Vines were first planted in Riverside by Judge John Wesley North in 1873. Vacant land that is suitable for raisins may be had with water for $250 per acre. Some land with choice locations is held at higher prices. The highest yield of raisins in San Bernardino has been 290,000 boxes in 1888. Of this Riverside produced 150,000 boxes, Etiwanda 30,000 boxes, and Ontario 15,000 boxes. The raisin shipments from Riverside during the fall of 1889, up to December 12th, amounted, according to the Daily Press, to 216,000 boxes. There was a balance on hand of 7,000 boxes, making the total production 223,000 boxes. It is estimated that the value of this crop was $3,500,000 at wholesale. Later advices give to the county 265,000 boxes as last season’s crop. The San Bernardino raisins are superior both as regards quality and size, and raisin growing and curing is a profitable business, eminently suited to the settler with small means, who cannot invest large capital, nor can afford to wait long for a return. No dipped or sulphured raisins have ever been produced in the district, although dipped raisins would prove profitable. Especially does this refer to the second crop, which ripens enough to make good raisins, but which cannot be cured when the early rains set in.
ORANGE COUNTY AND SANTA ANA.
General Remarks.
—On account of the vine disease which has been injuring the Orange county raisin and wine vineyards, this district has a special interest to every one engaged in grape-growing. While the country has received a hard blow through the injury and destruction of so many of its vineyards, still it is likely that it will recover and rise as soon as the vine disease leaves.
Location.
—The Orange county raisin district lies close to the sea. Of all raisin districts, it is nearest the ocean, the average distance of the raisin vineyards from the latter being eight to twelve miles, some few perhaps a little more. As will be seen, the district resembles in this respect some of the Mediterranean districts, such as Malaga and Smyrna, where the vineyards come within actual reach of the sea fogs. On one side of the Orange county district we have the ocean, on the opposite side it is bordered by rather high foothills, beyond which are the San Bernardino county vineyards, some forty to sixty miles away.
A Raisin-grower’s Residence at Fresno.
Climate.
—The nearness to the ocean modifies the climate much. The temperature is more even all the year round than anywhere else on the coast where raisins are grown. The extreme of heat is 105 degrees; in fact, July 27, 1889, it was 104 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade, while in the winter it seldom goes lower than 28 degrees Fahrenheit, and indeed very, very rarely as low as that. In many places there is no frost at all, except, perhaps, one in April, which, of course, cannot but prove damaging to the vines. This absence of heavy frost, which is beneficial to every other semi-tropical product, is not favorable to the vine. The grape requires heavy frost to become dormant. The farther south we go the less frost and the less grapes, at least of the Asiatic kind. There are, as we know, native grapes even in tropical countries, but they are adapted to their surroundings and cannot be considered here. The proximity to the coast modifies the air considerably. With 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade, which is an exception here, I felt as warm as I do in the San Joaquin valley with the mercury at 114;—the two extremes in both places affect us just the same. The air here is certainly much more moist, which again must have a marked effect upon the vine, and in no small degree promote fungoid growths, or parasites generally. In this respect, then, the coast vineyard must certainly be at a disadvantage. The fog is not an unusual visitor in the district between the coast and the foothills, which, in fact, covers the whole area ever planted in raisin grapes. For days in succession every morning is foggy, and the fog condenses on the leaves of the trees and falls under them in real showers, making the adjoining and underlying road wet. For a few days again the sun will rise bright, again to be followed by foggy mornings. By from nine to eleven o’clock the fog is again gone and the sun shines brightly. Every evening and morning there is a heavy dew, and every branch, leaf or grass is then dripping wet. Several mornings when the fog was in I found the thermometer at 62 degrees Fahrenheit, while at noon it rose to over 100.