80 THE RAISIN INDUSTRY. 



Greece and in Spain, the largest and most prosperous districts are 

 those where the raisin- vines are liberally irrigated. The Muscat grape 

 seems especially to love water, and, in the real raisin districts, the 

 healthiest vineyards are those that are best irrigated. The berries and 

 bunches are also increased in size, but not in flavor and aroma, by 

 irrigation. In places where the raisin grapes will not bear without 

 irrigation, the latter, of course, is a necessity. There are always 

 naturally subirrigated parts, in every county or district, where artificial 

 irrigation is not required. But these parts are generally confined to 

 river bottoms or to natural sinks, which, so far, have played no impor- 

 tant part in the raisin industry. Considered from a practical stand- 

 point, irrigation of the raisin-vines is necessary in California, and, 

 should it from some reason or other be made impossible, the raisin 

 industry would not prove profitable or even possible, except in a few 

 very limited localities. 



Much has been written in regard to the supposed unhealthiness of 

 the irrigated vineyards. The malaria prevalent in some vineyards is 

 no doubt caused by irrigation; but it has been amply proved in Fresno 

 and elsewhere that if the grower would know from the beginning 

 how to so prepare his land that there would be no stagnant pools, 

 no waste water, and no swampy grounds, the so much talked of malaria 

 would be as rare in the irrigated vineyards as anywhere else. It is not 

 the irrigation that causes malaria, but the waste of the water, the care- 

 lessness of the irrigator and the faultiness of the badly constructed 

 irrigation works. After the vineyard has been irrigated a few years, 

 the malaria leaves it entirely. This is the experience in Fresno where 

 the vineyards, after years of irrigation, have become perfectly healthy. 



Various Methods of Irrigation. There are several methods of irriga- 

 tion now practiced in the irrigated vineyard districts. We may irri- 

 gate by flooding the land or by leading the water in furrows between 

 the vines. Both ways, but especially the former, may, if continued 

 long enough, cause subirrigation, the most desirable state of irrigation. 

 The choice of methods of irrigating does not always lie with ourselves, 

 but depends upon the quantity of water at our command, the lay of the 

 land, etc. Sometimes one method will in course of time give room 

 to another, and again, after the lapse of a few years, continued irriga- 

 tion may not be necessary or desirable. 



Irrigation by Flooding. This method consists of flooding the land 

 either by means of checks and banks, which must have been constructed 

 before the vines were planted, or in simply flooding ground which 

 is naturally level. In either case the land must naturally not be too 

 rough, and the water must be abundant, else this method cannot be 

 used. It will always pay to engage the services of an engineer in 

 preparing such ground for vines. The extra cost will be more than 

 paid for in the first few years, when frequent irrigations of the vineyard 

 are as necessary as they are expensive. The ditch supplying the 

 vineyard should always run on the highest ground, and in no instance 

 should it be run through low ground when high ground can be had, 

 as the low ground may in the future have to be used for drainage, 

 about which we will treat further on. From the main canal, branch 



