Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1897-11-11
RArsrN FIELDS OF CALIFORNIA.
The Vineyards Are Beautiful in Rich
Vegetation.


The Vineyards Are Beautiful in Rich
Vegetation.
The raisin vineyards Of California are
cow alive with toilers, and every day
tons of the delicious fruit are on their
way to market. 1t is in the land of the
mirage that the raisin fourishes-ac oun-
try that bears the most striking resem-
blance 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 sea
son. In fact, nearly every feature of
the Holy Land is reproduced along the
western base of the Sierra Nevadas, in
the foothills and valleys which are cut
off by the coast range from the cool
trade winds and the heavy fogs of the
Pacific ocean. In those great California
valleys. where the sun burns like q
| ball of fire in a brazen sky from May
| 10 November, the mirage is a common
occurrence, and the toiler in the vine
yards of Fresno or MERGED counties sees
islands of feathery 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 canteen.
ANY tourist who visits California in
September and early October will find
it worth his while if he journeys
through the hot, dusty San Joaquin val
lev to stop over day at Fresno and visit
some of the great raisin vineyards near
that city. The whole country is level
as a billiard table; the roads are fine
and hard. and along most of the high
ways are lines of eucalyptus and pepper
trees, relieving the baroness of the coun-
try and furnishing fine shade. The
old established vineyards are superbly
ornamented with hedges of fine shade
trees, and the grounds about the houses
contain many varieties of palms, rare
shrubs, and flowers. All across the coun-
trv he will see the simmer of the irri,
eating 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 Nevada, in 1900 miles of
canals and 5000 miles of lateral bitches.
The big canals are generally 200 feet
wide; the bitches which carry the water
to each vineyard are from three to ten
feet wide.
The Muscat vines are cut down sc
that the main trunk of the vine is about
16 inches high. From this the lateral
shoots run out, frequently for ten or
Is feet, thus covering the ground with
foliage Most of the punches of grapes
hang near the main trunk of the vine,
and they are protected from the fierce
sun by the leaves. They are large, am
her-colored grapes, the punches being
frequently a foot long. The vineyard
is cultivated regularly until the lateral
shoots begin to impede the pillow. By
the first of September the grapes be-
gin to show signs of maturing, but it is
frequently the middle of the month be-
fore picking begins. This is a labor
that 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 curved knife, cuts it 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 % pounds of grapes, 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. Then the
half-dried grapes are turned. 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 proc
ess of drying is completed. The trays
are 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 rasins pass through
necessary stage, which frees them
from moisture and gives them that
aroma which the lover of raisins enjoys
as much as the taste. These sweat
boxes are taken to the packing house,
where women and girls sort and ar
range 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 fat. Every process of
raisin making is clean, and the packing
house-unlike the fruit cannery-has
10 iIl-smelling refuse. The women ana
girls are 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 $1.2j
a day and the most expert two dollars
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 Butler
and Forsythe vineyards are noteworthy
for the finely ornamented grounds
which surround the houses.-Detrolt
Free Press.
What Squirrels Eat.