Of late years the raisin industry has been prominently before the
horticulturists of California. Many people now make their living and
acquire wealth by the cultivation of the raisin grapes, and many are now
studying the methods of cultivation, pruning, curing and packing while
waiting for their vines to bear. The literature of the raisin industry
is a very scant one, and, with the exception of a few notices in works
of travel, or in treatises on general fruit culture, we find not a
single book in which this important and interesting industry is made the
special subject of study and discussion. A book on the raisin industry
may, therefore, be considered timely. I have endeavored to so write it
that it would contain something of interest to all those connected with
the growing and curing of the raisin grapes, to those who have already
succeeded in building up fame and fortune, as well as to those who have
just begun the cultivation of the vine, and who have as yet only
realized the pleasures, but not the profits, of the industry. The
historical part of the book will principally interest the former; for
the latter the practical part on cultivation, pruning, curing and
packing is intended.
As our climate and other conditions differ from those of any other
country in the world, so must our methods of cultivation and curing
differ from those practiced elsewhere. Foreign methods, while
interesting and, in some respects, of great importance to us, had to be
greatly modified and improved upon before our growers succeeded in
producing raisins equaling the best from the raisin districts of the Old
World. It has cost years of experimenting and study to attain success,
as well as much money and disappointment to many who had nothing to
guide them when they commenced.
These processes by which success was achieved can now become the
property of all, and a safe guide to even the most inexperienced
beginners. The methods advocated here are the result of practical
experience of the author, as well as of the most successful
raisin-growers of this State.
For the benefit of those of our readers who now study the raisin
industry at a distance, but whose steps may in the future be directed to
this Coast, a descriptive tour through the raisin districts of our State
has been added in order that they may see what our country is like,--the
country of the raisin and the fig; the country of almonds, olives,
oranges and prunes; the country where health, profit and enjoyment are
more than anywhere else derived from horticultural pursuits. It is for
these prospective readers, that the short biographical sketches of our
principal raisin-men are intended,--short records of the pioneers of the
raisin industry,--men who have broken the way which is now easy to
travel, and through whose experience and perseverance others are now
being benefited.