198 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTUEE 



California. The largest grapevine of the world may 

 there be seen. It covers half an acre. 



Eaisins are dried grapes. There is a raisin vine- 

 yard in southern California which covers five thou- 

 sand acres. Vines are pruned every year and the 

 grapes gathered from the new shoots. Five-sixths 

 of the grapes in California are made into wine or 

 grape juice, or they are pressed as raisins. The 

 dried currants that we use are really dried grapes. 

 Grapevines are the prey of downy mildew, when it 

 is hot and dry — also of black rot. Vines that have 

 been weakened by bearing too heavy crops are often 

 attacked. Prunings and fallen leaves and fruit 

 should be destroyed, and the vines sprayed with the 

 Bordeaux mixture. The first spraying should be 

 done in the spring before the growth starts, and 

 this should be followed every three weeks through 

 the summer. To protect grapes for home use from 

 black rot, frost, and birds, the clusters may be cov- 

 ered with paper bags which are allowed to stay on 

 until the fruit is ripe. The warmth induced by the 

 bags makes the fruit ripen earlier and it is larger. 



Raspberries and Blackberries. The raspberries 

 and blackberries do well in cool soil kept moist by 

 mulching, after the ground has been thoroughly pre- 

 pared. The shoots of both raspberries and black- 

 berries that are sent up one season, bear fruit and 

 die the next season. Pinch back the new shoots 

 when they are two or three feet tall. This hastens 

 the throwing out of side shoots upon which fruit 



