f late years the raisin industry has been prominently before the horticulturists of California. Many people now make their living and acquire wealth by the cultivation of the raisin grapes, and many are now studying the methods of cultivation, pruning, curing and packing while waiting for their vines to bear. The literature of the raisin industry is a very scant one, and, with the exception of a few notices in works of travel, or in treatises on general fruit culture, we find not a single book in which this important and interesting industry is made the special subject of study and discussion. A book on the raisin industry may, therefore, be considered timely. I have endeavored to so write it that it would contain something of interest to all those connected with the growing and curing of the raisin grapes, to those who have already succeeded in building up fame and fortune, as well as to those who have just begun the cultivation of the vine, and who have as yet only realized the pleasures, but not the profits, of the industry. The historical part of the book will principally interest the former; for the latter the practical part on cultivation, pruning, curing and packing is intended.

As our climate and other conditions differ from those of any other country in the world, so must our methods of cultivation and curing differ from those practiced elsewhere. Foreign methods, while interesting and, in some respects, of great importance to us, had to be greatly modified and improved upon before our growers succeeded in producing raisins equaling the best from the raisin districts of the Old World. It has cost years of experimenting and study to attain success, as well as much money and disappointment to many who had nothing to guide them when they commenced.

These processes by which success was achieved can now become the property of all, and a safe guide to even the most inexperienced beginners. The methods advocated here are the result of practical experience of the author, as well as of the most successful raisin-growers of this State.

For the benefit of those of our readers who now study the raisin industry at a distance, but whose steps may in the future be directed to this Coast, a descriptive tour through the raisin districts of our State has been added in order that they may see what our country is like,—the country of the raisin and the fig; the country of almonds, olives, oranges and prunes; the country where health, profit and enjoyment are more than anywhere else derived from horticultural pursuits. It is for these prospective readers, that the short biographical sketches of our principal raisin-men are intended,—short records of the pioneers of the raisin industry,—men who have broken the way which is now easy to travel, and through whose experience and perseverance others are now being benefited.

GUSTAV EISEN.

San Francisco, Cal., October, 1890.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE.
HISTORICAL[5]
Raisins[5]
The Currant[6]
Muscatels[7]
Dehesa Raisins[7]
Lexias or Lye-dipped Raisins[9]
Various Kinds of Raisins[10]
—Muscatels; Currants; Belvideres; Black Smyrnas; California Malagas; California Sun-dried Sultanas; Seedless Muscatels; Thompson Seedless; Dried Grapes; Lexias; California Dipped; Smyrnas; Faros; Huascos.
RAISIN DISTRICTS[10]
Foreign Districts[10]
Raisins in Ancient Times[10]
Modern Raisin Districts[11]
The Malaga District[12]
—Extent and Age; Climate; Soil; location of the Vineyard; Varieties of Grapes; Characteristics of the Raisins; Yield of Grapes; Distances of the Vines; Pruning; Manuring and Fertilizing; Drying Floors or Sequeros; Drying and Curing; Packing; Labor.
Valencia and Denia[15]
—Extent of the District; Soils and Appearance of the District; Climate; Irrigation; Quality of the Raisins; Planting and Care; Dipping and Scalding; Drying and Curing; Packing and Disposing of the Crop; Export and Production.
Corinth and Currants[22]
—Historical and Geographical Notes; Characteristics and Quality; Soil and Irrigation; Preparation of the Land; Distances of the Currant Vines; Care of Cuttings; Planting and Grafting; Pruning the Vines; Care of the Vineyard; Ringing the Branches; Drying and Curing; Cost of Currant Vineyards in Greece; Consumption and Production.
Smyrna Raisins[30]
—Districts in Smyrna; Climate; Care of the Vines; Dipping, Drying and Curing; Production and Export; Cost of Vineyards in Smyrna; Other Varieties of Raisins.
Italy and Italian Raisins[36]
—Lipari and Belvidere; Pantellaria; Calabria.
Chile and Huasco Raisins[36]
—Characteristics; Location; Varieties; Soils; Climate; Irrigation; The Vineyard; Drying and Curing.
California Raisin Districts[38]
A General Review[38]
—Early History; Later Planting; Acreage and Crops.
Yolo and Solano[40]
—Soil and Climate; The Vineyard; The Crop.
Northern California[43]
—General Remarks; Placer County; Yuba County; Sutter County; Colusa County; Butte County; Tehama County; Shasta County.
Fresno, Merced, Tulare and Kern[44]
—Extent and Location; Soils and Climate; Irrigation; The Vineyard; Pruning and Other Operations; The Crop.
San Bernardino County[48]
—Location and Acreage; Climate; Irrigation; Soils; The Vineyard; The Crop; The Profits and Other Items.
Orange County and Santa Ana[52]
—General Remarks; Location; Climate; Soils and Ripening; The Vineyard; The Crop and its Curing; Yield and Profits.
San Diego and El Cajon[55]
—Location and Acreage; Climate and Rainfall; Soils; The Vines and the Vineyard; The Crop.
Other Raisin Districts[59]
CLIMATIC CONDITIONS, SOILS, LOCATION AND IRRIGATION[60]
Climatic Conditions Favorable and Unfavorable to the Raisin Industry[60]
—Limits of the Raisin Districts; Dry Seasons, Spring and Fall Rains; Winter Rains; Frost in Spring and Winter; Summer Temperature; Winds, Injurious and Beneficial; Fogs and Moisture in the Air; Ideal Conditions of Climate.
Soils[67]
—General Remarks; Malaga; Valencia and Denia; Smyrna; Zante; Chile; Fresno; Other Soils in San Joaquin Valley; Orange County; Redlands and Riverside; El Cajon; Subsoils; Hardpan Soils; Comparative Value of Soils; Alkali Soils; Fertilizing.
Irrigation[77]
—Introductory Notes; the Necessity of Irrigating the Raisin Vines; Health and Longevity of Irrigated Vines; The Bearing Quality of Irrigated Vines; Quality of Irrigated Grapes; Various Methods of Irrigation; Irrigation by Flooding; Irrigation by Furrowing; Subirrigation; Seepage; Drainage; The Influence of Irrigation on the Soil.
THE RAISIN GRAPES[87]
—Introductory Notes; Muscatel or Gordo Blanco; Muscat of Alexandria; Huasco Muscat; Other Varieties of Muscat; Seedless Sultana; Black Currant; Other Varieties of Currants; Thompson Seedless; Other Seedless Grapes; Malaga; Feher Szagos; Other Raisin Grapes.
DISEASES AND INSECT PESTS[93]
Powdery Mildew or Uncinula[93]
—General Notes; Characteristics; History and Distribution; Remedies.
Downy Mildew or Peronospora[95]
—General Notes.
The Vine Plague[96]
—Characteristics; Nature and Cause; Damages; Remedies.
Leaf-hopper[98]
—Characteristics; Damages; Distribution; Remedies.
Red Spider[100]
—Characteristics; Remedies.
Caterpillars[100]
—Characteristics; Damages; Remedies.
Black-knot[102]
—Characteristics; Remedies.
Grasshoppers[102]
—General Notes; Remedies.
THE RAISIN VINEYARD[104]
Planting[104]
—Distances for Muscat Vines; the Marking Out of a Vineyard; Relative Value of Cuttings and Rooted Vines; The Making of Cuttings; The Care of Cuttings; Planting Cuttings; Care of Young Cuttings; Transporting Cuttings to Distant Parts; Rooting Cuttings; Care of Rooted Cuttings; Planting Rooted Vines; Proper Time for Planting; Cost of Cuttings and Rooted Vines; Winter Plowing; Plowing Devices; Cultivation; Back-furrowing; Cross-plowing; Weed-cutters; Cutter-sled; Hoeing; Time for Cultivation.
Grafting the Muscat on Other Stocks[117]
—Time for Grafting Raisin-vines; Points to be Observed in Grafting; Various Methods of Grafting; Stocks and their Influence.
Various Summer Work[121]
—Sulphuring; Tying Over; Covering the Vines; Thinning the Crop; Ringing the Vines; The Vineyard Labors of the Year.
Pruning[124]
—Winter Pruning or Pruning Hard Wood; Bleeding of the Vines; Summer Pruning or Pruning Green Wood; Root-pruning; Suckering.
Various Vineyard Tools[130]
—General Notes; The Sheep’s-foot; The Planting-bar; The Dibble; Planting Chains; Spades; Hoes; Plows; Cultivators; Randel Disc Cultivators; The Ash-trough; Sulphuring Cans and Bellows; The Cutter-sled; Vineyard Trucks; Shears.
DRYING AND CURING[133]
California Sun-dried Raisins[133]
—Notes; Time of Ripening; Signs of Maturity; Picking; Cleaning; Drying on Trays; Turning; Reversing; Slanting the Trays; Elevating the Trays; Stacking Against Rain and Dew; Taking Up; Covering; Drying-floors; Dryers; Sweatboxes; Trays for Drying.
California Lye-dipped Raisins[149]
—General Notes; Dipping Process; Drying and Curing; Stemming, Grading and Packing.
THE PACKING-HOUSE[153]
Buildings and Mechanical Appliances[153]
—The Packing-house; The Stemmer and Grader; The Sweating-house; The Presses; Boxes and Cartoons; Packing Frames and Packing Trays; Facing-plate; Scales; Labeling Press; Tables; Bags and Bagholders; Trucks; Trays for Weighing; Followers; Paper; Tin Boxes.
Loose Raisins[158]
—Stemming and Assorting; Packing and Cleaning; Sacking; Facing, Top-up Method; Facing, Top-down Method; Comparative Value of the Two Methods.
Layer Raisins[162]
—Sweating and Equalizing; Packing Layers, Top-up Method; Packing Layers, Top-down Method; Filling; Nailing and Trimming; Labels.
STATISTICS OF IMPORTATION, PRODUCTION AND PRICES[169]
—Production of Raisins in California from 1873 to 1889; Number of Acres in Raisin Grapes in California in 1890; California and Malaga Prices, Importation, etc., from 1871 to 1889; Exports of Malaga Raisins from 1864 to 1889; Exports of Valencia Raisins from 1850 to 1889; First Cost of Crop of Valencia Raisins; Production and Distribution of Smyrna Raisins from 1844 to 1884; World’s Raisin Production in 1890; Importation of Raisins, Currants and Figs into the United States from 1873 to 1878; Importation of Raisins, Currants and Figs into the United States from 1879 to 1888; Consumption of Currants and Raisins per Head of Total Population in 1884; Prices Ruling in the California Raisin Districts.
THROUGH THE CALIFORNIA RAISIN DISTRICTS[181]
Through San Joaquin Valley to Fresno[181]
From Los Angeles to Santa Ana[189]
From Santa Ana to San Diego[192]
El Cajon[195]
Riverside[199]
Redlands[202]
An Hour in a Packing-house[205]
RAISIN-GROWERS AND THEIR VINEYARDS[208]
—G. G. Briggs; R. B. Blowers; Robert McPherson; T. C. White; Miss M. F. Austin; Joseph T. Goodman; A. B. Butler; William Forsyth; A. D. Barling; San Joaquin Valley Raisin Packers of 1889.
LITERATURE[215]
—Introductory; List of Books of Reference.
GENERAL INDEX[219]