The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-28
REASONS FOR RAISINS.

Fresno County of California is pre-eminently
the raisin center of the United States, It's ex-
ports alone during the past year having
amounted to 65, 0O0, 900 pounds. This locality,
comprising an area of 5000 square miles, lies
in the hesrt of the justly celebrated San Joa-
quin Valley. Two-thirds of the county is level
vineyard and orchard land; the remainder
spurs Of the snowclad Sierra Nevada and their
iuxuriant and fertile foothills. Fifteen years
ago this vast tract of land was barren plain,
fit only at its best for sheep pasturage and
grain farming on a small scale. To-day the
desert literally BLOSSOMS as the rose" and its
tsmilk and honey of solid comfort and wealth
are its raisin vineyards. But these in turn are
the product of the irrigation supplied by the
two magnificent rivers, Kings and San Joaquin,
which flow westward from the melting SHOWS
Of the sierras This supply is eeaseless, the
water being conducted by about 1000 miles of
canals and 5000 miles of lateral bitches to
thousands of small farms and vineyards in
Fresno Valley. The county is supposed to have
the most extensive irrigation system In the
world-certainly in the State-and the system
is as essential to its vital existence as is the
warm blood rushing through the veins to the
The cost of supplying vineyard with water
is but 81 cents per acre per annum, and the
labor OF applying it, If the land has been prop
Venetian canal, with its graceful gondolas sail
ing between the marbled walls of old palaces,
is half as beautiful to the Fresno raisin-vlne-
yardlst SIS the ribbon-like and limpid ditch"
upon whose quiet surface are mirrored earth
and sky and the tangled leafy loneliness which
lies between. The main canals are from ten to
forty feet in width, while their veins that
thread the vineyards are never more than from
three to nine feet wide. For the average vine
yardist twenty acres is enough" because the
land gives two heavy crops Of raisin-grapes
yearly, and the net returns will be ten times
that of 160 acres in the East, Forty acres,
therefore, carefully titled, produces home of
luxury.
A rasin vineyard is in full bearing in three
years, but the grape has not reached its per-
lection until the vine from which it springs is
SIX or seven years old. The Muscat and
thompson seedless are the best variety Of
been introduced within the last few years, but
the Zinfandel and Sultana have also large
claims upon popularity. Standing before one
countless perfect spheres are hanging---each
cluster weighing several pounds vision of
the Hebrew spies, with their magnificent
the two" rises before us, and involuntarily we
exclaim: sis not this also the Promised
Land7'
Few sights are more Disappointing to the
Eastern tourist and stranger than ride
through raisin vineyard in March or early
April. Nothing greets the eye but acres of
level land covered with brown soil, from whose
arabic surface thousands of small horned
stumps protrude, about four or five inches high
and standing ten feet apart. The pruning
OF the vines is done between the middle of No
vember and the LIST of March.
Soon after the wooing sunbeams of May coax
open the folded buds the cultivator begins its
work. Soon the laterals throw out their long
arms, upon which already appears the embryo
grape cluster, and until the leaves OF the vine
meet and shut out the possibility OF getting
pillow between them the cultivation continues.
In this constant vigilance lies the secret of sue
cess. Slowly the forest of vines expands. AS
far as the eye can reach is a dead level of liv-
ing green, fnterspersed with silvery aisles OF
running water.
About the LIST of September the long sunny
days, the devices nights and the percolated
soil have perfected their marvellous work, and
the first crop is ready to be gathered. By this
time the laterals have run riot and the vine
yardist can scarcely see over the top OF his
vines.
The process OF grape-gath ering for raisins re-
quires the most delicate handling and cleanli-
ness. Hundreds of shallow wooden trays,
about five feet square, are distributed among
dozens of trained pickers. The punches are
carefully cut from the vine and as carefully
laid upon the base of the trays to avoid bruis-
ing them. There they remain untouched for
ten days and nights. One-half OF the grape is
by this time cured, but instead of turning
them with the hand an empty tray is placed
over them, the lower one is inverted. and the
turning and transfer have been made. In
twelve more days the curing has been COM
pleted. The trays and contents are then
stacked about twenty trays high, where they