The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-25
About
Raisin Growing
At Riverside
And in
Southern California.
Written for
"The Call"
By James Boyd.

Riverside was the first colony in South
ern California that was founded and set
tied Tor the express purpose OF fruit-rais-
ing, and so we'll have the distinctive fea-
lures OF that early settlement been pre-
served that to-day it would be difficult to
find a single individual who makes his
living from the soil who does not make it
from fruit-growing. The earliest efforts in
this direction were made in 1871, when a
few acres were set out to various kinds of
fruits. Among the principal kinds to
which attention was early directed was
that OF the raisln grape. Previous to this
time lmportations of the raisin grape had
been made, and experiments conducted by
individuals in a desultory manner far
enough to show that we had the true
raisin grape and that it was we'll adapted
to success in our soil and climate.
The white Muscat of Alexandria,
which in several varieties is the trUe raisin
grape, is originally from Europe, notably
Spain, and it is popularity of all Euro
pean varieties of grapes that none OF them
succeed east of the Rocky Mountains.
Why 1T is no one has been able to satisfac-
torily explain, particularly as the grape
vine is indigenous to probably every State
in the Union. This fact then-the adapta-
billty OF California to the growth OF Euro
pean varieties of the grapevine-has had
much to do in shaping some of our horti-
cultural pursuits.
When it was considered that the demand
for and the consumption of raisins was
universal and that prices in all the prin-
cipal marts of the world were high and,
furthermore, that the United States was
one OF the best markets and that the con-
sumption was very large-so large, in fact,
that no ordinary acreage planted would be
able to completely supply the market for
years TO come, it need not surprise the
reader that the business of planting raisin
vineyards was entered into enthusiastic
ally. IL had still another advantage, and
that was early fruitage. This, in coun-
try which at that time would hardly sup
port family by any ordinary system of
tillage, was quite an attraction. So much
was this the case that almost every settler
in the early years of Riverside had his
raisin vineyard; and again, the product,
once properly cured, could be marketed at
leisure.
AS Riverside was the first to engage in
scale, so in like manner its inhabitants,
being bound together by the strongest ties
of personal interest and necessity, were the
first to put the whole business, from pick
ing the grapes to marketing the finished
product, on systematic and busin ess-like
basis.
1t was early seen that some other
method different from anything practiced
in Europe was one of the necessities OF the
situation. Labor was cheap in Europe
and the routine of centuries called for but
little brain exercise. Here in Riverside
and California labor was high and brains
of more or less caliber were active. Men
and women who had been engaged in in
tellectual pursuits for the whole of their
lives, whose spirits were active but whose
bodies In many cases were weak, were
driven here by force of climatic seventies
beyond the Rocky Mountains. Before we
had had time to fully realize it we had
ripe grapes needing attention, and what
was to be done? The first settlers of the
country had been drying their fruit, such
as it was, in very primitive way on
frameworks of boards, and as such fruits
as they did dry were ripe in the hottest of
the weather, drying was a comparatively
easy matter. In this way were our first
raisins dried. but we soon found that an
| ordinary ten-acre vineyard would require
! ceres OF lumber and of ground to dry
them OH, and not only that, to dry them in
this manner involved such handling of the
fresh grapes as to destroy the freshness Of
the bloom, which is one of the most at
tractive features OF first-class raisln.
1t was also found that the .raisin grape
with us ripened paratively late in the
season, that the drying process was very
slow one, taking in ordinary seasons from
three to six weeks, that it admitted of no
economical method of turning nor of pro-
lection in case of early fall rains Some
had heard of drying on the bare ground,
but that involved more or less dirt and al
most absolute and complete loss in case of
rain, besides many raisins were broken off
the stems which could only De picked up
by tedious and expensive process. Stout
paper was tried with some advantages over
the bare earth, but it was felt by one and
all that unless we had some more expedi-
tious method of turning and handling the
grapes while in process of drying and of
| gathering them up when dry than the old
Spanish method we would ultimately be
forced to abandon the business. About
this time the late R. B. Blowers of Wood
land, Yolo County, one of the pioneers of
the State in making raisIns, hit on the plan
OF using wooden trays for drying, which
would admit of drying in the vineyard,
and which would also dispense with all
handling of the grapes by hand in pick
ing, thus destroying the bloom and other
wise detracting from the attractive appear
ance of the cured raisins.
The tray had also another important in
fiuence in Matchmaking, and that was
that by simply putting an inverted empty
tray on top OF full one and reversing the
position OF the two trays, two men might
In very short time turn u great many
raisins. 1t was also a great safeguard in
| case OF threatened rain, for the trays could
be gathered up and stacked on top of one
another, covered by an empty one, until
all danger from wet was passed, and when
the raisin was cured it was an easy matter
to slip them off the trays into the sweat
box. The sweatbox was distinct evolu-
ton from the tray, and performs an inn
portant part in the curing of the raisins.
1t being almost imnossible from yarious