1386 



GRAPE 



GRAPE 



is neutral in odor and flavor and imparts no disagreeable 

 taste to the grapes packed in it and held in cold storage. 

 During the past three years this method of packing 

 and storing has received wide commercial application. 

 The shipments of Emperor grapes packed in sawdust 

 during 1913 amounted to nearly 300 carloads. Table 

 grapes for local markets are often shipped in the fifty- 

 pound "lug" boxes in which they are gathered. 



Raisins. 



Practically all the raisins in California are sun-dried. 

 Artificial driers were formerly used to some extent to 

 dry the second crop of Muscat and are still used occa- 

 sionally to finish drying in seasons of early rains. The 

 second crop is now utilized by the wineries. 



Muscat grapes should not be gathered for raisin- 

 making until they show at least 24 Bal.* of sugar. 

 Better raisins are made at 26 to 27 Bal. The crop 

 increases with increasing ripeness. At 27 Bal. the yield 

 of raisins to the acre may be 40 per cent greater than 

 at 23 Bal. The grapes are gathered on wooden trays 

 with cleats, holding twenty-two pounds of grapes 

 which dry to five and one-half to seven pounds of 

 raisins. The trays are furnished with bottom and 

 top end cleats which allow a space of 2^ to 3 inches 

 for the grapes when they are stacked. The filled 

 trays are placed in alternate rows running east and 

 west where the soil has been given a slight inclina- 

 tion by means of a V-shaped scraper in order to expose 

 the grapes more directly to the rays of the sun. After 

 about nine to twelve days, the grapes are turned by 



1737. Stacked trays of raisins. 



placing an empty tray on top and inverting the two 

 trays together. In about three to four days after turn- 

 ing, they are dry in good weather, but the total time of 

 drying may yary from about ten days to nearly a 

 month according to the ripeness of the grapes and the 

 temperature and moisture of the air. The best raisins 

 are made when the average maximum daily temperature 

 lies between 85 and 90 F. Above 100 F. the grapes 

 are somewhat injured in flavor and appearance but still 

 make good loose or seeded raisins. If rain falls after 

 the grapes have begun to dry, especially after they 

 have been turned, they are liable to injury. When 

 rain threatens, it is sometimes necessary to pile the 

 trays up in stacks and to spread them out again as 

 soon as the rain or the danger is over. In some seasons 

 this stacking has to be repeated two or even three times, 

 much increasing the cost and time of drying. (Fig. 1737.) 

 When the grapes are nearly dry, the full trays are 

 stacked in piles of 12 or more and covered with an 

 empty tray. Here the drying is completed and the 

 moisture equalized. They remain in the stack for a 

 week or more and are then placed in large "sweat- 

 boxes" holding about ninety pounds of layers, or 125 

 pounds or more of loose raisins. When fine layer raisins 



24 Bal. means that the juice has the same concentration as a 

 pure sugar solution of 24 per cent. The juice is tested by a Balling 

 hydrometer for sale by all chemical supply houses. 



are made, these are picked out by hand before putting 

 in the sweat-boxes and the layers separated by sheets 

 of paper. The raisins are delivered to the packing- 

 houses in the sweat-box. 



Sultanina and Sultana grapes are sometimes cured 

 in the same way as the Muscats, but the resulting raisins 

 are of a dark amber-color and cannot compete with 

 the light golden yellow Sultana raisins. These are made 

 by passing the grapes through a "dip" and then through 

 a sulfur-box before drying. 



Various dips are in use, the commonest being com- 

 posed of one pound of good potash lye in twelve gallons 

 of water. This is kept boiling hot and after immersion 

 in it for an instant, the grapes are plunged in cold water 

 and placed on the trays. Some growers add an emulsion 

 made of three-fourths of a pound of lye, one quart of 

 olive or of the purest cottonseed-oil, and three quarts 

 of water. A gallon of this emulsion is added to each ten 

 gallons of the lye-dip. Some growers say that they secure 

 equally good results by dipping simply in boiling water. 

 Similar dips are sometimes used to facilitate the drying 

 of second-crop or inferior Muscats and such grapes as 

 Malaga and Feher Szagos. 



After dipping, the grapes on trays are exposed to 

 sulfur fumes and spread out to dry. In hot weather 

 much of the drying is done in the stack, too much 

 exposure to the hot sun tending to darken the color of 

 the raisins. 



Raisins or dried grapes are of four main classes: 

 (1) Raisins proper, of which the dried fruit of the Mus- 

 cat of Alexandria is the type. California produces more 

 than half the world's crop of this class. Most of them 

 are made from the Muscat of Alexandria or from its 

 variation, the Muscat Gordo Blanco. When the 

 demand is good, Malaga, Feher Szagos and occasion- 

 ally other large sweet white varieties are used. (2) 

 Sultana raisins are made from the Sultanina (= Thomp- 

 son Seedless or Oval Kechmish). California also pro- 

 duces large quantities of this class, the principal centers 

 of production being the upper San Joaquin Valley and 

 Sutter County in the Sacramento Valley. The Sul- 

 tana (= Round Kechmish), also a seedless grape, is 

 grown in large quantities, principally in the Sacra- 

 mento Valley. From it is produced a raisin resembling 

 a small Sultana in appearance but more allied to a 

 "currant" in flavor. Both of these varieties require 

 long pruning with fruit-canes of 4 to 8 feet. (3) Currants 

 which are made from the very small seedless Black 

 Corinth and to a less extent from the somewhat larger 

 White Corinth, are not produced on a commercial scale 

 in California. The Black Corinth does not bear and the 

 White Corinth produces a raisin which is too large to 

 pass as a "currant" and too small to secure a remunera- 

 tive price as a "Sultana." (4) Dried grapes are made 

 from almost any kinds and are occasionally produced in 

 large quantities when the price of fresh grapes is low. 

 They are used for various purposes, principally for the 

 manufacture of imitation wines in foreign countries. 



Grapes for shipping. 



Table grapes are grown all over California for family 

 and local consumption and include hundreds of varie- 

 ties, principally vinifera. The commercial growing of 

 table grapes, however, is for the purpose of shipping to 

 large centers of population, especially in the eastern 

 states. It is localized in certain regions and utilizes a 

 comparatively small number of varieties. 



The earliest grapes come from Imperial County in 

 June, followed in July and early August from Fresno, 

 Kern and Tulare Counties and from the warm eastern 

 slopes of the inner coast range in Yolo County. The 

 earliest variety is the Luglienga, usually shipped under 

 the erroneous name of Madeleine; the next the Chas- 

 selas dore", usually called Sweetwater; both are white. 

 These varieties have not given satisfaction in Imperial, 

 where Persian No. 23, and allied varieties, promise 



