_The Packing-house._--The packing-house should be large and airy and,
whether it is made of lumber, brick or adobe, it should in preference to
anything else be large. Room is needed at every operation in the
packing-house, and it is hardly possible to get too much of it. So far
no very large and perfect buildings for packing-houses have ever been
erected in California; the raisin industry is too young for that, and
even the best of our buildings are only temporary ones. It is here not
possible nor desirable to give any instructions how to build and arrange
a raisin packing-house, as every packer will have his own ideas and his
own necessities in this respect, and not two packers would build alike.
All we can do here is to refer to what is needed in a general way, in
order that the reader will get some preliminary ideas of what he will
require when his raisin vineyard comes in bearing.
The packing-house should contain the following apartments: First, the
general packing-room, in which the raisins are assorted and packed. Then
the sweating-house or equalizing room, in which the boxes are stored for
several weeks in order to equalize the moisture in the raisins. Then the
stemming-room, in which the stemming and grading of the loose raisins is
carried on. Then we have the weighing room, where the raisins are
received from the field, and where they are weighed when this is
required. There should also be an office and a pasting room, where the
labels are pasted on the lining paper, and finally there should be
plenty of veranda or shed room all around the building, where boxes of
all kinds can be received and temporarily stored, either before the
raisins are packed, or afterwards when they are ready to be shipped. We
might also wish to have a room for a box factory, where boxes of all
kinds are nailed up. This can in our climate best be done in the shed or
under the veranda. The packing-house proper should be as large as all
the other rooms together. It can hardly be made too large, as during the
lively packing season hundreds of hands will here be busy, each one with
his special work. The floor of the packing-house should be of matched
lumber, and slanting towards the center, along which should run a small
gutter. Any other material, such as cement, may also be used, the only
object in view being that the floor can be washed from time to time and
the dirt carried off through the gutter as readily as possible. The
packing-room should have places for long narrow tables, at which the
packing and assorting is done, and these tables can most conveniently be
run the whole length of the room. At one end there should be room for
the presses and the nailing tables, as well as storage room for empty
and full boxes.
_The Sweating-house._--The sweating-house or sweating-room should
immediately adjoin the packing-room. It should be built either of
matched lumber or of brick or adobe, in order that the temperature may
be kept tolerably even and the moisture confined if necessary. The
sweating-room in the Fresno Raisin and Fruit Packing Co’s house in
Fresno is large enough to contain 40 tons of raisins at one time, and is
about 50 feet square, while the sweating-room on the Forsyth vineyard
measures about 35 feet by 50 feet, and is built of brick in two stories,
the lower one of which is used for raisins, the upper one for storage.
For those who wish figures, we might state as examples of buildings,
that the Forsyth packing-house, which also contains a sweating-room but
not a stemming-room, is 120 feet by 35 feet, and contains besides a
small platform outside for the reception of boxes, etc. The Fresno
Raisin and Fruit Packing Co’s building is about 150 feet by 75 feet.
[Illustration: Raisin Stemmer and Grader.]
_The Stemmer and Grader._--This large machine is a California invention.
The principle on which it works is that the dry stems are separated by
revolving the raisins rapidly in a drum made of perforated galvanized
iron or of strong galvanized wire. After the stems are separated, the
raisins fall together on screens of wire with various size meshes,
through which the smaller berries are separated from the larger berries,
while the refuse and broken stems are blown away by a fan. The most
perfect stemmer and grader is the one on the Butler vineyard. The
raisins are first dumped into a hopper below the floor, and from there
they are run automatically on a belt to the top of the stemmer, where
they enter the drum. From the drum they fall on the separating screens,
which grade them in three grades, each one falling in a box of its own.
Somewhat similar stemmers are seen in all the large vineyards, all run
by steam and large enough to stem and grade from forty to sixty tons of
raisins a day. There is considerable difference as to the ingenuity with
which these stemmers are built, some requiring many more hands to run
them than others. The Butler stemmer requires, part of the time, only
one man for its successful running. The Forsyth stemmer stands under a
shed in the open air, apart from the packing-house, in order that the
dust may be freely carried away. The smaller vineyards have stemmers run
by hand, and have separate graders also run by hand, large enough to
stem and grade from five to eight tons of raisins per day.
[Illustration: Raisin Lever Press.]
_The Presses._--These are of two kinds, screw presses and lever presses.
The screw press is much preferable (at least until the lever press may
be perfected), as with it we can gauge the pressure given the raisins.
The only press of this kind is found on the Raisina vineyard of T. C.
White. The press that is generally adopted, and the one that is most
handy, is the lever press, which is so constructed that four boxes of
raisins can be kept in the press at one time, or until the last box or
part of a box is ready. By a pressure with the foot, the levers are
released and the boxes freed from the pressure. While this press is
exceedingly handy and quickly worked, the pressure cannot readily be
gauged, and the raisins are apt to be injured by too heavy pressure. But
it is likely that improvements will soon be made which will remedy this
defect.
_Boxes and Cartoons._--The California raisin boxes are of three
kinds,--whole boxes of twenty pounds, halves of ten pounds and quarters
of five pounds. The wholes and the quarters are those most used, while
the halves are seldom used or required. The cartoons are made of paper
and contain two and one-half pounds of raisins each. The following are
the measurements of raisin boxes and cartoons, and of the lumber
required for making them. Twenty-pound box: 9 x 18 x 4¾ inches.
Ten-pound box: 9 x 18 x 2⅜ inches. Five-pound box: 9 x 18 x 1³⁄₁₆
inches. The foregoing are inside measurements. The tops and bottoms are
one-quarter inch thick, 19½ inches long and 9¾ inches wide. The sides of
the twenty-pound box are 19½ inches long, 4¾ inches wide and
three-eighths inches thick. The ends of a twenty-pound box are 9 inches
long, 4¾ inches wide and three-fourths of an inch thick. The sides of
the ten-pound box are 19½ inches long, three-eighths of an inch thick
and 2⅜ inches wide. The ends of a ten-pound box are 9 inches long,
three-fourths of an inch thick and 2⅜ inches wide. The sides of a
five-pound box are 19½ inches long, three-eighths of an inch thick and
1³⁄₁₆ inches wide. The two and one-half pound cartoon is five inches
wide, ten inches long and one and one-half inches deep.
_Packing Frames or Packing Trays._--These are of two kinds, according to
the method of packing. For the top-up method, wooden frames large enough
to hold five pounds of raisins are used. In length and width these
frames correspond with the raisin box, but in height they are only
one-third of a whole box, or about one and one-half inches. The bottom
is a sliding one, and can be pulled out broadwise. The frame is first
lined on the inside with the necessary paper, and then five pounds of
raisins are placed in the paper. A follower or block of wood, large
enough to fill the form or frame, is then placed on top, the frame is
placed over an empty box, the sliding bottom quickly withdrawn, and the
whole contents fall in the box below undisturbed. For the top-down
method, frames of galvanized iron are used, slightly deeper than the
former, but the bottom is a drop-bottom, resting on a flange, instead of
a sliding bottom, as in the former tray. A loose plate of zinc is placed
on top of the frame, the latter is inverted and placed over the box, and
the zinc plate quickly withdrawn, when the contents covered by the loose
drop-bottom (or by the facing-plate) fall into the raisin box.
_Facing-plate._--This useful tool was invented by T. C. White. It
consists of a brass plate large enough to fit readily into the bottom of
the raisin box. In this plate are arranged small cavities, each one wide
enough to hold a large raisin. For large boxes the plate is made to
contain eleven raisins the short way and eighteen the long way. The
plate is first placed in the bottom of the iron frame in place of the
loose bottom. A raisin is placed in each cavity and lightly pressed, and
loose raisins are carefully filled in on the top. When this frame is
afterwards reversed and the raisins and the plate as follower are
received in the box, it will be found that the top layer has retained
its arrangement and is regularly faced. This facing-plate enables the
packer to face quickly and cheaply, but it can only be used when the
top-down method of packing is used. The standard plate is nine inches by
eighteen inches, and the plate for cartoons is five inches by ten
inches, both made of heavy brass.
_Scales._--For weighing the quantity of raisins necessary for every
layer, scales must be found on every weighing table. Any ordinary
grocery scales which work with springs may be used. Generally one pair
of such scales are used at each end of the assorting table.
_Labeling Press._--Of late every large packer labels his boxes before
they are nailed together. This is done by passing the shooks through a
labeling press, which prints under pressure the required label on each
side or top, the name, etc., appearing in concave type on their face.
These presses are run by machinery and work very rapidly.
_Tables._--In the packing-house are tables of various kinds; they are
generally long and narrow, and about four feet wide. The assorting
tables should be furnished with square holes at intervals of five or six
feet, so that the loose raisins may be scraped through them into boxes
below. The assorting and weighing tables are furnished with a low flange
or guard all around, to prevent any raisins falling on the floor.
_Bags and Bag-holders._--Two kinds of bags are used,--cotton sacks or
jute sacks. The former are white like flower sacks, the latter coarser
and brownish. In the former no paper linings are used, but in the latter
a paper bag is stitched, in order that the air may not penetrate and dry
the raisins. Both kinds of bags are used to an equal extent. The cotton
sacks contain either thirty or sixty pounds, while the jute sacks are
made to contain an average of eighty pounds each. Patented bag-holders
are used everywhere for holding the bags open while they are being
filled.
_Trucks._--For inside work, trucks very similar to those used in the
vineyard are now generally adopted. They are handled with ease, and for
moving boxes of various kinds are absolutely indispensable in the modern
raisin packing-house.
_Trays for Weighing._--These are small, shallow boxes, made of zinc or
tin, and large enough to hold five pounds of raisins each. One short
side of the tray should be slanting outward in order that the raisins
may fall out readily. They are only used in weighing the raisins which
are to go in each five-pound layer in the whole boxes.
_Followers._--These are wooden blocks of the size of a quarter box of
raisins, inside measurement. They should be lined with zinc on the flat
sides, in order that they may be washed readily, and also to prevent the
sugar of the raisins from adhering to them. They should be large enough
to just fit inside a box or frame, and are used to keep the raisins
steady while being changed from the frame to the box. They are also
placed on top of the raisin frames when they are being pressed.
_Paper._--Several kinds of paper are used in the raisin business. Heavy
yellow manilla paper is used to place in the sweatboxes, one sheet
between every two layers of raisins. The paper should be heavy, and cut
to fit the box. Many growers use too short paper, which always has the
inconvenience of causing the raisins to mix and become entangled. Only
one whole sheet of paper should be used at a time; two short sheets will
not answer, as, in lifting out a layer of raisins, the assorter takes
hold of the four corners of the paper, and thus readily lifts out the
raisin block. Lighter paper for lining the raisin boxes is used, both
for layers and loose. The paper generally used is common book paper
twenty-one by twenty-eight inches, and forty, fifty or sixty pounds to
the ream in quality. Previous to being used, this paper is cut to fit
the tray, a square piece being cut out of every corner. When placed in
the tray, the central part of the paper fits the bottom of the tray,
while the sides of the paper extend sufficiently over the sides of the
tray to meet on top when folded over the raisins. Waxed tissue paper
should always be placed on the top of the raisins in order to prevent
the moisture from the raisins injuring the colored and artistic labels.
Colored lithographs or chromos of various designs and qualities are used
for all raisins packed in boxes. When bought they come in three sizes.
The central label should be nearly the size of the face of the box. The
top labels are shorter pieces, almost as wide as the box, but only a few
inches long. They are previously pasted to the top flaps of the lining.
The side labels are twice as long as the face of the box, but not quite
half as wide; they are similarly pasted on the long side flaps of the
lining. There is a great variety of designs used, some of which are not
appropriate. Whatever designs we use, it will be to the advantage of
every country not to imitate, but to use labels characteristic of the
country and locality where the raisins are made.
_Tin Boxes._--For packing raisins for tropical countries, boxes made of
tin should be used. The dampness in those countries causes raisins
packed the common way to mold and spoil. No box should contain more than
ten pounds of raisins, and the top should be so soldered on that it can
be removed without cutting or injuring the box. The French system of
soldering on by means of a narrow strip of tin, which can be wound up,
is admirable, and could hardly be improved upon. Five ten-pound boxes
should be packed in a _light_ case made of light timber, and the whole
package when closed should not weigh over sixty pounds. Four such cases
will make one mule-load, and two such cases can be conveniently carried
by one man.