THE RAISIN INDUSTRY. 41 



YOIvO AND SOLANO. 



Location and Acreage. The district is situated north of San Fran- 

 cisco Bay, bordering on it as well as on the Sacramento river, and is 

 a part of the Sacramento valley. The number of acres overreaches 

 seven thousand, and is increasing yearly. The principal vineyards are 

 those of the late G. G. Briggs at Davisville, Solano county, with three 

 hundred acres, and at Woodland in Yolo county, four hundred and sixty 

 acres; E. Gould, also at Davisville, two hundred acres; H. M. 

 Larou, at same place, about fifty acres; sundry vineyards around 

 Davisville, fifty acres; around Woodland and Capay valley, some 

 four hundred acres; or in full bearing more than two thousand 

 acres. The district comprises the southern part of Yolo and the 

 northern part of Solano counties. The grape used for raisins is 

 principally the Muscat of Alexandria, except the vineyard of R. B. 

 Blowers, which is composed exclusively of Gordo Blanco. The 

 Muscat of Alexandria is generally preferred, as it makes a fine raisin 

 and bears well. 



5027 and Climate. The soil varies somewhat; the best is a deep gray, 

 alluvial bottom-land soil; other soils are not much thought of for 

 Muscatel raisin grapes. The average depth of water is about eighteen 

 feet from the surface. It is not necessary, as a rule, to first level the 

 land, as the ground is very level naturally. The rainfall averages 

 thirteen inches. The most rain falls in January and February; the 

 least falls in August. There is seldom a shower in the summer, but 

 about November ist rains are almost always certain to interfere with 

 the drying of the grapes. Sometimes the rain comes in October, when 

 it causes considerable damage to the grapes and partially dried raisins. 

 There is very little dew in summer time, but plenty in October and 

 also some in September. The temperature is considerably modi- 

 fied by the nearness of the bay. It reaches in the hottest part of 

 the summer one hundred and fourteen degrees Fahrenheit in the 

 shade, but only for a day or two. The average highest is about 

 ninety degrees Fahrenheit in the shade, while the heat almost every 

 day in July and August shows eighty-five degrees Fahrenheit in the 

 shade. Thus this district is considerably cooler than the San Joaquin 

 valley and San Bernardino county, but warmer than Los Angeles and 

 San Diego districts. There are heavy frosts in winter, when at times 

 even the thermometer falls to eighteen degrees Fahrenheit, although 

 this is the extreme low temperature, six or seven degrees of frost being 

 more common. There is spring frost in April one year in every three 

 or four, and the vineyards are then smoked to prevent injury to the 

 vines. Irrigation is not needed to produce crops, only to produce larger 

 crops, as it increases the yield fifty per cent. Generally two irrigations 

 a year are needed, the first one in early summer, the other later, when 

 the berries have begun to ripen. Water from ditches is used and 

 carried to the vines in furrows only, no flooding being practiced. 



The Vineyard. In planting, cuttings are used principally, but 

 rooted vines are preferred by some. The distances most common are 

 ten by ten feet each way, one vineyard being set ten feet by sixteen 

 feet. The vines bear the third year. The ground is plowed and 



