148 THE; RAISIN INDUSTRY. 



small sliding doors at the bottom of the chest, through which the air 

 rushes in, while it goes out through the drawers, which for this pur- 

 pose are left open an inch or two. The chest is covered over with an 

 open shed, which makes the labor pleasant, and enables the attendant 

 to inspect any drawer at any time without seriously disturbing the 

 heat of the dryer. The cheapness and effectiveness of such small dry- 

 ers are such that every one can afford them. A dozen such small dry- 

 ers all set in a row in a bank could be attended to by very few hands. 

 They would also be preferable to very large dryers on account of the 

 short time required to fill them, and their raisins can be dried long be- 

 fore a larger dryer has been filled. 



As to the usefulness of steam or fire dryers there can be no doubt. 

 The idea is not to entirely dry the raisins in them, but only to finish 

 up the raisins when, on account of unfavorable climatic conditions, 

 they do not dry any more out-of-doors. The question as to which are 

 best, "machine-dried" raisins or those dried in the sun, is entirely 

 unimportant. No one would think of drying raisins entirely in the 

 dryer, as it would not pay. Raisins properly finished in the dryer are 

 not inferior to those entirely sun-dried. 



Sweatboxes. The sweatboxes should be made of strong lumber 

 one inch thick. The length and width should be according to the 

 size of the tray, and always one inch larger every way than the tray, 

 in order that the raisins may be let down readily, or that they may 

 receive a tray. The height of a sweatbox should be from six to eight 

 inches, no more, as a greater depth will make them too heavy to be 

 handled with ease by two men. Six inches in depth is better than 

 eight. In order to secure the box and prevent it from splitting, the 

 sides should be bound with hide, iron bands or with twisted galvan- 

 ized wire. The latter is the strongest and best, costs the least, and is 

 the easiest to put on. 



Trays for Drying. The tray consists of a wooden frame made of 

 well-dried half-inch lumber, nailed to cleats of one inch by one and 

 one-half inch and of desired length. The lumber most commonly 

 used is well-seasoned spruce. Pine, if not well seasoned, is apt to 

 give the raisins a taste of the wood or of rosin, while redwood may 

 discolor the raisins if exposed to rain or very heavy dew. But as 

 the lumber attains age, it also becomes less injurious to the grapes. 

 Cottonwood or poplar-wood, which can be obtained in some places, 

 make most useful lumber for trays, as they do not contain any 

 taste or other substance apt to injure the raisins. The size of the 

 tray varies according to the idea of the raisin-grower, but the size gen- 

 erally adopted is two by three feet. Formerly a smaller tray was 

 used, but no smaller ones are now made. A larger size, three by three 

 feet, is used by several growers, but, while it has the advantage of 

 holding more grapes, it is also less readily handled than the smaller 

 tray. In the southern part of California, a tray two and one-half by 

 three feet is very popular. The tops of the trays are bought in the 

 shape of shingles, which should be well dried before being nailed, as 

 they will otherwise shrink up and cause cracks to form in the tray, 

 greatly to the detriment of the drying of the raisins. Loss is also 



