RAILROAD GARDENING 



more effective advertising than by demonstrating tlie 

 possibilities of the country traversed for home-maliing. 

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

 station grounds should present refreshing scenes of 

 shade and verdure. Their grounds sh.mld !„■ troatpd 



according to the rules of landscape art that Im.M l- 1 in 



all planting. Where adjacent lanil (li..|,.; awav Lrivinir 

 good vistas, these should be presurvrd; uKji-ctiMualtlr 

 features should, as far as possible, bu "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 Ellas A. Long. "Der Stiidtebau" (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. IG, 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; Mav, 1900. "Country Gentleman," Aug. 23, 1900; 

 Aug. 30, 1900. Frances Copley Seavet. 



EAIN-BERRY. Rhamnus catJtartica. 



RAINBOW FLOWER. Iris. 



KAISIN. Pig. 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, when- it is said thev wrn- known 200 years ago- 

 it wasnot uiiiil ih,- .aiiv 7iis ihat the Chilean Raisins, 

 as well as tlii.s,. ,,r tli,- i, ,■«,!■ districts of California and 

 Australia, wt-rt? actually fi.un.l 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 coijperative 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 1803 that the first 

 California cured Raisins were exhibited at the State 

 Pair, 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. C)ne 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 prodii.Til. Till- a.Teage is nnw about 511.1)00. with 



Tulaiv, ^iriv.-.l and Knai .■..unti.s. Tl,,. rlimat.- of this 

 iv^'i.ili i> rniiiHUlly suital.lr for ];aisin rultiire. The 



and laii, thus iiisuiiu;; a high saccharine content of the 

 grapis :,u-\ aiii|.l.' opportunity for sun-curing, by which 

 means .ilimi . ii is ilmught. Raisins of high quality can 



be pn.iin 1. As ilie system in vogue in all districts is 



essentially the same as that in Fresno, a short r^sumfi 

 of the practices of that region will suflice. 



Alluvial soils and deep upland loams of the plains are 

 considered the best. Irrigation is absolutely necessary. 

 At first flooding and fniTow irric:ation worn practiced, 

 but since the plarin;;- i.f iln' .litflies tlie wat, r lias escaped 

 into and couii.liii Iv lillr.l the h„.s.. v,,,!^ i ,,, ..ime cases 

 originally (iO li. (h-pi tiMiiL hrl,,\v, thus ju-. iducing a 

 system of "suljiii-it,'atiuu," as it is eaUed there; and it 

 is in this way that most of the vineyards are supplied 

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

 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, \vh 

 age water has completely swamped iIm' lai 

 canals and ditches at the start wenld liavc 

 trouble, but it was not realized until tuo lat 



The vines are all headed low, six iiielie 

 favorite height for the stump. With the < 

 the "Seedless Sultanas" and the "Thompsoi 

 which require long pruning, the canes a 

 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 i cached about 

 the consistency of jellj 

 the Raisms are placed m 

 " sweat boxes " to undergo 

 the "sweatmg" process, 

 in order to equalize 

 the moisture content 

 throughout the whole 

 mass. The Raisms are 

 then readv for grading 

 and pac kmj- A great 



e seep- 

 Tight" 

 ed this 



sception of 

 Seedless," 

 e cut back 



Association has endeav 

 ored to establish and 

 maintain distinctly Cali- 

 fornia n brands. "6 

 Crown Imperial Clus 



hesas," "4-Crown Clus- 



principal brands. The 

 loose or detached berries 

 are, of course, ahvays 

 marketed sejiaraN l\ as 

 distinct grades. .\ uient i 



^^% 



2071. Table or cluster Raisins 



of 

 -pound and • 



i uieiit I ii.my have lately been "seeded" 



iaily designed machine, put up in 



uiid packages, and marketed for cook- 



