208 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 
few strawberries are preserved, or used in any way save to be 
eaten fresh on the table. 
Most of the raspberry-fields of California are in Oakland and 
its immediate vicinity. The land about a mile northward from 
the Oakland wharf is said to be peculiarly favorable to the 
raspberry. The average yield is about fifteen hundred pounds 
per acre, and the wholesale price in 1861 was ten cents per 
pound. The picking is done by Chinamen, and costs from 
three to four cents a pound. The bushes are planted in rows 
five feet apart, and one foot apart in the row. The berries are 
produced on wood a year old, and at the end of every season 
all the wood that has borne is cut away. Itis not known how 
long the raspberry-bush will continue to bear, but probably 
ten years at the least. The largest raspberry-field in the state 
contains twenty acres. ; 
An excellent wine is made of raspberries, and some of the 
Oakland people have gone into the business, hoping to derive 
a large profit from it. The berries are bruised, a gallon of 
water is poured on for three pounds of berries, and after three 
days the berries are pressed; three pounds of sugar are added 
for every gallon of the liquid, which is then put into barrels, 
and allowed to stand, with the bung open, until active fermen- 
tation has ceased—a period varying from five weeks to two 
months—and the wine is ready for use, though the longer it 
stands the better it becomes. Soft water is better than hard 
for putting on the berries, and hard water should not be used 
without boiling. -An acre of raspberries will yield six hundred 
gallons of wine, which, if well made, is worth a dollar or a dol- 
lar and a half a gallon at wholesale. The raspberry cultivated 
at Oakland is the Fastolf variety. The fruit ripens during June 
and July. 
The Lawton blackberry is also cultivated about Oakland. 
The rows are from six to eight feet apart, and the plants from 
four to six feet apart in the row. The yield of the blackberry 
and the cost of picking are about the same with the raspberry, 
but the price is much higher, the blackberry selling at whole- 
