LOOSE RAISINS.
Stemming and Assorting.
—It must be understood that all the mechanical appliances and tools mentioned above should now be on hand ready for use and properly placed. The several different operations in packing, stemming, assorting, etc., of both loose and layers, will at times be carried on in different parts of the packing establishment at the same time, so as to meet the requirements of mixed lots or orders, the general shipments being of that nature. Loose and layer raisins are produced more or less from almost every sweatbox brought into the packing-house, and the only delay to their being immediately disposed of is because the layer raisins must be sweated or equalized before they are ready for use. The loose raisins, provided they are properly or sufficiently dried, are ready to be handled as soon as brought from the vineyard. A loose raisin, or a bunch from which loose raisins are to be made, must be overdried rather than underdried; at any rate, it must be so dry, that no juice will come out of it when the raisin is squeezed heavily or even torn. But a matter of greater importance even is that the stems should be brittle or sufficiently dry to break off readily. If they do not break, the raisins cannot be easily separated from the stem. The stems, instead of breaking off, will tear off, and the raisins will be open to the entrance of air, which will cause them to undergo a chemical change, to sugar and deteriorate.
As soon as a perfectly dried sweatbox of third-grade or loose raisins enters the packing-house, it should be taken to the stemmer. Any delay in this is injurious to the raisins, as they will rapidly undergo a sweating or equalizing, causing the stems to soften and to lose their brittleness. It will, therefore, be seen that loose raisins must on no account be sweated or equalized before they have been stemmed. Besides, if the raisins are in any way moist, they will not shed the dust and dirt when being passed through the stemmer. It is therefore to every raisin-grower’s interest to so hasten the drying of the loose raisins that as many of them as possible can be out of the way when the layers, which take longer to dry, come in. This, as we have shown before, can only be done by assorting the raisins while green, and at the moment they are being picked from the vines. The different size bunches dry at different times, and the loose can then be partially disposed of when the layers are ready. The stemmer and grader should separate the raisins in at least three grades: Number one, large loose; number two, smaller loose; number three, smallest seedless, to which may be added a number four, or rubbish. The large loose bring always a good price, and great care should be taken with them. After having passed through the stemmer and assorter once, they should be passed through a second or third time, in order that all the inferior or smaller raisins may be eliminated. In this way, a fine, large number one is had, which is sure to give satisfaction. Number two loose may be passed through a second time if the stemmer has not done its full duty, and the same may also be done with number three seedless. It always pays to do a thing well, and this holds good with raisins as with everything else. Colonel Forsyth, who has acquired a high reputation for his loose raisins, advocates and practices this repeated assorting, especially of the number one grade, in order that it may be entirely uniform. Too many poor raisins are generally found among the small seedless, and if they are to be made to partially replace the seedless Sultanas or the Currants in the same manner as the number two is expected to replace the imported Valencias, they must be made clean from all rubbish. Only by producing a superior article can we hope to replace the imported dipped raisins by our loose Muscatels.
Packing and Cleaning.
—The number one and two loose are always put up in whole boxes of twenty pounds each, never in quarter boxes, but sometimes in cartoons, to be used as samples or as holiday gifts. In packing whole boxes, they may either be faced or not. If not faced, the work is very simple. The raisins are first brought to a large separate table with a guard all around its edges, so as to prevent the raisins from falling to the floor. On each such table are one or more small scales. The workmen gather the raisins with small shovels, and place them in quantities of twenty pounds each in tin trays, with the guards slanting at one end, in order that the raisins may fall out readily. These trays are then immediately carried by other hands to the packing-table close by. Here the proper papers are being placed in regular whole raisin boxes, the loose raisins are poured in from the trays, and from time to time looked over and cleaned. All poor or inferior raisins should be carefully eliminated, and only good ones allowed to be boxed. Finally the paper leaves are folded over, and the boxes are taken away to be nailed up. Number two undergoes the very same process when packed in boxes.
Raisin Truck for Packing-house.
Sacking.
—A very large trade is springing up in sacked raisins, and the demand for them is increasing every year. Both numbers two and three grades loose are now exported this way either in cotton sacks, or in jute sacks lined inside with paper. The jute sacks are by many preferred on account of their showing the dirt less, the cotton sacks generally arriving soiled at their destination. If cotton sacks are used for shipment East, they should be first placed in common burlap sacks, in order to arrive clean and attractive. The extra expense is not great, as the cheapest kind can be used for this purpose.
Facing, Top-up Method.
—The facing is quickly done with the aid of White’s facing-plate, but it can also be accomplished without it if the packer may so desire. The facing-plate, however, is greatly to be preferred, as we shall show directly. If no plate is used, the operation is as follows: At the filling table, fifteen pounds of loose raisins are weighed off directly in the twenty-pound boxes. Then five pounds loose are weighed separately in a tin tray. The whole boxes are taken to the packing-table and placed close to the press, one on top of the other, the smaller trays, with five pounds each, are brought to the facer, who now takes one of the loose wooden frames with a sliding bottom and places in it the necessary papers. He then fills in the five pounds of loose raisins, smooths and spreads them out, and sees that no bad berries are among the good ones. This operation may also be performed by different hands, so as to divide up the work. This is probably the best and most economical way. The next step is to take the tray to the press and subject it to a certain pressure, so as to get a smooth upper surface on which to face or place the raisins in rows. When this is done the tray is taken to the facer. The facer now has in front of him a tray filled with the ornamental papers and the five pounds of raisins. The surface of the raisins is smooth and even. The next operation is to place large raisins in rows on the top surface. A small box with loose, large raisins should be at the side of the facer, who in taking each one of them at first presses it towards the table with the thumb of either hand, thus flattening out the raisin in order to make it appear large. When the tray is faced, it may again be subjected to slight pressure, but generally this is not needed. The contents of the tray are now transferred to the twenty-pound box, which already contains fifteen pounds of loose. These loose raisins, which will be on the bottom of the box, are not generally wrapped in paper, although such would very much improve their appearance. The box is now ready for nailing. This top-up method is very inferior to the top-down method, as will be described further on. In packing with this method, only the wooden frame with the sliding bottom is used. The drop-bottom frame is only used for the top-down method.
Facing, Top-down Method.
—In using this method, the top layer is finished first, and the bottom last. The packing is done as follows: In the bottom of a tin or galvanized-iron tray, previously described, is placed one of White’s facing-plates. As will be remembered, the frame has a loose drop-bottom, which falls out as soon as the tray is turned over. The facing-plate is placed either directly on this loose bottom, or on the flange supporting it, and always with the facing-cups upward. The facer now places loose selected raisins, one in each hollow, presses his finger on the raisin and works it in the hollow until it becomes flattened. When all the cavities are filled, loose raisins are carefully filled in until the tray is full, when but a gentle pressure is required to steady the raisins and make them keep their places. In the meantime, fifteen pounds of raisins have been put in twenty-pound boxes and gently pressed. Some packers of choice raisins use a wrapper and label for every layer of five pounds, which greatly improves the general appearance of the box. After all is ready, a loose zinc plate is placed over the filled frame or tray, the latter is reversed and placed directly over the raisin box, in which has already been placed the required paper wrapper. The zinc plate, which only served to steady the raisins while the frame was being turned, is now quickly withdrawn, and the five-pound faced layer falls down in the box entirely undisturbed, kept so by the facing-plate which here acted as follower. The box is now ready for nailing, after a label and wax paper have first been placed on top of the plate. Without the facing-plate, a skilled facer can face some forty boxes a day, while from twenty to thirty boxes is a low average. With the facing-plate, the facing can be accomplished with more speed and accuracy.
Comparative Value of the Two Methods.
—The top-up method has several disadvantages. It requires a heavy pressure of the raisins to create a smooth, flat surface on which to face. But even if no facing is done, the top layer will always be more or less uneven, and requires heavy pressure to make it smooth, and appear well and to advantage. This heavy pressure always bursts many of the raisins, and causes them to sugar and spoil. It has also another disadvantage, that the facing of the top layer can only be done with the fancy paper previously placed in the box. In facing and manipulating the raisins, this paper becomes more or less soiled and wet. In using the top-down method, the paper is placed in the box at the last moment, just before the final five-pound layer is emptied from the tray upon the fifteen-pound layer below. I consider these advantages so essential that I must strongly indorse the top-down method, and I believe that, in course of time, it will be generally adopted by all packers who care for the keeping qualities of their raisins. As to the time and expense required by these two methods, there is but very little difference. The top-down method is possibly a little slower and more expensive, but it is by far the better, and the difference in expense of packing is not great enough to be taken into consideration.