Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1877-02-15
Grape and Raisln-M Making IN Cali
fornia
Prom a WoodIana. lcal.l Pager.

On Tuesday evening we spent an
hour at the home of Mr.. r b. Blow
ers, and secured from him much u
formation concerning the grape aid
raisin business. Mr.. Blowers is II y -
extensive as be is thorough il HIS
work. He has spent time labor sLi
means in his work, and has bee''
abundantly rewarded for bis expen
diturs. He stands the eqa i, If no,
the superior of any man III th'.
United States in producing raisins,
II has been decided that his raisi:s
are superior TO any ~ The E,s, =
market, or we might SAY, 10 ihe
world. He recognizes but one So
riety Of grape-the Muscaiel-as
pre- eminently a raisin grape. OF
this variety he has about % acres,
aud about two acres 10 other choice
varieties TO the number of about 20.
There is method in all he under
takes, and he first studies the art OF
production. He prunes his vines
tolerable early, and believes in sys-
tematic irrigation. Not content
with the liberal supply of water
which nature gives during the Win
ter. he taps the canal fills the aground
foil of water, and then again after
the rains, or about the first of June.
This water serves two purposes. 1t
destroys thesinsects that infest the
soil. and adds at least one-third to
the production, both in quantity and
quality. This he did last winter, and
the m asses of punches and innumer-
able clusters which weigh down the
vines at the present time, evince the
wisdom of the work. His vines prom
ise a yield at least one-third greater
than ever before.
Last year he sold for table use,
AZ $50 worth of fresh grapes-about
900 crates of which were sent East.
He had furnished over 100, 1000 cut
tinos mostly of the Muscatel va
r1ety. to parties in this and other
States. Aside from this, he made
1900 boxes of raisiDs, weighing ~
mounds to the box. These he dis
posed of readily to tie San Francis.
20 merchants. who claim that they
are superior to any foreign raisin in
the world. The estimate he places
mon the present crop ls that ne
will after furnishing his usua
amount for table use, make between
1000 and 5000 boxes of raisins. TIC
meet the demands of the second crop
he is preparing TO build drying
house The rains come before the
second crop is fully dried. and in
this driving house, he will finish az
the second crop. The first crop il
sun-dried, which he claims as toe
best mode of drying.
Let no one who reads this
suppose for q moment that all this
ia done without labor and expense
Mr.. Blowers is an inVeterate worker
and aside from his own labor be en-
ploys. from the first OF September &c
the middle of November, fifteen OF
twenty laborers at q cost OF from
$1,000 to $1500-and he pays them
all in gold. He produces an article
on which there is no discount, and
demands pay in currency not sub
iect to discount. There is nothing
sboddy in his business.
He has a group called he "Em'
peror." Which he promises to ship
in good condition, to any part OF The
United States in good order. 1t II
fine table grape. and delicious tt
the taste. Right here we are re-
minded that the people Of the Unitet
States are paying tribute to foreign
countries for fruit alone, to the ex
tent of 5000, 000-including raj
rims. YoIo county, properly cult
waited, could produce all the raisini
for consumption IN the United States
while California could furnish almos
all the other varieties of fruits which
we import, and in majority O
cases. a better quality. But boast
ing of what we could and ought Il
do, he's done the State more injury
than good. 1t is what we arc doing
and what we have done that we ar'
credited for. If we had such enter
prising men as Mr.. Blowers, in al
parts of the State. our resource
would be developed moro readily
and the "tall stories' Of California
would be Illustrated to our benefit
He does not content himself will
grapes alone. He has plenty o
nearly all varieties of fruit for hi
home use. lie ships hundreds 0
tons of hay keeps fine band 0
graded sheep, and q number o
thoroughbreds, and 80 lives that b.
seldom finds it necessary to pur
chase anything but clothes for b;
family. His plan of living ia a mode
of thrift fit for government to copy
after. His exports double the cos
of his imports.