476 Journal of Agriculture. [10 Aug., 1908. 



them but the\- have not yet been thoroughly proved. Two other Vinifera- 

 Americans occasionally used are Bourrisquou x Rupestris, No. 601 of 

 'Couderc, good for clay soils but not eas\ to graft, and Colomb aud 

 Rupestris, chiefly used in clay soils rich in lime. 



As far as it was possible to gather during my brief visit, the most 

 promising stocks for Gordo Blanco appear to be 41B and 1202 as well 

 as several other less extensively tried Vinifera- American and Berlandieri 

 hybrids. The two former are the kinds for which the demand is most 

 active at the present time. The illustration shows vignerons lifting 

 Barbados (ingrafted rootlings) of 41B. 



Drying Methods. 



As has been already stated, Malaga raisins are not dipped in any 

 way. They are simply sun dried; the natural bloom of the grapes is 

 one of the most valuable characteristics of high grade dessert raisins and 

 this w^ould be destroyed l>y dipping. The other two principal qualities 

 are a l)lue black colour, as it is called in the trade, which .shows the bloom 

 to advantage, and a thin skin ; the former is secured by heavy manuring 

 of the viiies and the latter by protection from the sun's rays before ripen- 

 ing, by a good canopy of vine leaves. 



The grapes are carefullv picked a,s soon as maturity is complete, but 

 before the\ are over ripe they are conveyed in shallow baskets, on men's 

 lieads, to the drying grounds or Toldos. These are of two types ; the 

 older style consists of inclined planes of hard dry earth coNered widi 

 coarse sand and gravel on which the grapes are laid to dry. The illus- 

 trations give an idea of the construction of these toldos. The retaining 

 v.-alls are of brick, the slope of the floor being about one in eight ; each 

 compartment is about 6 x 40 feet. They always face sO'Uth so that full 

 advantage may be taken of the sun's heat. The gravel is fine and water- 

 worn and reminds one of that on many a garden path. On this the 

 grapes are laid. During the night they are covered with boards to 

 protect the fruit from dew. The retaining walls which are a few inches 

 higher than the gravelled surface prevent them from touching the fruit. 



Some toldos are somewliat different from these and consist of slightly 

 raised but level beds similar to those in a vegetable garden. The surface 

 is beaten hard and covered with gravel in the same way as tne inclined 

 ones. At each end of the horizontal beds is a triangular support to which 

 a ridge pole can be fixed. Over this a tent is placed at night and secured 

 by pegs driven into the ground. This serves in the same way as the 

 boards on the inclined toldos as protection against dew. 



Drying and packing constitute two distinct branches of the raisin 

 business ; the former is carried <-;ut by the growers. The less the grapes 

 are handled before being dried, the better the appearance of the resulting 

 raisins — the bloom on the outside of the berries must be preserved as 

 much as possible. The bunches are laid carefully on the gravelled floor 

 of the toldo on which thev are fairly closely packed in a single layer. 

 They take about three weeks to dry, the time varying with the state of 

 the weather. During the progress of drying they receive one or two 

 turnings carefully executed b\' hand, the intervals between each compart- 

 ment of the tO'ldo permitting the passage of the men charged with this 

 work. The exact stages at which these turnings are carried out are of 

 importance, as they seem to have a good deal of influence on the texture 



