Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1885-11-19
SINGLE COPY FIyICENTS
NUMBER 13.
RAIsIN MAKING



duct Of every tenth vine. Good judges
can make pretty close guess at the
number Of tons on an acre of vines, AHA
years OF practice enable the buyer to tell
very nearly not only the amount, but the
quality Of the raisins to be made from
the vines which grow in different soils.
While the lower and damper lands bring
the largest crops and perhaps the largest
berries, the dry lands give much larger
percentage Of sugar. and consequently a
finer raisin. It is claimed that the best
gs~le Of Orange raisins will this year
equal any in the market, and IT ID COM
idently expected that our product will
gain very enviable name and footing
in the East this year. Unusual care IN
being taken to pack and gradein man
ner that will reflect credit on Oranges
products, and the result will certainly
be strong demand in the future.
The grapes are picked by crews Of
men under experienced foremen, and are
placed in trays or wooden frames, which
are piled ontop Of each other in wagons
and taken to the scales, weighed, and
then taken to the drying grounds. These
consist Of about sixty acres Of land,
smoothed and cleaned like a brick yard,
and the grapes are spread out in long
rows to dry in the sun. Ten days or two
weeks from the ''laying down" il usual
" about the time required to dry them,
and then those thoroughly cured are
taken up and put into the sweat boxes.
Probably one-third are not yet cured,
and these are turned over and placed in
narrow rows until the action of Old Sol
has made them ready. The enormous
quantity of grapes handled by one firm
can be estimated when it is known that
at one time this sixty acre plot was cov-
cred, and a portion of has been covered
a second time. Teams are continually
coming and going, and small army of
men are employed TO take care OF the
grapes and keep the teams on the move.
Many women and girls are also employed
picking up the loose raisirs which have
fallen from the stems. The trays are Of
number and capacity to hold 800 tons Of
grapes. Another thing which catches
the eye at the drying grounds is the pre-
paration made for possible rains, in the
shape Of rolls of oiled paper stacked up
in all directions. This paper is in sheets
about four feet in width and sixteen
feet long, prepared to Withstand rain by
dipping it in boiled oil. Two carloads of
paper and fifty barrels Of oil have been
used this season, but as yet it has not
been found necessary to use the paper.
When properly dried the grapes are
taken up and put into sweat boxes.
probably seventy-ive or 100 pounds to
the box, and hauled to the packing
house, where they are piled from floor
to ceiling in the large front room They
are left here some ten days, and passed
througha sweating process, the object
being to equalize the moister contained
in them. When placed in boxes some
are much drier than others, but when
ready for the packer the intention j. to
make them, az nearly as possible, equal
and uniform in that regard -Four laT-
ers are placed in box, and each layer is
weighed by the packer, and the whole
must make exactly the twenty pounds
required. When box is filed the packer
takes it to the scales near the door, sspre-
sided over by an expert in the business,
who carefully weighs and examines it,
and if all right it is carried to the next
room, where it is nailed up and the cor
ners smoothed off, and it j. ready for
shipment. Particular care is exercised
in grading and weighing Abont no
men are employed inand about the pack
ing house, and ''steady stream of boxes
IS kept going around the circle. we
were informed that about 1,5OO boxes a
day were being turned out, or three car
loads every two days.
The most of the packers are Cinnamon,
and as usual they soon become very ex-
pert at the business, putting upfrom ten
to twelve boxes day White men fill
all the responsible stations, it evidently
being considered necessary to keep q
close and vigilant watch over the
"heathenn to keep him from rcsorting 40
''ways that are dark. Occasionally a
box goes back to the packer and is upset
on his table as a gentle reminder that
frst-class work must be done all the
time
The box lids are branded by power
full cylinder press run by horse power,
and it is rather amusing to printer to
watch the modus operandi of this coarse
grained printing. Checks are used in
every department, packer receiving
check for each box delivered At the
scales. The whole business seems to be-
systematized thoroughly ana moves
along like clockwork. The work promis-
es to last until Christmas Or New Years
before the whole crop il disposed Of, but
the favorable weather which the raisin-
makers have been blessed with will IA
cilitate their operations, and If it con
tinues for another month they will have
the most of the work done. Orange
(Cd1.l Tribune.