14 THE RAISIN INDUSTRY. 



of the soil is, however, of recent origin, and fifty years ago was almost 

 unknown. 



When home manures are used, it is placed in holes dug round 

 the roots of the vines, which, after exposure to the air for several 

 months, are again filled up at the advent of spring, generally in March, 

 before the vines start to bud. 



Drying-floors , or Sequeros. The raisins, when picked, are dried 

 on so-called sequeros, or drying-floors, characteristic of the Malaga 

 district. These floors are of different sizes and lengths in different 

 vineyards, but everywhere constructed on the same general principles. 

 Where an incline or a hill is found, the floor may simply be built 

 on the slope, . with no artificial elevation; but, where the ground is 

 level, the structure of the sequero is different. The floor must 

 always face the south, and the back is raised to give the floor 

 the proper slope. The sequero thus consists of four walls, the front 

 one of which is only a foot high, and the back wall from six to 

 eight feet high. The side walls slope between these, generally with 

 an angle of forty-five degrees. In length, these floors vary from forty 

 to fifty feet, according to the different ideas of the vineyardists. The 

 whole interior is filled with black gravel, and is tamped hard. These 

 sequeros are divided in beds, fourteen feet or so wide, by tiles that are 

 sunk, thus forming walks of several feet in width, and which also serve 

 for leading off the rainwater. Around every little bed of this kind are 

 small upright tiles to prevent the rainwater entering from the walks. 

 Finally, in the center of thp bed, is a long row of upright tiles, high 

 enough to support either boards, mats, or more generally canvas, in 

 order that they may shed the rain into the tile walks. The value of 

 such floors is evident. Being covered with canvas, etc. , every night, 

 the heat is preserved, and every morning, when the sun rises, the 

 grapes are yet warm. The drying on such beds has never, 

 in fact, been interrupted. The drying-floors are also useful in case of 

 too hot weather, when the grapes can be properly sheltered with canvas 

 and prevented from being cooked; when finally dried, the cover- 

 ing, again, will serve to keep the moisture from too quickly evapo- 

 rating. 



Drying and Curing. When the grapes are picked, the best 

 vineyardists separate the bunches immediately in three different 

 grades. Each grade is placed by itself on the gravelly drying-ground, 

 and remains there to dry. When half dried, they are taken bunch 

 by bunch by a workman, who picks out bad or overdried berries and 

 rubbish, and in putting the bunch back turns it over. In ten days 

 the grapes are generally dried, provided the weather has been favor- 

 able. Every night the canvas covering i^ slid down over the sequero, 

 and the grapes protected from dew and cold, or rain. The drying is 

 sometimes greatly hastened by the Terral or hot winds blowing from 

 the plains of La Mancha, a wind very similar in its effect to the desert 

 wind of Riverside and Santa Ana, in California. 



Packing. The raisins in Malaga are packed by the large growers 

 themselves, and every such grower packs almost to a man. The gener- 

 ally accepted idea that a few packers living in Malaga pack all the raisins 



