers are too expensive, costing from three thousand to seven thousand dollars, when of a capacity to dry from twenty-five to fifty tons of green grapes at one charge. Nearly all late dryers are constructed with a fan, which sucks the air out through one end of the building. The large complicated dryers are all patented, but there can be no doubt that good small dryers might be constructed by every grower, which will do good service. As, however, so far no very perfect dryers have ever been constructed, and as every owner of one changes and rebuilds every year, we must leave the consideration of the construction of these dryers to some future time when more knowledge or experience will have been gained. Dryers large enough to hold a charge of one ton of green fruit have been constructed at the price of two hundred dollars by Ellwood Cooper of Santa Barbara. They dried their fruit in twenty-four hours, but they were never used for raisins.

But as this style of dryer may be adapted to raisins, I will give a few hints at its construction. The heating apparatus consists of a large iron drum, or radiator, seventeen and one-half feet long by two and one-half feet wide, set on a furnace in which is burned wood. The furnace and radiator are built into a bank, on top of which the dryer is built. This dryer is simply a large wooden box about seventeen feet square and six feet high, and looks, as seen from the outside, like a chest full of drawers. These slide on frames, are deeper than they are broad, and contain movable bottoms or trays made of small redwood ribs. They begin about two feet from the top of the radiator; if closer, the heat would be too strong for the fruit. The ventilation is had by small sliding doors at the bottom of the chest, through which the air rushes in, while it goes out through the drawers, which for this purpose are left open an inch or two. The chest is covered over with an open shed, which makes the labor pleasant, and enables the attendant to inspect any drawer at any time without seriously disturbing the heat of the dryer. The cheapness and effectiveness of such small dryers are such that every one can afford them. A dozen such small dryers all set in a row in a bank could be attended to by very few hands. They would also be preferable to very large dryers on account of the short time required to fill them, and their raisins can be dried long before a larger dryer has been filled.

As to the usefulness of steam or fire dryers there can be no doubt. The idea is not to entirely dry the raisins in them, but only to finish up the raisins when, on account of unfavorable climatic conditions, they do not dry any more out-of-doors. The question as to which are best, “machine-dried” raisins or those dried in the sun, is entirely unimportant. No one would think of drying raisins entirely in the dryer, as it would not pay. Raisins properly finished in the dryer are not inferior to those entirely sun-dried.

Sweatboxes.

—The sweatboxes should be made of strong lumber one inch thick. The length and width should be according to the size of the tray, and always one inch larger every way than the tray, in order that the raisins may be let down readily, or that they may receive a tray. The height of a sweatbox should be from six to eight inches, no more, as a greater depth will make them too heavy to be handled with ease by two men. Six inches in depth is better than eight. In order to secure the box and prevent it from splitting, the sides should be bound with hide, iron bands or with twisted galvanized wire. The latter is the strongest and best, costs the least, and is the easiest to put on.

Trays for Drying.

—The tray consists of a wooden frame made of well-dried half-inch lumber, nailed to cleats of one inch by one and one-half inch and of desired length. The lumber most commonly used is well-seasoned spruce. Pine, if not well seasoned, is apt to give the raisins a taste of the wood or of rosin, while redwood may discolor the raisins if exposed to rain or very heavy dew. But as the lumber attains age, it also becomes less injurious to the grapes. Cottonwood or poplar-wood, which can be obtained in some places, make most useful lumber for trays, as they do not contain any taste or other substance apt to injure the raisins. The size of the tray varies according to the idea of the raisin-grower, but the size generally adopted is two by three feet. Formerly a smaller tray was used, but no smaller ones are now made. A larger size, three by three feet, is used by several growers, but, while it has the advantage of holding more grapes, it is also less readily handled than the smaller tray. In the southern part of California, a tray two and one-half by three feet is very popular. The tops of the trays are bought in the shape of shingles, which should be well dried before being nailed, as they will otherwise shrink up and cause cracks to form in the tray, greatly to the detriment of the drying of the raisins. Loss is also caused by loose raisins dropping through such cracks. The cleats should be wet or green, or they will split in nailing. If too dry, they should be soaked in water over night or for a few hours. The shingles should be planed on the side which is to be placed upwards. The cost of the lumber for the trays varies from nine to twelve and one-half cents in the shooks. For nailing the trays together, a frame is made of wood and iron. The cleats are placed on the two short, opposite sides, with a heavy bar of iron immediately underneath so as to clinch the nails. The planed shingles are then placed on top and nailed to the cleats with round-wire nails, which clinch automatically on the lower side as soon as they strike the iron bar. No cleats are required on the long side of small size trays, but if a larger tray is used a bar on each side may be required to give the tray sufficient strength. A good workman, after a few days of practice, can comfortably nail up four hundred trays a day. When the season is over, every tray should be nailed up and washed, or at least swept clean and stored dry. The age of a tray, if cared for, is about ten years.

CALIFORNIA LYE-DIPPED RAISINS.

General Notes.

—In California the dipping of raisins in solutions of lye is yet in its very infancy, and I do not think that in the whole State over ten tons of lye-dipped raisins have been placed on the market yearly. But undoubtedly this process is destined to become of considerable importance, especially in localities where the drying of the first crop is accomplished with difficulty in the open air. The first and also most important condition in producing superior dipped raisins is that the grapes should be absolutely ripe. Unripe grapes will not produce any good raisins when dipped, but will turn reddish and otherwise become inferior.

Dipping Process.

—A good location for dipping raisins is by the side of an irrigation ditch, provided the water in the latter can be depended upon to flow constantly while the operation of dipping lasts. If not, the water must be procured by pumping or by means of pipes from reservoirs or water-works. Flowing water is of great importance in producing good dipped raisins, and is required for the perfect washing of the grapes. For this purpose, if no ditch is available, a large trough may be used to advantage, and so arranged that the water in it can be kept changing through a continuous flow. The following is a cheap and efficient arrangement for dipping in actual use in one of the largest raisin vineyards, and can be recommended on account of its cheapness and easy working: On one side of the trough is a stationary iron kettle with a fireplace underneath. By the trough is also placed an upright post, about five feet high, and on this balanced a horizontal beam with a double motion. It can be raised and lowered at either end, or swung to the left or right with ease. On one end of the beam is a hook on which to hang the grape bucket. On the other side of the trough is a rough assorting table. Two or more buckets are needed. These buckets are common galvanized-iron buckets, perforated thickly with holes, the latter not large enough to let any loose grapes through. In the kettle is kept constantly boiling a solution of water and potash. Soda is not suitable. The very best potash should be used in the proportion of about one pound to twelve gallons of water. The ripe grapes are now brought to the table and emptied in the buckets. A bucket is then hung on the beam, the latter swung and the bucket for a second lowered first in the pure water and then in the boiling potash; but it is immediately withdrawn and immersed in the water-trough. When rinsed for a few seconds, the grapes are taken out and spread on common raisin trays. If the weather is warm, the trays are stacked one on top of the other, and the grapes thus prepared are dried in the shade.

The rinsing of the fruit before drying is of great importance, and by far not sufficiently understood. In Valencia the finest raisins are treated that way and thoroughly rinsed before being dipped in the lye. But nowhere in Spain are the grapes rinsed in water afterwards, and it is yet an undecided question if this rinsing improves or injures the raisins. It is certain that the washing cleanses the berries, as the water in the kettle is sometimes dark and dirty; but if it is an advantage to deprive the berries of the lye which more or less sticks to them is very doubtful. It is well known here that lye-dipped raisins are apt to mold if the rains set in while the drying lasts, while we are told that in Spain the dipped raisins do not spoil even if subjected to several showers of rain. From this it will seem as if rinsing after dipping is not necessary or perhaps even injurious, but that, on the contrary, rinsing before dipping is of the utmost importance. It may be possible that the lye which adheres to the grapes will, in a great measure, prevent them from molding.

In Spain no olive oil is used for mixing in the lye, and it is not likely that the oil process will come in vogue in California until it is fully demonstrated that it not only greatly improves the grapes, but that it also enables the grower to realize a correspondingly better price for his raisins. Those who care to experiment with it cannot do better than to follow the practice as it is used in Smyrna, for a full account of which we beg to refer to the article under that heading. We might here only point out that the oil-dipped raisins of Smyrna bring many times the price of the lye-dipped raisins of Valencia. The arrangement of dipping, kettles, etc., may, of course, be greatly varied. Steam may be used for heating the lye and the rinsing water, if it is desired to keep the latter hot, and regular trays might be used to hold the grapes, instead of the buckets referred to above. Every grower will no doubt vary these appliances to suit his own fancy, and improve upon the methods of others. As an example of the devices used by another grower, we here reproduce the following from an essay on bleaching raisin grapes, compiled by the chief viticultural officer, and especially referring to the system used by Mr. Byron Jackson: “Mr. Jackson places the grapes on a tray made with a frame of iron, which is covered with wire gauze with a quarter-inch mesh. The frame projects upwards on the sides to prevent the fruit floating off while in the dip, and is made to receive, as a cover, the wooden tray on which the fruit goes to the dryer. When dipped and rinsed, the wooden tray is placed over the dipping tray, and two men transfer the fruit by turning over the two.”

The length of time required for dipping can only be ascertained by experience, and must differ with the strength of the lye, with the heat of the solution, and with the thickness of the skin of the grapes. Thus in different localities the strength of the lye and the length of immersion must always be different, and may even differ from year to year. When properly dipped, the skin of the grapes must show some very minute cracks, similar to cracks in glass which has been heated and suddenly immersed in or sprinkled with ice-cold water. Deep cracks are not desirable, as they will cause the juice of the pulp to leak out, after which the raisins will sugar. In Valencia the grapes used for dipping are the various varieties of Muscats, while in Smyrna both Muscats and Sultanas are used. Corinths are never dipped, as they dry readily and make superior raisins without this process.

Drying and Curing.

—After the grapes are dipped, they must be immediately dried either in the sun, or in sun and shade alternately, or entirely in the shade. According to the circumstances attending the drying of the grapes, the color of the raisins becomes more or less red or yellow, transparent or opaque. The most perfect amber color is attained in the shade, while in the sun the color rapidly changes to reddish, a less desirable color in dipped raisins. The more favorable is the weather for drying, the choicer will be the raisins, and the better their color. If the sun is very warm and the chances are otherwise favorable for drying, the trays should be exposed to the sun only long enough to have their dip thoroughly evaporated, and for this purpose one day in the sun may suffice. After this the stacking of the trays is advisable, and only occasionally may the trays be spread if the drying does not proceed rapidly enough. Such shade-dried dipped raisins will assume a beautiful amber-yellow color, and bring several cents more than those exposed to very warm sun. If, however, the weather is not very warm, the grapes must be dried in the sun, and the grower has then to be satisfied with the color that nature will give to his raisins. Dipped raisins do not necessarily require turning, as they generally dry well anyhow in from four to six days in fair weather. For this class of raisins dryers are very useful to help finish the drying. Such dryers must be almost air-tight, as sandstorms would invariably spoil the raisins, which, on account of their stickiness, are almost impossible to afterwards cleanse. Dipped raisins should always be dried on their trays, and on special drying grounds, which should be so constructed that no sand can blow on them, or at least so arranged that in case of rain the sand from the ground will not be splashed over the trays. In California we have at present no such drying-floors, but it will pay any one who intends dipping his grapes to construct them either of bricks, bituminous rock or lumber.

Stemming, Grading and Packing.

—Dipped raisins should be stemmed when well dried, and then graded in two grades. The proper receptacles for them are either sacks lined with paper, or twenty-pound boxes, in which they may be packed without fancy paper, or in the same way as prunes or other dried fruit. So far no uniform method of packing such raisins has been adopted in this State.

As to the usefulness and future of dipped raisins, not much can be said at present. Our importations of Valencia raisins, which are mostly dipped, are considerable, and as long as this class of cooking raisins is in demand, there is no good reason why we should not compete and endeavor to supply the demand. We can produce them as well as Spain can, and the only reason why we have not competed with Spain so far is that sun-dried raisins are so readily produced here, that it has not been to our advantage to produce anything else. There are, however, many places in our State which will grow Muscatel grapes of good quality, but with too thick skins to make them proper for sun-dried raisins. For all such localities the dipping process is to be recommended, as it will enable the growers to produce marketable raisins, and to profitably supply the demand for this variety of raisins now imported to this country from abroad. In localities with early and copious fall rains, the dipping process will enable the growers to finish quickly before the rains set in. California dipped second-crop Muscatels and Sultanas have brought as high as seven cents per pound wholesale.