Am.  .Tour.  Pharm. ) 
Sept.,  1890.  J 
California  Raisins. 
467 
remains  in  them  is  equally  distributed  throughout  the  whole  berry. 
Then  they  are  sorted  and  packed,  the  whole  bunches  being  packed 
in  that  form,  while  the  broken  clusters  have  all  the  stems  removed 
and  are  packed  as  stemless  raisins.  The  stemming  is  done  by 
machinery,  but  the  packing  is  done  by  hand,  women  and  girls  being 
employed  for  the  purpose. 
The  three  grapes  mentioned  form  the  mainstay  of  the  raisin 
industry.  In  some  places  the  seedless  Sultana  does  well,  and  it  is 
believed  by  many  that  it  will  soon  become  the  favorite  raisin  grape. 
In  the  southern  part  of  the  State  the  Malaga  grape  succeeds  better 
than  any  other,  but  at  the  present  time  the  Muscat  is  grown  prob- 
ably more  than  all  others  put  together.  It  has  a  rich  and  spicy  flavor 
that  no  other  raisin  grape  possesses,  and  on  this  account  Muscat 
raisins  are  most  in  demand.  It  grows  well  in  almost  any  soil,  and 
is  the  most  steady  and  trustworthy  of  all  in  its  bearing.  The  vines 
are  usually  planted  five  feet  apart,  in  rows  14  feet  apart.  Artificial 
irrigation  has,  of  course,  to  be  employed.  The  returns  from  a  vine- 
yard come  very  quickly.  The  second  year  a  fair  crop  may  be  gath- 
ered from  rooted  vines,  and  the  third  year  from  cuttings.  A  year 
or  two  later  the  vineyard  is  in  full  bearing.  There  are  cases  on 
record  of  more  than  $50  worth  of  grapes  being  taken  from  an  acre 
of  vines  that  had  been  in  the  ground  only  a  year  and  a  half.  Good 
raisin  land  can  be  purchased  in  the  various  localities  adapted  to  the 
industry  at  from  $50  to  $200  per  acre.  The  location  governs  the 
price,  and  the  $50  land  will  be  just  as  good  as  the  $200,  except 
that  it  will  be  more  remote  from  shipping  facilities.  It  is  calculated, 
from  the  experience  of  hundreds  of  growers,  that  an  expenditure 
of  $60  an  acre  will  cover  the  entire  cost  of  planting  and  cultivating 
for  three  years.  If  the  raisin  grower  does  his  work  himself  this 
expense  will  be  reduced  solely  to  the  outlay  required  for  the  vines 
and  possibly  a  little  help  in  planting.  «. 
In  the  early  days  of  raisin  production  it  was  customary  for  the 
growers  to  pack  their  own  fruit  and  market  it  themselves.  There 
was  a  great  deal  of  loss  from  this  system,  caused  by  the  irregularity 
of  grading  and  the  difficulty  of  finding  a  market  for  the  fugitive 
shipments  thus  made.  Subsequently  there  grew  up  a  system  of 
wholesale  packing,  by  which  firms  established  themselves  in  the 
raisin  districts,  put  up  large  warehouses  and  then  contracted  for  the 
fruit  in  the  sweat-boxes.    The  producer  received  cash  on  delivery, 
