lo Journal of Agriculture. [ii Jan., 1909, 



Caustic Soda Zj<:^Three-qiiarters of a pouiTl of caustic soda (75-76 

 per cent.) in :!o gallons of water. Used b\ raisin growers at Cape Bon 

 in Tunis. 



Carbonate of /'oiasli Lvc — A popul.ir strength is 3 per cent, of car- 

 bonate of potash or 3 lbs. to 10 gallons. 



Another formula in use in Smyrna for dipping Rosaki and Sultanas 

 is as follows: — Carbonate of i^otash 13 lbs.; water 22 galls.; olive oil 

 2h quarts. The addition of oil to lye is not practised in Spain though 

 it' has lx?en general in Arab and Turkish countries since very ancient 

 times. The celebrated Arab writer, Ibn-el-Awam of Seville, recom- 

 mended it in the 12th century. The advantage of this addition is not 

 verv apparent. The oil would be saponified by the alkali, the result 

 being the same as the addition of a certain quantity of soap. This may 

 possiblv have a softening effect on the skin but it would not seem cal- 

 culated to improve the flavour. These few extracts will give some idea 

 of the great varietv of dijjping solutions in favour in different countries. 



The Denia lexia teing the one most wideK known and popular it 

 would prol)ablv l>e wisest to experiment on a fairlv large scale only with 

 the he the\- use. It would probably prove more convenient to prepare 

 it artificiallv bv dissolving a certain quantity of caustic potash and car- 

 bonate of potash in water. Experiments are in progress to ascertain 

 tb(e proportion of these two substances which would be required to pro- 

 duce a Ive similar to that made by the abo\e formula. 



Sweating. 



The raisins are progressivelv remo\'ed from the travs as they become 

 sufficientlv drv and are taken indoors. Sometimes they are stored in 

 large esparto baskets but more usually they are spread out in an empty 

 room, in a laver a couple of feet deep. In either case a certain amount 

 of sweating takes place, which improves the fruit, equalizing the amount 

 of moisture and softening the skins of anv which may have been over 

 dried. As a rule thev do not remain long in this state ; the grower 

 usuallv loses as little time as possible before he takes his fruit into town 

 for sale. 



Grading, Packing, Etc. 



The establishments where the raisins are graded and packed are 

 known as Almacens de Pasas. The\- are run bv the merchants or 

 packers, who purchase the crtide dried fruit from the growers. There 

 are about twenty of them in Denia. That of Don Juan Morand, which 

 I visited, is one of the largest. The crude raisins are brought intO' town 

 by the Cosechero or grower, in carts or on pack mules, and hawked 

 round among the different almacens until a sale has been effected. They 

 are sold bv the small quintal of 50 kilos, (nearly i cwt.), the price 

 fluctuating consideral>ly. At less than 3 douros (15 pesetas) per quintal 

 it is considered that there is no prolit for the grower. This woubl work 

 out at T2S. per cwt. (at par). 



In the almacens, all work is done by hand, men and women being 

 emploved at cheap rates. Men receive 10 reals = 2.50 pesetas per day, 

 and fin.-l themselves. This would be equivalent to about 2s. per day of 

 our monev. Women are usually paid bv contract. The operations per- 

 formed in the almacens are .separation from the stalks, grading and 

 packing. "Machines are not favoured for any of this work. I was 



