Climate.
—The climate of Denia and its surroundings is rather cold and windy; damaging spring frosts, as well as early fall rains, frequently interfere with the setting of the grapes and with the harvesting of the crop; it has even happened several times that the entire crop has been seriously injured by one of these, or by both causes combined. Farther north, or in the Valencia district proper, the climate is milder, and frost is rare. Oranges are here at home, while the culture of raisin grapes becomes less every year. North of Castellon the climatic conditions are such that no raisin culture is possible.
As compared with the climate of Malaga, that of Denia is much less favorable to the raisin grape. The production of sun-dried and undipped raisins in Denia is not possible, and, although it has been attempted several times, it has seldom succeeded. The rainfall of Denia averages twelve inches per year. The rainiest months are those of November, February and April, but the heaviest rainfall at one time occurs quite frequently in the first week of September, while light showers are not uncommon in August, at that time doing much damage to the grapes or the just exposed raisins.
Irrigation.
—Not only is irrigation necessary to grow the vines successfully and to produce an abundance of grapes, but the irrigation in the province of Valencia is necessary to the health and longevity of the vines. Nowhere else in Spain is the water so abundant, and no saving of the water is necessary in the majority of the districts. Through an abundance of water, the soil on the lowlands has now filled up to such an extent, that in the best vineyards the surface water is only from five to eight feet from the surface of the ground. Those vines which could not be irrigated have gradually become diseased, and the hillside vineyards are being rapidly abandoned and devoted to something else. Upon the abundance and constancy of the water depends the prosperity of the whole province, and there is hardly a more prosperous country in Spain. To show the close connection between irrigation and raisin production in Spain, it will no doubt interest many to know something of the irrigation system and the irrigation districts of the province of Valencia, than which no more important ones are found in Spain.
The district of Alicante is supplied with water from the river Monegre, and the Elche district from the river Minalapo. In the northern part of the province is the Murviado irrigation district, taking its water from the river Palencia. The Jucar irrigation district, situated immediately south of the huerta of Valencia, takes its water from the Jucar river, distributing 850 cubic feet of water per second upon some 50,000 acres of land.
The Valencia irrigation district consists of 26,350 acres of land close to the town of Valencia, and is watered by the river Guadalaviar, or, as it is generally called, the Turia. The water is distributed through eight canals, each carrying from 35 to 120 cubic feet of water per second, the combined low-water discharge of all the canals being from 250 to 350 cubic feet of water per second. Of the importance of irrigation in this district, we can judge when we learn that the above 26,350 acres contain 72,000 inhabitants and sixty-two villages, or an average of 1,774 people per square mile, not including the city of Valencia itself, with a population of 120,000 people. It is also remarkable that this enormous population on a territory not as large as the arable land surrounding any one of our principal inland towns in California, is not alone due to the irrigation and care of the land, but to the minute subdivision of the land, which makes this culture and irrigation possible. It is a practical illustration of the value of the colony system as inaugurated in California, showing what we can expect of our inland plains when they become fully irrigated and the land properly subdivided.
Quality of the Raisins.
—It has already been stated that the grapes grown in Denia are the Muscat of Alexandria, which were introduced there by the Moors. Farther south, in the Alicante district, other varieties are more common, but play no important part in the raisin production of the district. The Valencia raisins are inferior to those of Malaga, the want of heat requiring them to be dipped in lye before drying. This, again, gives these raisins a peculiar reddish, semi-transparent color, which unfits them for table raisins. The Valencia raisins are principally used for cooking; even the best grades of Valencias are inferior to the inferior grades of Malaga raisins. During the last season (1889) large quantities of Denia grapes were cured on the Malaga style, and with great success. Large quantities of such sun-dried Denias were sent in bulk to Malaga, and there repacked for export to the United States, the Malaga crop having so diminished that the usual demand could not be supplied. Years in which such sun-drying is possible in Denia are rare.