164 THE RAISIN INDUSTRY. 



Grading and Weighing. The next step after the raisins have been 

 equalized is to remove them to the grading tables. This should not 

 be done by dumping the contents of a sweatbox on the table, as in 

 this way but very few of the real choice bunches are saved for the 

 packer. If, however, the raisins have been placed carelessly in the 

 boxes, without sufficient or perhaps without any man ilia papers between 

 the layers, the only way is to dump out the contents. By first placing 

 the sweatbox on the long side, and then turning it over, the raisins 

 are but slightly disturbed. But to get these out afterwards from the 

 chunk is the great difficulty, and many bunches must necessarily be 

 broken. If, again, the raisins have been carefully handled and con- 

 signed to the sweatboxes, with four papers in every box, not counting 

 in the top cover, the care and handling of the sweatboxes will be 

 much simplified. The sweatbox is then placed alongside of the grading 

 table, and each layer with its paper is lifted out carefully, and placed 

 on the table. The assorting is now to begin. The bunches are taken 

 up one by one, all inferior berries are clipped out, all soft ones are sep- 

 arated and placed in a box by themselves to be further dried. As each 

 bunch is examined and cleaned, it is put in one of the weighing trays 

 resting on small scales at either end of the table, and, when the 

 scales indicate that five pounds of raisins are in the tray, the latter is 

 removed to the packing table. 



In the meantime all loose or inferior bunches are raked down through 

 the openings in the grading tables and received in sweatboxes below, 

 to be either further dried or to be stemmed and graded at once. In 

 packing several grades of layer raisins, the grading of the bunches 

 should be made at this table. No great choice in selecting the 

 bunches should be left to the packer, as his time should alone be 

 occupied with the packing of his box. The best way is to have dif- 

 ferently colored scales for number one and number two layers, and 

 when taking them out of the sweatbox assort them at once by placing 

 them in different trays. The graders can never be too careful. No 

 moist raisins, no small ones, no red and poor raisins, should ever be 

 allowed among a better quality. They will lower the grade of the 

 whole box, while the good quality of high-grade raisins will not raise 

 the grade of a generally poor box. Thus, while the many good 

 raisins in a poor box are not paid for according to their value, the 

 few poor raisins which will be accidentally or carelessly smuggled in 

 a good box will lower the value of the whole. Few packers will suffi- 

 ciently understand this, which is really the principle of all good pack- 

 ing, and which should be scrupulously adhered to. Even inferior 

 size berries, if otherwise ever so good, should be carefully clipped 

 from the large-berried bunches. It is astonishing how quickly the 

 buyer will notice a few small berries, and how readily he will ignore 

 the value of the largest raisins in the box. 



Packing Layers, Top-up Method. As with packing the loose raisins, 

 there are two methods, the top up and the top down. The top-up 

 method can be as little recommended in this case as in the former, but 

 as it is used by many of the packers I will here describe it : The 

 trays containing the five-pound layers are placed in front of the 



