THE RAISIN INDUSTPY. 61 



industry. The longer the dry season, and the less rain during the 

 same, the more favorable is the locality for raisin drying and curing, 

 supposing, of course, other necessary conditions are not absent. This 

 absence of summer rains and cold fog is the most important climatic 

 condition, and the one that more than any other decides upon the 

 advantages of any certain locality for the industry under our consid- 

 eration. A perusal of the reports from the different raisin districts will 

 convince us of this. For California we need not refer to any special 

 reports, as the newspapers are full of them every year from May to 

 November, and it will suffice to state that any large amount of rain 

 after the beginning of June, and especially in September, October and 

 November, when the raisins are curing, is considered very detrimental, 

 and sure to cause much loss. Heavy and continued rainfall during 

 the drying season would not only injure the raisins, but might even 

 totally ruin the crop. Any district where year after year such showers 

 occur, would not be considered favorable for the raisin industry, 

 and would no doubt be given up to something else. To show that 

 these same conditions also exist in the Mediterranean raisin districts, 

 we will here quote a few extracts from the United States consular reports 

 from there. Consul W. E. Stevens, United States consul at Smyrna, 

 writes : * ' * It happens occasionally that rain falls during the vintage 

 time, causing heavy loss to growers through the inevitable deterioration 

 in quality. This was the case last season (1883), and large quanti- 

 ties of raisins were in consequence shipped to France to be made into 

 spirits." From Valencia another consul writes: " In the event of wet 

 and damp weather, the hurdles (or grape mats) are piled up in sheds 

 covered with mats or painted canvas. Of course in this case the dry- 

 ing is retarded, the quality of the fruit deteriorates, and the expense 

 and labor of curing are considerably increased." Two years ago ten 

 thousand tons were thus damaged in the Denia district. While the 

 Mediterranean districts are comparatively rainless during the summer 

 time, still they are far less so than California. The rainy and dry sea- 

 sons there are less distinct than with us. 



Among the Grecian Islands, the production of currants is confined 

 to only a few localities, principally on account of the untimely rainfall 

 on the other islands. Dr. Davy {Ionian Islands, page 320) tells us: ' ' The 

 attempts to extend the culture of the currant to some other islands have 

 been only partial, and attended with doubtful success. This, it is to 

 be understood, is not owing, as has been asserted, to any unfitness of 

 the soil on other islands, as it is analogous on them all, but rather 

 to some difference of climate, especially about the times of ripening, 

 gathering and drying of the fruit, consisting in greater liability to 

 rain, a heavy fall of which is ruinous to the crop, and which, during 

 the period of gathering in the currant islands, is considered a great 

 calamity. ' ' But even in Zante and Cephalonia in Greece, the crop is 

 sometimes greatly injured on account of rain. Thus in 1857 a crop 

 of fifty thousand tons was expected, but disastrous rains in August 

 injured the raisin grapes to such an extent that seventeen thousand 

 tons were totally destroyed, and twelve thousand tons became unfit 



* Consular Reports, No. 41^, June, 1884, page 745. 



