DRYING AND CURING.
CALIFORNIA SUN-DRIED RAISINS.
Note.
—In describing the processes of drying, curing, packing, assorting, etc., I have followed only methods which should be used by every conscientious raisin grower and packer. These methods are now actually in use, not by every packer and grower, but by the best of them, by those who strive to produce a very superior article, which will compare favorably with and compete successfully with the best products of Malaga or other foreign raisin districts. Too much poor curing and packing is done in every raisin district, to the great detriment of the district, its growers and its packers. The cause of so much poor work is undoubtedly due to the method of selling the raisins in bulk for a previously fixed sum, whether the crop is good, bad or indifferent. For many years no inducements were held out to the grower to produce a very superior article, and as a consequence the packer got very little first-class raisins to pack. When raisins are paid for according to their quality alone, there will be plenty of first-class raisins, and both packers and growers will be the gainers. The former will get more first-class fruit to pack, the latter will find it to their advantage to produce it. During the last season (1889 to 1890), a change was inaugurated, and a grading of prices according to the quality of the raisins has been insisted on. When this system is fully carried out, and when the grower knows at the beginning of the season that he can get a higher price for his superior raisins, California will produce as many high-grade raisins as Malaga or any other raisin district. Already now our average raisins are better than the average Malagas, and all that our growers ask for are inducements to produce the best. With a view to promote the attainment of these expectations, the following has been written. Raisins may be produced by cheaper methods than those which I advocate, but only great care, judgment and study will accomplish the best results. In the raisin industry it pays to produce the best, and to attain this very little extra care is required.
Time of Ripening.
—Varying with different localities and seasons, the Muscat grape ripens in California between the 10th of August and the 30th of September. The earliest points where raisin grapes are now grown are probably Palm Valley in San Bernardino county and the plains of Kern county. In both these localities Muscats have been known to be ripe as early as July, but neither locality has yet produced any great quantity of raisins, and can hardly be considered as a raisin center. The earliness of the San Joaquin valley generally is probably caused by its small elevation above the sea, which is about three hundred feet for Fresno, and increasing as we go farther south. San Bernardino county again, somewhat later as to ripening, is, as far as its raisin centers are concerned, more elevated, or from one thousand to two thousand feet or more. The nearness to the sea has there also some influence to retard the maturing of the grapes, and it is certain that in Southern California the later ripening of the raisin grapes is principally due to this cause. Thus the picking in Riverside commences between the 10th and the 30th of September, and while the other raisin districts in the southern part of California may vary some, still the ripening season coincides very nearly with that of Riverside. In Highlands the grapes are said to ripen two weeks later than at Riverside. In El Cajon the grapes ripen between the 1st and 10th of September. In Fresno the Muscatel raisin grapes ripen in the end of August, and generally by the 20th of August the picking has begun everywhere on the drier soils, while on the wet soils it is generally retarded from one to two weeks. As a rule the dryness of the soil influences considerably the ripening of the grapes, and even the quality of the soil is not without some influence, as on sandy, warm soil grapes ripen much earlier than on heavy land. As an illustration of such early ripening, we may mention that, on certain gravelly soils northwest or north of Santa Ana, the Muscat grapes ripen two weeks earlier than on the heavier and finer soils in the immediate vicinity. The growers take advantage of this early ripening to sell their Muscat grapes fresh instead of drying them.
In Salt river and Gila valleys in Arizona the grapes are said to ripen much earlier than in California, but so far the vineyards there are not old enough to have been greatly benefited by this early ripening. On the plains of Kern county the ripening is hastened by the nature of the soil, and possibly also by the nearness to the desert and the desert wind, by the greater distance from the sea, and by a less amount of rainfall. In Malaga the grapes ripen several weeks earlier than in Fresno; in fact, the whole Mediterranean region seems to be earlier than California. As a general rule, we may state that the Muscat grapes ripen later in Southern California than in the central portion of the State. In regard to Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, the farther we go towards the south the earlier do the grapes ripen. But in every district there are localities which are earlier than others. The Muscat and Muscatel ripen earlier than the Sultana, which latter grape begins to ripen earlier than the Muscat, but attains perfection much later than any other of our raisin grapes. Thompson Seedless ripens in Yolo about August 10th, and is thus our earliest raisin grape.
Signs of Maturity.
—There are three different ways by which the ripeness of a grape can be tested,—saccharometer, taste or color. The saccharometer is a well-known instrument, consisting of a graded glass tube that will sink to different depths in liquors containing different percentages of sugar. There are different kinds of saccharometers, but the most practical one for the general raisin-grower is one divided in one hundred degrees, each degree showing one per cent of sugar to every hundred of water. Thus, if the saccharometer sinks down to twenty-five, we know that the water or must contains twenty-five per cent of saccharine water and seventy-five per cent of water. To properly test the grapes, a few bunches should be picked from several vines, the juice should be squeezed out and passed through a towel or otherwise strained. The must is then poured into the test tube, and the saccharometer inserted. If it shows twenty-five degrees or more of sugar, the grapes will make good raisins, but for very superior raisins several degrees more of saccharine are needed. It is not unusual to find the grapes reach thirty degrees in favored localities and in favorable seasons. Only inexperienced vineyardists will require the aid of the saccharometer to determine the state of ripening of the grapes; the more experienced judge by taste and color.