RAILROAD GARDENING 



RAISIN 



1495 



more effective advertising than by demonstrating the 

 possibilities of the country traversed for home-making. 

 Instead of dreary wastes of dust and cinders, their way- 

 station grounds should present refreshing scenes of 

 shade and verdure. Their grounds should be treated 

 according to the rules of landscape art that hold good in 

 all planting. Where adjacent land drops away giving 

 good vistas, these should be preserved; objectionable 

 features should, as far as possible, be "planted out;" 

 sky lines should be varied, banks clothed, and variety 

 and views supplied, particularly in flat and uninterest- 

 ing regions. 



In short, railroad gardens should be in the hands of 

 those who will adorn instead of deface them; who will 

 look to the formation of features that will take care of 

 themselves after planting is established features that 

 require considerable expenditure, a good knowledge of 

 trees and of shrubs, and a large amount of taste in the 

 designer at the outset, but after being established, like 

 the island gardens of Paris, "the hand of man might be 

 withheld for half a century without their suffering in the 

 least." 



Railroad Gardening Literature. "Seven Lamps of 

 Architecture," by Ruskin. "Landscape Gardening," by 

 Samuel Parsons, Jr. " Ornamental Gardening for Ameri- 

 cans," by Elias A. Long. "Der Stadtebau" (Vol. 9 of 

 Part 4 of "Handbuch der Architektur "), Press of 

 Bergstrasser, Darmstadt, 1890, by J. Stubben. Bul- 

 letins of the U. S. Dept. of Agric., Division of Forestry, 

 especially No. 1 (1887) and No. 7 (1893). "Garden and 

 Forest," Jan. 16, 1889; Mar. 13, 1889; Apr. 3, 1889; May 

 1, 1889; Oct. 4, 1893; Oct. 23, 1895. "Railroad Gazette," 

 June 2, 1882; May 9, 1884; Oct. 7, 1887; Oct. 21, 1887; 

 Mar. 10, 1893; Apr. 7, 1899; Nov. 3, 1899; Feb. 16, 1900. 

 "Railway and Engineering Review," Oct. 25, 1890; Oct. 

 23, 1897; Sept. 9, 1899; Sept. 23, 1899; Apr. 14, 1900; 

 Sept. 29, 1900. "Railway Age," Sept. 28. 1900. "Railway 

 World," Apr. 7, 1877. "Park and Cemetery," July, 1899. 

 "Park and Cemetery and Landscape Gardening," March, 

 1900; May, 1900. "Country Gentleman," Aug. 23, 1900; 

 Aug. 30, 1900. FRANCES COPLEY SEAVEY. 



RAIN-BERRY. Rhamnus cathartica. 

 EAINBOW FLOWEB. Iris. 



RAISIN. Fig. 2071. Up to about 30 years ago, practi- 

 cally the entire Raisin industry of the world was con- 

 fined to the Mediterranean districts of Europe and Asia. 

 While it is true that Raisin vines were planted in other 

 widely distant countries at a much earlier date, e.g. 

 Chile, where it is said they were known 200 years ago 

 it was not until the early 70's that the Chilean Raisins, 

 as well as those of the newer districts of California and 

 Australia, were actually found in the markets of the 

 world. Since that time, however, the development of 

 the industry in these new districts has been most rapid, 

 and it has been shown that even higher quality and flavor 

 are possible. 



In California the growth of the Raisin industry has 

 been enormous, the output now reaching about 100,000,- 

 000 pounds annually, or more than the entire yearly 

 consumption of the United States a few years ago. In 

 1894, the growers found themselves face to face with 

 what was then thought to be a serious problem of over- 

 production. The price of Raisins fell below the cost of 

 production. Lack of system in marketing has since been 

 shown to have been the cause, for by cooperative meth- 

 ods in grading, packing and marketing, the industry has 

 again been placed on a sound and fairly remunerative 

 basis. 



The first importation and planting of the vines were 

 made in 1851, but it was not until 1863 that the first 

 California cured Raisins were exhibited at the State 

 Fair, and it was not until 10 years later that the first 

 large-scale vineyards (one at Davisville, Solano county, 

 and another at Woodland, Yolo county) came into full 

 bearing. One hundred and twenty thousand pounds were 

 produced that year, nearly all by these two vineyards. 

 Planting in various parts of the state followed. Fresno, 

 Riverside, El Cajon valley in San Diego county, Los 

 Angeles and Orange counties soon became important 



centers of the industry; but the production of citrous 

 fruits has now largely superseded Raisin-growing in 

 all the last mentioned except the Fresno district, where 

 at present three-fourths of the entire output of the state 

 is produced. The acreage is now about 50,000, with 

 nearly 45,000 of these in the Fresno district, including 

 Tulare, Merced and Kern counties. The climate of this 

 region is eminently suitable for Raisin culture. The 

 summers are hot and dry and the winter rains scanty 

 and late, thus insuring a high saccharine content of the 

 grapes and ample opportunity for sun-curing, by which 

 means alone, it is thought, Raisins of high quality can 

 be produced. As the system in vogue in all districts is 

 essentially the same as that in Fresno, a short resume 

 of the practices of that region will suffice. 



Alluvial soils and deep upland loams of the plains are 

 considered the best. Irrigation is absolutely necessary. 

 At first flooding and furrow irrigation were practiced, 

 but since the placing of the ditches the water has escaped 

 into and completely filled the loose soils (in some cases 

 originally 60 ft. deep) from below, thus producing a 

 system of "subirrigation," as it is called there; and it 

 is in this way that most of the vineyards are supplied 

 with water at present. Indeed, in some localities, it ia 

 no longer a question of how to bring the water to the 

 land, but more how to keep it out. Serious damage has 

 resulted in some of the lower vineyards, where the seep- 

 age water has completely swamped the land. "Tight" 

 canals and ditches at the start would have avoided this 

 trouble, but it was not realized until too late. 



The vines are all headed low, six inches being the 

 favorite height for the stump. With the exception of 

 the "Seedless Sultanas" and the "Thompson Seedless," 

 which require long pruning, the canes are cut back 

 to 2 or 3 eyes; the number of canes left varies from 

 5 to 15, according to the age and size of the stump. 

 Summer pruning is seldom practiced. Clean, thorough 

 tillage is maintained until the vines cover the ground 

 and obstruct operations. The grapes ripen about Sep- 

 tember 1, and are allowed to become thoroughly ripe 

 before they are gathered. When the sugar percentage 

 has reached 23 or 24 per cent, the fruits are considered 

 ripe. The bunches are then cut with small shears 

 (care being taken not to rub off the bloom), placed on 

 wooden trays and exposed to the sun. The time required 

 for full curing ranges 

 from 10-12 days for the 

 earlier grapes to as long 

 as three weeks for the 

 later ones. When the 

 juice has reached about 

 the consistency of jelly 

 the Raisins are placed in 

 " sweat boxes" to undergo 

 the "sweating" process, 

 in order to equalize 

 the moisture -con tent 

 throughout the whole 

 mass. The Raisins are 

 then ready for grading 

 and packing. A great 

 many brands and grades 

 have been packed, desig- 

 nated at first much the 

 same as the imported 

 ones, but lately, the 

 Association has endeav- 

 ored to establish and 

 maintain distinctly Cali- 

 fornian brands. "6- 

 Crown Imperial Clus- 

 ters," "5 -Crown De- 

 hesas," "4-Crown Clus- 

 ters," "3 -Crown" and 

 "2-Crown London Lay- 

 ers " are some of the 

 principal brands. The 

 loose or detached berries 

 are, of course, always 

 marketed separately as 



distinct grades. A great many have lately been "seeded " 

 by means of a specially designed machine, put up in 

 1-pound and %-pound packages, and marketed for cook- 



2071. Table or cluster Raisins 

 and " loose cooking " Rai- 

 sins (X%). 



