THE RAISIN INDUSTRY. 75 



compounds. Thus we will get, out of those two substances, two new 

 compounds, viz., carbonate of lime and sulphate of sodium. Of these, 

 carbonate of lime is not injurious to vegetable life, and sulphate of 

 sodium (Glauber salt) is only injurious when present in large quan- 

 tities. The carbonate of lime is not soluble in water, but the sulphate 

 of sodium is, and can consequently be eliminated by underdraining or 

 by flooding, as we have previously described. 



To know when gypsum can be used is not necessarily a scientific 

 matter. Mix some of the alkali in a tumbler with water, and allow 

 the mixture to settle. In another tumbler mix some gypsum and 

 water, and allow it to settle. Then mix the two clear liquids, which, if 

 gypsum is an antidote and the proper thing to use, will be turbid or 

 milky through the chemical combinations which take place. If the 

 water remains clear, gypsum will not prove an antidote to the alkali 

 under consideration. The use of lime is based very much on the same 

 principle. If the second class of alkalies are present, and lime is added, 

 the changes that take place may be illustrated as follows: Epsom salt 

 (magnesium sulphate) combined with calcium carbonate, will form 

 two new compounds, viz. , gypsum (calcium sulphate) and magnesium 

 carbonate, both of which substances are less injurious to crops. But, as 

 I have already stated, raisin-vines prefer soils which are naturally free 

 from alkali, and should never be planted on soils which cannot readily 

 be reclaimed. Chemical antidotes may do where the alkali occurs in 

 a few spots mixed in among tracts of good soil, but where the whole 

 field must be reclaimed some other crop than vines had better be 

 first attempted. There is too much good and suitable soil in Cali- 

 fornia, and until all this is occupied the alkali soils had better be 

 given up to other crops than vines. 



Fertilizing. To this date but few grape-growers manure their soil. 

 California has not yet been engaged in the raisin business twenty years, 

 and her vineyards are comparatively virgin. The first raisin vineyards 

 were planted on the deepest and richest soil, the soil which would 

 naturally hold out the longest, but the croppings of a raisin vineyard 

 are enormous, and when from eigljt to ten tons of green grapes have 

 been taken from the soil year aftef year, it is but natural that the land 

 should become gradually exhausted. In Spain it is considered that 

 even the richest soils require manuring after ten years of constant 

 cropping with Muscats, and the same experience is likely to become 

 ours in California. So far, I know of not one vineyard which has 

 yielded Muscat grapes for ten continuous years and still keeps yield- 

 ing as much as formerly. Yearly the crop must become less, and 

 finally will not be large enough to pay. The manuring of the Mus- 

 catel vines is fully understood in Spain, where all kinds of manures 

 are used. When home manures fail in supply, the Spaniards use 

 imported fertilizers, such as Mexican phosphates, etc. This fertilizer 

 brings in Spain sixty-five dollars per ton, and is brought there from 

 our very doors, the Gulf of Lower California. It could be laid down 

 here for, and is actually sold here now at, forty dollars per ton, or twenty- 

 five dollars less than in Spain; still to my knowledge only very few 

 raisin-growers in Fresno use it for their vines. In one year one of these 



