THE RAISIN INDUSTRY. 59 



agree with them in this, but also think it might to some extent be 

 remedied, as water for irrigation is close at hand. At last I must say 

 a few words as to the quality of the El Cajon and Sweetwater valley 

 raisins. They are very sweet, highly flavored, the skin is thin, and 

 the seeds are small and few. But while some of the berries are of very 

 large size, there are comparatively few which would be considered 

 large, and even the best bunches have too many small berries. The 

 grapes that had plenty of water were simply magnificent, and a gen- 

 eral irrigation system would greatly improve the size of the grapes, as 

 well as the quality of the crop. The best selected raisins from this 

 valley must be counted as among the very best. The constant fog 

 injures the bloom on the raisins to some extent, and most raisins that 

 I saw were in this respect deficient; but their color generally was very 

 good. The Sweetwater valley raisins are in this respect finer than 

 those of El Cajon; they are also farther inland, and have less fog. 

 The Escondido raisins are said to be superior, but I saw none of them. 

 While many vines have been planted in this locality of late, only one 

 or two small vineyards are in bearing. 



OTHER RAISIN DISTRICTS. 



Of late raisin grapes have been planted in considerable quantities in 

 Salt river valley and in Gila river valley in Arizona, but the outcome 

 of the venture is yet unknown, at least to us. The growers of Arizona 

 claim for their localities the advantage of great earliness, as the grapes 

 ripen there in July, or a month earlier than in California. 



In the Argentine Republic in South America it is said that the Span- 

 ish immigrants have planted many raisin grapes during the last few 

 years. In Australia we are also informed that dipped raisins, and per- 

 haps even sun-dried ones, have been produced, but even there the 

 result is unknown to us. So far these raisins have cut no figure in the 

 general market, but it is not improbable that many localities in those 

 vast countries will be found where Muscat grapes can be profitably 

 grown and cured. 



