166 THE RAISIN INDUSTRY. 



On the top of the waxed paper the chromo or label is placed. The 

 box is now ready for nailing. 



Packing Layers, Top-down Method. This method I advocate as the 

 most proper one to use. Thin galvanized-iron trays with a drop bot- 

 tom are used. On the top of the drop bottom is placed a heavy fol- 

 lower of metal. White's facing-plate, turned over, can be used to great 

 advantage, even where no facing is required. The choicest bunches 

 are now selected and spread evenly on the bottom of the tray ; other 

 bunches are placed on top of them, and so on until the tray is full. 

 Great care must be taken in packing so as to make the bunches fit 

 each other and lie solid; otherwise they are very apt to be disturbed, 

 or they will require too heavy pressure to be kept in place. When the 

 tray is full, it is gently pressed, and the pressure kept up for a few 

 seconds. A loose zinc plate is then placed over the tray, the latter is 

 turned over and placed over the box, in which the necessary wrapping 

 papers have been previously placed, the loose zinc plate is quickly 

 withdrawn, and the contents fall into the box. The heavy follower 

 keeps the top layer steady, and with a little care the raisins are not 

 disturbed. 



The top-down method for packing layers has the following advan- 

 tages over the top-up method. It gives a smooth surface on which to 

 pack the top layer, without necessitating pressure to first create such a 

 surface, the packing being done on a hard plate. The wrappers are 

 not soiled, as they are not first placed in the frames. The packer is 

 enabled to pack and select his choicest bunches for the top layer while 

 he has plenty to select from, and any odd berries and broken or smaller 

 bunches come naturally in the bottom of each layer. In the top-up 

 method all such odds remain for the top, where they must go in, in 

 order to make up the required five pounds. 



A raisin-packer averages seventy-five trays of five pounds each per 

 day, for which she is paid two cents each. Some pack more than this; 

 but very excellent packing proceeds slower, and a packer of very choice 

 layers can only pack twenty-five trays of five pounds each per day, for 

 which a correspondingly higher price is paid. In Malaga, a trained 

 and expert packer receives between two and three dollars per day. In 

 California, they do not receive any more. In our raisin district, the 

 girls are rapidly becoming expert packers, and the same ones are reen- 

 gaged year after year by the same packing-house. 



Filling. The filling of the raisins is a trick to make them appear 

 larger than they are. This filling was invented in Spain, and is used 

 there especially on Dehesa boxes and where very expensive packing 

 is required. It is done in the following manner. The raisin is first 

 flattened out as much as possible, then the edges are bent, making the 

 raisins slightly concave. In placing the concave side downwards, a 

 smaller raisin is slipped underneath so as to cause the manipulated 

 raisin to keep its shape. These filled raisins are used for facing only. 

 The Spanish filled raisins have been handled to such an extent that 

 all the bloom is lost, and the raisin looks anything but attractive. 

 The California method of filling is a great improvement on the 

 Spanish way. When the facing-plate is used, the raisin is first placed 



