WINE-MAKING IN CALIFORNIA. 215 



which makes them pack more solid and convenient. The 

 bunches are then carefully assorted, all imperfect or decayed 

 berries clipped out with a small scissors, the bunches divided 

 if necessary, to pack more conveniently and snugly, and then 

 shipped across the continent. This season's shipments to 

 New York and other Eastern markets seem to have been very 

 successful in the main, and realized good prices. The first 

 and earliest come from Vacaville and Pleasant Valley, while 

 the great bulk seems to come from Sacramento Valley, and 

 the latest from the Santa Cruz Mountains, where they remained 

 .fresh and green on the vines until January last year. The 

 following is an extract from a letter of Mr. William B. West, 

 of Stockton, and contains some interesting data: 



"As to the raisin interest, I am not up to the times. I have found 

 long ago that the Muscatel cannot be raised here, and I gave it up. In 

 the shipment of table grapes we find that many good varieties, which 

 were formerly considered too tender to bear shipment to the East, with 

 improved cars and manner of packing, arrive in good condition. The 

 soil and climate of the vicinity of Stockton has proved to be unusually 

 good to produce a hardy grape that will ship well, and in the future 

 this will probably be our chief production. Our grapes are not early ; 

 but when they are ripe they are a formidable competitor in the market. 

 The first good grape that we have, which ripens about the middle of 

 August and continues a month, is the Black Prince, or Eose of Peru ; 

 it is a very, firm, sweet grape ; many tons are shipped to Utah, Mon- 

 tana, and Texas, from Stockton. Next is the flame colored Tokay, 

 which colors well here, and is a very superior grape for long journeys 

 as the season advances. We also ship the Mission, which is very dif- 

 ferent here from those grown at Napa, being much larger and sweeter. 

 We shipped several loar's of them last season, with good profits, but 

 they were very fine. 



"Still later, we have the Black Ferrara, a fine large grape with a 

 deep blue bloom, a very abundant bearer, usually ten to twelve tons per 

 acre, and an excellent keeper. It ripens from the 5th of October to No- 

 vember. The Emperor is also a great favorite in the East ; it is a deep 

 ruby red, keeps well, but is not so regular and good a bearer as the 

 Ferrara. 



" These are our most reliable shipping varieties; of course we use the 



