THE RAISIN INDUSTRY. 147 



to run off, the front wall should be pierced with small holes close to the 

 ground, but this would only be necessary in case the bed is filled with 

 gravel, or no cement floor exists on top of it. Along the back part of 

 the floor should be set a row of uprights of two by four lumber, driven 

 securely in the ground. On the top of each post is set an eyelet, 

 through which runs a stout wire along the whole back of the frame. 

 A canvas cover long enough to reach the whole length of the floor 

 should be used for covering, and, in order to secure it to the wire and 

 the posts, it should be hemmed and furnished with small rings to run 

 on the wire. In front similar rings are set in order that the canvas 

 may be secured to the smaller posts and kept down in case of wind. 

 On such floors common trays may be used. To make the canvas im- 

 pervious to rain, it may be painted with boiled linseed oil. The abyve 

 are only suggestions based on the Spanish drying-floors. For a full 

 description of them, I beg to refer to the article on Malaga. In using 

 linseed oil, care should be taken that only pure oil is used. There is 

 linseed oil which contains chemicals which rapidly rot the canvas. 



Dryers. The subject of dryers is of great importance to the Califor- 

 nia grower. The last few years have fully demonstrated that every 

 raisin vineyard, no matter where it is situated, should have one or ,/ 

 more dryers, in order that the last of the crop may be dried properly 

 when the rain sets in. Many years these dryers are not required, but 

 from time to time they prove of vast value, and if properly constructed 

 are much superior to any drying-floor. But so far no perfect dryer 

 has ever been constructed. Most dryers are too expensive, costing 

 from three thousand to seven thousand dollars, when of a capacity to 

 dry from twenty-five to fifty tons of green grapes at one charge. 

 Nearly all late dryers are constructed with a fan, which sucks the air 

 out through one end of the building. The large complicated dryers 

 are all patented, but there can be no doubt that good small dryers 

 might be constructed by every grower, which will do good service. 

 As, however, so far no very perfect dryers have ever been constructed, 

 and as every owner of one changes and rebuilds every year, we must 

 leave the consideration of the construction of these dryers to some fu- 

 ture time when more knowledge or experience will have been gained. 

 Dryers large enough to hold a charge of one ton of green fruit have been 

 constructed at the price of two hundred dollars by Ellwood Cooper of 

 Santa Barbara. They dried their fruit in twenty-four hours, but they 

 were never used for raisins. 



But as this style of dryer may be adapted to raisins, I will give a few 

 hints at its construction. The heating apparatus consists of a large 

 iron drum, or radiator, seventeen and one-half feet long by two and 

 one-half feet wide, set on a furnace in which is burned wood. The 

 furnace and radiator are built into a bank, on top of which the dryer is 

 built. This dryer is simply a large wooden box about seventeen feet 

 square and six feet high, and looks, as seen from the outside, like a 

 chest full of drawers. These slide on frames, are deeper than they are 

 broad, and contain movable bottoms or trays made of small redwood 

 ribs. They begin about two feet from the top of the radiator ; if closer, 

 the heat would be too strong for the fruit. The ventilation is had by 



