542 



CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



one exactly above another to a convenient height, and should remain from ten 

 to twenty days or more, when they will have passed through the sweating 

 process. When the raisins are sufficiently equalized, the sweat-boxes are re- 

 moved to the packing-room, which is provided with tables, presses, scales, etc. 



The foregoing relates to the preparation of the standard clusters. 

 Loose raisins are now being produced in increasing quantities. 

 Loose Muscatels are prepared by being put through the stemmer 

 and grader. The stemmer removes the berries from the stems, 

 and the grader, by separating according to size, determines the 

 grade. During the last few years the seeding of raisins has in- 

 creased rapidly, and large establishments for this work, with very 

 ingenious machinery, have been erected. Seeded raisins constitute 

 a considerable portion of the product. 



A considerable quantity of dipped raisins are also made of the 

 Sultana and Thompson seedless grapes and of loose or inferior 

 Muscatels. A lye dip of about one pound of potash to twelve gal- 

 lons of water is used, and the solution is kept boiling hot. The 

 ripe fruit is dipped for an instant, then plunged in fresh water for 

 a thorough rinsing, and then placed on the trays. During warm, 

 dry weather in the interior, the raisins are dried in the shade by 

 leaving the trays in piles, but if cooler, moister weather prevails, 

 the trays must be spread out. The product is a handsome amber 

 color. 



An oil dip has been profitably used with Thompson's Seedless: 



One quart olive oil; 4 pound Greenbank soda and 3 quarts 

 water are made into an emulsion, and then reduced with 10 gal- 

 lons water in the dipping tank, adding more soda to get lye-strength 

 enough to cut the skins, and more soda has to be added from time 

 to time to keep up the strength. The grapes are dipped in this 

 solution and sulphured to the proper color. 



GRAPE SYRUP 



The manufacture of grape syrup, which was formerly of con- 

 siderable prominence as a means of disposing of wine grapes, has 

 recently received less attention because of low prices in competi- 

 tion with the vast amount of syrup available for the sugar refin- 

 eries. 



MACHINE EVAPORATION 



Although California summer conditions of adequate heat and 

 dry air favor open-air evaporation to such an extent that nearly 

 all our product of cured fruit is secured in that way, there are 

 some parts of the State where artificial heat would be a safer re- 

 course and there are late fruits which sometimes collide with early 

 rains in a way to cause losses even in our best sun-curing regions. 



