156 THE RAISIN INDUSTRY. 



The Presses. These are of two kinds, screw presses and lever 

 presses. The screw press is much preferable (at least until the lever 

 press may be perfected), as with it we can gauge the pressure given 

 the raisins. The only press of this kind is found on the Raisina vine- 

 yard of T. C. White. The press that is generally adopted, and the 

 one that is most handy, is the lever press, which is so constructed that 

 four boxes of raisins can be kept in the press at one time, or until the 

 last box or part of a box is ready. By a pressure with the foot, the 

 levers are released and the boxes freed from the pressure. While this 

 press is exceedingly handy and quickly worked, the pressure cannot 

 readily be gauged, and the raisins are apt to be injured by too heavy 

 pressure. But it is likely that improvements will soon be made which 

 will remedy this defect. 



Boxes and Cartoons. The California raisin boxes are of three 

 * kinds, whole boxes of twenty pounds, halves of ten pounds and 

 > quarters of five pounds. The wholes and the quarters are those most 

 used, while the halves are seldom used or required. The cartoons are 

 made of paper and contain two and one-half pounds of raisins each. 

 The following are the measurements of raisin boxes and cartoons, and 

 of the lumber required for making them. Twenty-pound box: 9 x 18 x 

 4^4 inches. Ten-pound box: 9x18x2^ inches. Five-pound box: 9x 

 i8x i% 6 inches. The foregoing are inside measurements. The tops 

 and bottoms are one-quarter inch thick, 19^ inches long and 9^ inches 

 wide. The sides of the twenty-pound box are 19^ inches long, 

 4^4 inches wide and three-eighths inches thick. The ends of a twenty- 

 pound box are 9 inches long, 4^ inches wide and three-fourths of an 

 inch thick. The sides of the ten-pound box are 19^ inches long, 

 three-eighths of an inch thick and 2^ inches wide. The ends of a 

 ten-pound box are 9 inches long, three-fourths of an inch thick and 2^4 

 inches wide. The sides of a five-pound box are 19^ inches long, 

 three-eighths of an inch thick and i% 6 inches wide. The two and 

 one-half pound cartoon is five inches wide, ten inches long and one and 

 one-half inches deep. 



Packing Frames or Packing Trays. These are of two kinds, accord- 

 ing to the method of packing. For the top-up method, wooden frames 

 large enough to hold five pounds of raisins are used. In length and 

 width these frames correspond with the raisin box, but in height 

 they are only one-third of a whole box, or about one and one-half 

 inches. The bottom is a sliding one, and can be pulled out broadwise. 

 The frame is first lined on the inside with the necessary paper, and 

 then five pounds of raisins are placed in the paper. A follower or block 

 of wood, large enough to fill the form or frame, is then placed on top, 

 the frame is placed over an empty box, the sliding bottom quickly 

 withdrawn, and the whole contents fall in the box below undisturbed. 

 For the top-down method, frames of galvanized iron are used, slightly 

 deeper than the former, but the bottom is a drop-bottom, resting on a 

 flange, instead of a sliding bottom, as in the former tray. A loose 

 plate of zinc is placed on top of the frame, the latter is inverted and 

 placed over the box, and the zinc plate quickly withdrawn, when the 

 contents covered by the loose drop-bottom (or by the facing-plate) 

 fall into the raisin box. 



