THE RAISIN INDUSTRY. 213 



in the elegance and care with which they are packed. They stand at 

 the head of the California raisin product. Col. Forsyth has been 

 appointed Commissioner for California at the World Fair in Chicago, 

 1892. 



A. D. BARLING. 



Among our younger raisin-growers and packers, Mr. A. D. Barling 

 occupies a prominent place. A sketch of his life and connection with 

 the raisin industry is most interesting. He came to the raisin district 

 with only a dollar in his pocket. To-day he is a wealthy grower and 

 packer, whose raisin brand is among the best in the State. 



Mr. Barling, formerly of Michigan, was educated at Ann Arbor. In 

 1873 he left college and started West, settling in Merced county, Cali- 

 fornia. There he became connected with the Farmers' Canal Co., as 

 their chief engineer, which position he held for seven years, and in that 

 capacity conducted the water of the Merced river down to Livingston 

 on the S. P. R. R. From Merced he went to Mexico in the employ of 

 the Mexican Central Railroad, but returned to San Francisco, California, 

 in 1882. Here he had charge of the construction of the large wharf at 

 Alameda point, then being constructed by the S. P. R. R. Co. 



Becoming tired of working for a salary, Mr. Barling went to Fresno and 

 rented a lot in the Central Colony. By dint of hard work, not having 

 any capital at all to start with, he and his wife saved one thousand 

 dollars, with which they purchased the present El Modelo vineyard, pay- 

 ing forty-five dollars per acre for the rough land in 1885. Mr. Barling 

 and his wife went to work with a will and set out the land in Muscat 

 cuttings, but jtoojighjunfprtiiriR te -and unforseen circumstances all the 

 Jirst planting was lost. Undaunted they replanted in 1886 with great suc- 

 cess, and to-day they own one of the finest and best-paying I5o-acre 

 vineyards in the county, having yearly added new territory to the first 

 purchase. Last season they packed sixteen thousand boxes of Muscat 

 raisins, and established the El Modelo brand, which in the market is 

 considered second to none, and which has established an enviable repu- 

 tation for its packers. This year's pack is estimated to reach fifty 

 thousand boxes of twenty pounds each. Mr. Barling's thorough^ edu- 

 cation ajad ^kill and experience as an engineer has mate^^Tly^contrlBu- 

 ted ToHjs jsiiccess. He has also EelcTtEe position of~assTslanf cashier in 

 thlTPresno Loan & Savings Bank for the last five years. 



FRANK H. BALL. 



The Ball Vineyard adjoins the town of Fresno, and is situated in 

 the rich red lands, the sink of old creeks. The one hundred and 

 twenty acres in Muscatels are among the best cared for in the district. 

 Mr. Ball possesses the faculty of doing the necessary work at the right 

 time and doing it thoroughly. The crop is annually sold in the sweat- 

 boxes to packers in Fresno City, no raisins being packed on the vine- 

 yard. Mr. Ball is the aiijivvr.^!. ft" ^xfellent essay on raisin-grape 

 growing and curing, published in the California iof July, 1890. His 

 methods of culture and curing are the best, and the raisins produced 

 by them are not surpassed by any in the State. Mr. Ball is one of our 

 most successful raisin-men. 



