510 THE :\IOXTHLY BULLETIN. 



Investment. 



The total investment in the grape growing industry of California, 

 including vineyards and establishments for wine making and storage, 

 grape drying and shipping, is estimated at -about $150,000,000, from 

 which a gross yearly income of nearly $27,000,000 is derived. 



Table Grapes. 



The market for our table grapes is constantly increasing. It is esti- 

 mated that this year the shipment of table grapes nearly reached the 

 G.500 carload mark, and sold for about $6,000,000. It is safe to say 

 that over one half of this production came from Sacramento and San 

 Joaquin counties, which, with other sections of these two great valleys 

 and southern California, are the home of desirable table varieties that 

 find a ready sale in the eastern market. 



California Raisins. 



Next to the citriis fruits, raisins are the most important single fruit 

 crop of the State. The commercial production of raisins in this State 

 began in the eighties, and one of our great agricultural achievements 

 ^v'as the capture of virtually the entire American market within less 

 than twenty years and the production of more than one half of the 

 ?kluscat raisins of the world. Formerlj^ the best bunches were selected 

 and sold in boxes, and the others were stemmed and graded according' 

 to size and sold as "loose" or "off stock," as "two-crown," "three- 

 crown," or "four-crown," according to the size of the berry. Since the 

 perfection of the seeding machinery, most of the raisins unfit for 

 clusters are seeded and sold in cartons. The raisin industry is con- 

 centrated in a few districts. Tulare produces some excellent raisins, 

 but probably four fifths of the crop is grown within twenty-five miles 

 of Fresno, which is the great raisin center. Some raisins are produced 

 in the south, notably in San Diego and San Bernardino counties, and 

 large quantities of seedless raisins are produced in the lower Sacra- 

 mento Valley, especially in Yolo County, which, indeed, long antedates 

 Fresno County as a raisin district. Thirteen years ago. 71.567,000 

 pounds were produced in California. This year our output will reach 

 about 170,000,000 pounds, and Avill be worth at least $6,000,000. 



The Wine Industry. 



But most important of all, from a financial standpoint, is our Avine 

 industry, which brings us in a yearly income of about $15,000,000. 

 Last year our output was excessive, somewhere in the neighborhood of 

 50.000,000 gallons, but this year it is doubtful if the vintage exceeded 

 40,000,000 gallons. The dry wine output is conservatively estimated at 

 22,500,000 gallons, and the sweet Mine production, according to figures 

 furnished by the revenue office, will reach about 17,500,000 gallons. 



As compared with the immense output of France and Italy this 

 showing is small, but it must not be forgotten that it has taken those 

 two European countries nearly 2.000 years to plant their extensive vine- 



