208 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



few strawberries are preserved, or used in any way save to be 

 eaten fresh on the table. 



Most of the raspberry-fields of California are in Oakland and 

 its immediate vicinity. The land about a mile northward from 

 the Oakland wharf is said to be peculiarly favorable to the 

 raspberry. The average yield is about fifteen hundred pounds 

 per acre, and the wholesale price in 1861 was ten cents per 

 })ound. The picking is done by Chinamen, and costs from 

 three to four cents a pound. The bushes are planted in rows 

 five feet apart, and one foot apart in the row. The berries are 

 produced on wood a year old, and at the end of every season 

 all the wood that has borne is cut away. It is not known how 

 long the raspberry-bush will continue to bear, but probably 

 ten years at the least. The largest raspberry field in the state 

 contains twenty acres. 



An excellent wine is made of raspberries, and some of the 

 Oakland people have gone into the business, hoping to derive 

 a large profit from it. The berries are bruised, a gallon of 

 w\ater is poured on for three pounds of berries, and after three 

 days the berries are pressed ; three pounds of sugar are added 

 for every gallon of the liquid, which is then put into barrels, 

 and allowed to stand, with the bung open, until active fermen- 

 tation has ceased — a period varying from five weeks to two 

 months — and the wine is ready for use, though the longer it 

 stands the better it becomes. Soft water is better than hard 

 for putting on the berries, and hard water should not be used 

 without boiling. An acre of raspberries will yield six hundred 

 gallons of wine, which, if well made, is worth a dollar or a dol- 

 lar and a half a gallon at wholesale. The raspberry cultivated 

 at Oakland is the Fastolf variety. The fruit ripens during June 

 and July. 



The Lawton blackberry is also cultivated about Oakland. 

 The rows are from six to eight feet apart, and the plants from 

 four to six feet apart in the row. The yield of the blackberry 

 and the cost of picking are about the same with the raspberry, 

 but the price is much higher, the blackberry selling at whol?- 



