The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1892-08-17
THE RAISIN GRAPES.
How they are Grown In California-The
Curing and Shipping.

The editor of the Hutchinson (Kansas)
Herald gives a full description of the
growth and management of the raisin
grape in California, and as many of our
readers have asked US questions concern.
ing this industry, We copy for their bene'
ft the following statement as to the vi
cinity of Fresno, which is the chief CEN
tra of the taisin grape:
The extent of the vineyards in this To-
cality is something to be seen rather
than described. Mile after mile on each
side of the track, as far as the eye coald
reach, we're the never ending and never
ceasing rows of grapes. They support
themselves without post or trellis and
are cut back until the stock becomes
more like the stump of a tree than like
easterners' idea of a grape. Like the
orange groves of the southern part of the
state, nothing in the shape of vegetation
was allowed to grow, except the grape,
and the surface of the earth was given no
time to settle. 1t is cultivated pret ty
much all the time, and between cultiva-
ton, irrigation and fertilization the earth
is made to do its utmost and really does
yield most prodigiously. The vines are
about six feet apart each way and q
healthy vine will produce from sixty to
seventy pounds Of fruit.
The raisin grapevine is pruned low
and so cultivated that the growth goes to
the grape /; the suckers and all redundant
growth are cut of, and The product is
marvellous. It is customary to gather
two, often three crops each season. The
first is the large grape Of commerce and
from which the best raisibs are made.
The subsequent growths are smaller,
dried without the stems aud shipped in
bulk. The raisin product in 1890 was
eight hundred thousand boxes; in 1891,
twelve hundred car loads, or twelve hum
dred thousand boxes, valued at million
and half of dollars. The raisins ship
ped from Fresno county in 1890 weigh
cd 1carly twenty two millions of pounds.
The drying is done in lsrge crates in
the fields and large buildings may be
seen, where these crates are stored. The
product is increasing year by year as
more land is brought under cultivation
and the irrigating system ia now capable
ofreaching six hundred and forty tbous-
and acres.
Many of the. vineyards are enclosed
with tight board or wire screen fences, to
keep out jack rabbits, which are very
numerous and very destructive. Nearly
every year they have rabbit drive, the
last one being at the close of the encamp.
ment of the grand army, in March last.
It was one of the most successful ever
given, more than Eve thousand people
being on the ground and about twenty
thousand rabbits were slain. We were
shown a photograph of the line of
drivers containing nearly one thousand
buggies and carriages nearly four miles
long. 1t is great sport and beats a
Kansas wolf hunt for either sport or
profit.
The process of drying and curing the
raisin grape is this: The punches,
weighing from two to Eve pounds, so
large that they have to be cut in pieces
to dry, are spread out as thinIy as posi-
ble-no bunch on top of auother-on
trays made f ln,bs OF Shakes" as the
Californians call the redwood clap
boards, and placed upon the ground be.
tween the row. of vines. In two OF
three weeks the bunches are carefully
turned over and allowed to continue dry.
ing for another two or three weeks, until
they are thoroughly colored and the
juice has all evaporated. The dried
grapes are put into boxes holding about
bushel and hauled to the packing
house, where they are piled on top O.
each other as high as the ceiling or roof
In the course Of eight or ten days the
slight moisture left in some of them, and
the heat, cause them to Sweat" and
this moisture so permeates the whole bulk
as to give them soft and fresh appear.
ance. They are then ready for sorting
and boxing. This is done by women and
boys, seated forty or fifty in room, a
long tables. To each is emptied as often
as is needed sweating box full of frui
and alongside of each is placed two nsv
boxes, into one of which the large, per
feet punches are packed, aud into th'
other the smaller and less perfect bunch
es, while the loose berries are passed
through windmill and cleaned of thei
| stems and dust and boxed. Though
most of them are the finest berries o
the crop, they sell for much lowe
price-beiug used for cookiDg-than
| those adhering to their stems.
Three sizes of boxes are made, ont
| to hold FIVE pounds, another to hold ff.
| teen pounds, but the largest number t
hold twenty pounds; and as the bo1e
are filled heaping full careful inspec
tor examines and weighs each, taking
| out any surplus, and passes them to tht
pressman, who put on the lids and put
| them in the press, where they are gradu
ally squeezed down and the lids malice
| on. They are then ready to be shippe'
by the carload-about one thousand box
es to the car. But they are not cousid-
cred "perishable goods" like oranges
| lemous, pears, and are not rushed off, re
| gardless of demand or prices. The con
sequence is, they are worth about tw
dollars, to two dollars and a quarter, pei
box, which affords very fair profit tx
the manufacturer. The whole cost o
ro;s;no curing and eating the raisin