18S TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



will give it a trial. The necessity of covering fruit at night is not 

 properly recognized in this State. I have found fruit in Spain warm 

 and diy in the morning, whereas it would require at least two hours 

 sun to bring it to that state had it not been covered. The covers also 

 protect them from any showers that might come up during the dry- 

 ing season. They are also useful in retarding the drying, as it some- 

 times occurs that the raisins cannot be packed as fast'as they dry. 



The assorting and packing comes next. The raisins are taken 

 directly to the packing house, and assorted and packed immediately 

 for market, not going through any sweat in process, which some of 

 our people think necessary. This sorting is of such a complicated 

 nature, and requires so much skill, that it would be utterly impossi- 

 ble for us to follow it. They calculate that it requires a day's labor 

 to select and pack a box of the best raisins. Another good reason is 

 that the American market demands but few of the higher grades of 

 fruit. The London Layers and loose Muscatellas are the most sought. 

 As a full description of their modes of packing would take much time 

 to go into detail, and be of no practical advantage, I will pass them 

 with a few remarks. 



The fruit is, as I said before, taken immediately to the place for 

 assorting. A skillful workman takes each bunch in succession and 

 grades them according to their size and condition. When a bunch 

 contains two or more grades, as they usually do, it is cut up so that 

 each can be put in its proper place. 



Each kind is carried to the workmen who are packing that partic- 

 ular class. Although the raisins never hold out to the weight they 

 are supposed to represent, I noticed the workmen were careful to 

 weigh each form as they were put into the box. They are packed in 

 forms of six pounds each, using common paper, which is replaced in 

 the warehouse by a more fancy article, at the option of the purchaser. 

 The loose Muscatellas are those single berries which may be on a 

 bunch of superior class, which their strict grading requires to be cut 

 out; hence they are usually of a better size than their prices would 

 seem to warrant. 



I will mention some of the faults of our raisins. I do not take 

 into consideration any of those products made from all kinds of 

 grapes which are sometimes called raisins, but only those produced 

 from the Muscatella. First, they are not evenly dried, some of them 

 being cured too much, others not enough. This can be obviated by 

 going over them at the proper time, as mentioned before; second, 

 they are too small. Not enough attention is paid to pruning closely. 

 They are not properly thinned when there is an overcrop. The 

 practice of allowing a vine to produce fifty or sixty pounds is perni- 

 cious. Where the size of the berry is small, do not allow it to bear 

 so much another year. The Spaniards take off much of their fruit. 

 They even clip off a part of a bunch when they think it is too large. 

 We had better have less berries than such small ones. 



It is sometimes urged that we cannot afford to take the pains that 

 the people of Europe do; that labor is too high. It is too high for 

 many of their operations, but at the same time it never pays to work 

 poorly. There is time wasted upon every farm which if properly 

 applied would go far towards making up the difference between 

 European labor and ours. Our land can be worked at less expense 

 by using horses to plow instead of hand labor. Our crop can be 

 gathered at small expense, because we can use the wagon in the place 



