18 THE RAISIN INDUSTRY. 



Jucar river, distributing 850 cubic feet of water per second upon some 

 50,000 acres of land. 



The Valencia irrigation district consists of 26,350 acres of land 

 close to the town of Valencia, and is watered by the river Guadala- 

 viar, or, as it is generally called, the Tuna. The water is distributed 

 through eight canals, each carrying from 35 to 120 cubic feet of 

 water per second, the combined low- water discharge of all the canals 

 being from 250 to 350 cubic feet of water per second. Of the import- 

 ance of irrigation in this district, we can judge when we learn that the 

 above 26,350 acres contain 72,000 inhabitants and sixty- two villages, 

 or an average of 1,774 people per square mile, not including the city 

 of Valencia itself, with a population of 120,000 people. It is also 

 remarkable that this enormous population on a territory not as large as 

 the arable land surrounding any one of our principal inland towns in 

 California, is not alone due to the irrigation and care of the land, but 

 to the minute subdivision of the land, which makes this culture and 

 irrigation possible. It is a practical illustration of the value of the 

 colony system as inaugurated in California, showing what we can 

 expect of our inland plains when they become fully irrigated and the 

 land properly subdivided. 



Quality of the Raisins. It has already been stated that the grapes 

 grown in Denia are the Muscat of Alexandria, which were introduced 

 there by the Moors. Farther south, in the Alicante district, other 

 varieties are more common, but play no important part in the raisin 

 production of the district. The Valencia raisins are inferior to those 

 of Malaga, the want of heat requiring them to be dipped in lye before 

 drying. This, again, gives these raisins a peculiar reddish, semi-trans- 

 parent color, which unfits them for table raisins. The Valencia raisins 

 are principally used for cooking; even the best grades of Valencias 

 are inferior to the inferior grades of Malaga raisins. During the last 

 season (1889) large quantities of Denia grapes were cured on the 

 Malaga style, and with great success. Large quantities of such sun- 

 dried Denias were sent in bulk to Malaga, and there repacked for 

 export to the United States, the Malaga crop having so diminished that 

 the usual demand could not be supplied. Years in which such sun- 

 drying is possible in Denia are rare. 



Planting and Care. The Muscat cuttings are planted generally in 

 February. The best cuttings are considered to be those taken from 

 vines at least six years old. The cuttings are set at various distances 

 according to the richness of the soil. The richer the soil the less 

 room is given the vines. Thus the vines are set either five by eleven 

 feet or five by twelve feet, or, in other words, they are set in rows 

 eleven or twelve feet apart, with the vines five feet apart in the row. 

 The depth of the cutting is regulated by the moisture of the surface 

 soil, but averages eighteen inches. The vines begin to bud in the 

 middle of March, and are from the start subject to great care and con- 

 stant cultivation. The first operation after the cutting is planted is to 

 cut off the top bud as soon as the vine starts to grow, leaving the two 

 shoots only from the two lower buds. No more shoots are allowed to 

 grow the first year. Next winter the smaller of these two branches 



