THE RAISIN INDUSTRY. 5 
Many changes have occurred since raisin growing became an in- 
dustry in Orange County, and Fresno has become the center of the 
industry, as the conditions there are exceptionally suited to the grow- 
ing and curing of raisins. 
RAISIN-VINEYARD SOIL. 
Raisin-vineyard soils vary considerably, the deep-gray alluvial bot- 
tom land being considered the best. In this connection the mechanical 
analysis of the soil in the department experiment vineyard near 
Fresno, made by the Bureau of Soils, and shown in Table III, will 
prove interesting. i 
TasLe III.—Analysis of the soil of the Fresno Hxperimental Vineyard at 
Fresno, Cal. 

Mechanical constituents (per cent). 

: Me- ‘ Very Clay 
Description and depth of soil. Fine Cea Se) dium Fine fine Silt - | (0.005 
Coarse | gravel (1t - (0.25 sand |(0.05to} mm. 
gravel.| (2tol 0.5 (0.5 to to0.1 (0.1 to | 0.005 and 
mm.). 3 : 0.05 | mm.). | small- 



m.) ‘| mm.). er). 
Brown sandy loam: 
Otol 2imches Sassen eee eee 0.58 1.2 9.8 6.7 18.4 12.0 33.2 19.7 
13 GO) OE! HHO NESE Po sgaadsoobasoous 71 9 9.1 6.9 17.8 (253 32.5 21.4 
Sandy loam: 
ZATGOVS OMIM CheSH ae seas eeae eile Boll 6 8.3 7.8 19.9 12.9 a 2300 
SOs Ov Sula ChCSe eee se eee oe eee aey) 9 8.8 6.0 Uy 7 13.1 36.3 21.4 
Free sandy loam: 
4 CO) GOMMCHESee cee ae te eee. ll 2, 14.2 8.6 22.4 1b), 7 26.5 11.1 
Of this type of soil about 75,000 acres near Fresno, 6,000 near 
Stockton, and about 265,000 in the Sacramento Valley have been 
mapped by the Bureau of Soils. For a further description of the 
soils, see Bureau of Plant Industry Bulletin 172 and the surveys of 
the Bureau of Soils. 
PREPARATION OF SOILS. 
In the raisin-producing sections of California the country is nat- 
urally so level that not much grading is necessary. After the land 
has been leveled where needed it should be well prepared. If virgin 
soil is to be used, it will allow the field to be put in better shape if a 
crop of grain is grown on it the season before planting. After being 
plowed and subsoiled, it should be thoroughly harrowed and clod- 
crushed with a drag or roller. In the early stages of the industry 
most of the vines were planted 7 feet apart each way (PI. I, fig. 1). 
The tendency now is to plant farther apart, some planting 8 feet 
apart each way (PI. I, fig. 2), others 6 by 10 feet, 9 by 9 feet, 8 by 10 
feet (Pl. I, fig. 3), or even wider distances apart. Trellises are the 
exception (PI. II, fig. 1); usually stakes are simply used to support 
