Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1897-11-25
RklSIN FIELDS.
A GREAT INDUSTRY IN THE VALLEYS
or CALIFORNIA.

or CALIFORNIA.
The Vineyards Are Beautiful In Rich vegs.
tatIon-A Description OF the Process OF
Picking and Drying the Fruit. <
The raisin vineyards Of California
are now alive with toilers. and every
day tons Of the delicious fruit are on
their way to market. It Is In the land
OF the mirage that the raisin fiourishes
"a country that bears the most strik-
ing resemblance in climate. soil and
scenery to Syria. 1t has the same
clOudless sky, the same burning sun,
the same rich volcanic soil, the same
long, dry season. In fact, nearly every
feature of the Holy Land Is reproduced
along the western base of the Sierra
Nevadas. In the foothills and valleys
from the cool trade winds and the
heavy fogs of the Pacific ocean. In
these great California valleys. where
the sun burns like ball Of fire in
brazen sky from May to November, me
mirage Is a coIimon occurrence, and
the toiler In the vineyards of Fresno or
MERGED counties sees islands Of feath-
cry palms in broad cool lakes all along
the horizon, while he is parched with
thirst, within five minutes after he has
drunk the heated water from his can
teen.
Any tourist who visits California
will find it worth his while IL he jour-
neys through the hot, dusty San Joa-
quin valley to stop over day at Fres-
no and visit some of the great raisin
vineyards near that city. The whole
country Is level as billiard table; the
roads are fine and hard, and along
most of the highways are lines OF
eucalyptus and pepper trees, relieving
the baroness of the country and fur
nishing a fine shade. The old estab-
lished vineyards are superbly orna-
mented with hedges of fine shade trees,
and the grounds about the houses con-
tain many varieties of palms, rare
shrubs, and flowers. All across the
country he will see the simmer of the
irrigating canals, for Fresno has the
most perfect and extensive irrigating
system in the world, the water being
brought from the rivers which flow
down from the Sierra Nevadas, in p
600 miles of canals and 5000 miles of
lateral bitches. The big canals are
generally twenty feet wide; the bitches
which carry the water to each vine
yard are from three to ten feet wide.
The Muscat vines are cut down so
that the main trunk of the vine is
about sixteen inches high. From this
lateral shoots run out, frequently for
ten or fifteen feet, thus covering the
ground with foliage. Most of the
punches of grapes hang near the main
trunk of the vine, and they are pro-
tected from the fierce sun by tho
leaves. They are large, amber-colored
grapes, the punches being frequently
foot long. The vineyard is cultivated
regularly until the lateral shoots be-
gin to impede the plough. By the
drst of September the grapes begin to
shows singns of maturing, but 1t is
frequently the middle of the month be-
,ore picking begins. This is labor
hat demands care and skill.
To make the best raisins it is indis-
pensable that the bloom on the grape
should not be injured by handling. The
picker takes the bunch by the stem,
and, with a sharp knife cuts 1t from
the vine. Then, with scissors, he re-
moves any defective berries and places
the bunch carefully on the wooden tray
by his side This tray is of redwood,
is about two feet long by three broad,
and holds twenty-five pounds ofgrapes.
which, when dried. will yield five
pounds of raisins. When full the tray
is left in the sun, and for ten days is
not disturbed. This Is done by two
men, who place an empty tray over the
full one and invert the lower. In this
way the whole trayful of grapes is
turned without handling.
In about two weeks the second pro-
less of drying Is completed. The trays
Ire then stacked in heaps, and as rap
idly as possible the cured grapes are
transferred to sweat-boxes, three feet
long, two feet wide, and eight inches
deep. In these the raisins pass through
necessary stage, which frees them
from moisture and gives them that
aroma which the lover of raisins en-
Joys as much as the taste. These
sweat boxes are taken to the packing
louse, where women and girls sort and
arrange the raisins in the boxes which
one sees in the stores.
In the packing a good deal of art is
shown, for the raisins of the top layer
are spread by hand SO as to make
them appear large and fiat. Every
process of raisin-making is clean, and
even the packing-ho itself has
no illsmelling refuse. The women
and girls are all neatly dressed, and
many of them do no work in the year
except in raisin-packing time. They
work by the piece, the average hand
making $l25 day and the most ex-
pert 50 day.
Some of the big raisin vineyards of
Fresno county are grand places, for no
care nor expense has been spared TO
make the surroundings beautiful. On
the Barton and Eisen farms are noble
hedges of eucalyptus and cedars. which
make superb avenues; while the But
Ter and Forsythe vineyards are not
worthy for the finely ornamented
grounds which surround the houses
Detroit Free Press.
WESTERN FARM lABoRERs.