_General Remarks._--On account of the vine disease which has been
injuring the Orange county raisin and wine vineyards, this district has
a special interest to every one engaged in grape-growing. While the
country has received a hard blow through the injury and destruction of
so many of its vineyards, still it is likely that it will recover and
rise as soon as the vine disease leaves.
_Location._--The Orange county raisin district lies close to the sea. Of
all raisin districts, it is nearest the ocean, the average distance of
the raisin vineyards from the latter being eight to twelve miles, some
few perhaps a little more. As will be seen, the district resembles in
this respect some of the Mediterranean districts, such as Malaga and
Smyrna, where the vineyards come within actual reach of the sea fogs. On
one side of the Orange county district we have the ocean, on the
opposite side it is bordered by rather high foothills, beyond which are
the San Bernardino county vineyards, some forty to sixty miles away.
[Illustration: A Raisin-grower’s Residence at Fresno.]
_Climate._--The nearness to the ocean modifies the climate much. The
temperature is more even all the year round than anywhere else on the
coast where raisins are grown. The extreme of heat is 105 degrees; in
fact, July 27, 1889, it was 104 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade, while
in the winter it seldom goes lower than 28 degrees Fahrenheit, and
indeed very, very rarely as low as that. In many places there is no
frost at all, except, perhaps, one in April, which, of course, cannot
but prove damaging to the vines. This absence of heavy frost, which is
beneficial to every other semi-tropical product, is not favorable to the
vine. The grape requires heavy frost to become dormant. The farther
south we go the less frost and the less grapes, at least of the Asiatic
kind. There are, as we know, native grapes even in tropical countries,
but they are adapted to their surroundings and cannot be considered
here. The proximity to the coast modifies the air considerably. With 100
degrees Fahrenheit in the shade, which is an exception here, I felt as
warm as I do in the San Joaquin valley with the mercury at 114;--the two
extremes in both places affect us just the same. The air here is
certainly much more moist, which again must have a marked effect upon
the vine, and in no small degree promote fungoid growths, or parasites
generally. In this respect, then, the coast vineyard must certainly be
at a disadvantage. The fog is not an unusual visitor in the district
between the coast and the foothills, which, in fact, covers the whole
area ever planted in raisin grapes. For days in succession every morning
is foggy, and the fog condenses on the leaves of the trees and falls
under them in real showers, making the adjoining and underlying road
wet. For a few days again the sun will rise bright, again to be followed
by foggy mornings. By from nine to eleven o’clock the fog is again gone
and the sun shines brightly. Every evening and morning there is a heavy
dew, and every branch, leaf or grass is then dripping wet. Several
mornings when the fog was in I found the thermometer at 62 degrees
Fahrenheit, while at noon it rose to over 100.
_Soils and Ripening._--The soil here is the very best, and I doubt if
the same fine quality of soil is found anywhere else in California over
the same extended territory. I ride for miles and miles, everywhere the
finest and richest loam of a gray color, sometimes a little drawing
towards slate blue, sometimes again towards yellowish. It is immensely
rich, and can hardly be improved. There is, however, especially near
Orange, a different kind of soil consisting of the sand loam, but
intermixed with very coarse gravel. This soil is warmer but consequently
not so rich. The grapes ripen on it two weeks earlier, but yield only
one-half as much as those on the richest loam along the creeks. The
vines planted here were alone the Muscat of Alexandria. Strangely enough
I find no traces of Sultanas or currant, which latter, it seems, should
be especially adapted to the coast climate.
_The Vineyards._--In planting a vineyard, rooted vines were seldom used.
Cuttings grew so readily and so well that they were much preferred. I
am told that five per cent loss was unusual. It must be remarked that
the moister is the air the better it is for any kind of cuttings. The
moisture sustains and nourishes the wood while it is making roots. As to
distances, I remarked nothing new. Eight by eight or eight by ten feet
seems the generally adopted way. The nature of the soil and climate make
higher cultivation a necessity. McPherson Bros., who packed the largest
quantity of raisins and owned the finest vineyards, told me that they
plowed and cross-plowed and cultivated from fourteen to sixteen times
every season; in fact they never ceased working the ground. The pruning
was begun in December, or as soon as the leaves began to turn and fall.
To begin with, only a few spurs were left on every vine, and on every
spur three eyes, including the bottom eyes, but experience taught that
that way was not the very best. Gradually more space was given the
vines, and now from fifteen to twenty spurs to a vine in full bearing is
considered proper. Summer pruning is only practiced in some of the
vineyards where the ground is quite wet. The most profitable vineyards
were irrigated. The nearer the coast the more moisture there is in the
soil. Thus three miles west of Santa Ana the ground is always moist
enough to grow grapes, but as we come nearer the foothills to the east,
the moisture is farther down. At Tustin, Orange, and especially at
McPherson, irrigation was practiced in all first-class vineyards. Some
were irrigated in the winter only, and this was considered the best;
others again were irrigated also once in summer,--a practice the best
vineyardmen considered unnecessary and even injurious. I found land near
the town of Santa Ana moist one inch below the surface, where no
irrigation had even been practiced. Sulphuring was used everywhere to
counteract the oidium. For this purpose powdered sulphur was dusted
through the vines as soon as the grapes were as large as small shot.
From three to four sulphurings were used every year with a week between
each. Sulphuring for the colure or dropping of grapes was not known; in
fact I am informed that this colure was seldom known. Besides mildew,
there are few enemies to the vine here. Grasshoppers, leaf-hoppers and
grape moths have never been known to molest the vines. When the late
vine-plague struck the country the vineyardists were entirely unused to
fight any enemy of the vines besides the oidium. Sunscald of the berries
was not known.
_The Crop and its Curing._--The grapes begin to ripen in the end of
August, say about the twenty-fifth, on the gravelly soil, but on the
cooler and richer bottom land very much later, or about the middle of
September. The harvest then begins; the grapes are picked on trays two
and a half by three feet and placed to dry in the sun; the drying takes
two or three weeks or more, and is accomplished with some difficulty.
Two years the grapes had to be carried out to the Mojave desert, to be
dried there. The trays are placed among the vines in such a way that the
trays from three rows are placed in one. To protect them from the fog
and dew, they are covered with canvas. This is done in two ways. One way
is to put small pegs on one side of the trays. The long canvas is
furnished at intervals with rings, which are slipped over the pegs and
thus held steady on one side. In the daytime the other end of the canvas
is simply thrown back over the pegs; in the night-time the canvas is
again turned over the trays, resting directly on the grapes. The other
and better way is to run three wires along the row of trays, one on each
side of the trays. The canvas is furnished with rings on each long side,
which are made to run on the wire. The center wire is run a little
higher up, and here and there simply supported by posts. It takes
comparatively little time every evening to run the canvas along the
wires and cover the trays. The expense is considerable, both in
furnishing and preparing the canvas, and in maintaining and operating
it. The peculiar climatic conditions of the district, however,
necessitate some such contrivance for the drying of the grapes. The
vines seldom bear a second crop of any importance. Sometimes in October
the district is visited by a warm and dry desert wind called the Santa
Ana wind. It comes from the cañon of the Santa Ana river, and
originates, no doubt, in the Mojave desert, and rising high up in the
air is again precipitated over the hills on the lowlands towards the
ocean. This Santa Ana wind is always welcome. It hastens the drying of
the grapes just as the _Terral_ or land winds from the plains of La
Mancha hasten the drying of the grapes of Malaga in Spain.
_Yield and Profits._--The yield is quite small on the gravelly soil, at
the most being three tons of green grapes to the acre, on richer land
from six to seven tons, and in rare instances ten tons to the acre. I
heard of one vineyard where the owner had sold from twenty acres of
Muscatels thirty-three tons of raisins and fifty-six tons of green
grapes, equal to about 155 tons from the lot. Another lot of three-year
Muscatels bore ten tons to the acre,--indeed a very unusual yield
anywhere for Muscatels. I hear reports of some wonderful yields and high
profits, but am informed by the most experienced and trustworthy that
$125 per acre is an average profit which can be relied upon year after
year. The first Muscat vines were planted near Orange, now the station
of McPherson, about 1873, by McPherson Bros. The acreage in grapevines
in the Orange county district was about 8,000 acres; but probably over
half of it is wine grapes. The highest output of raisins was 170,000
boxes of twenty-pounds each.