apes; he read
everything he could buy on raisin making, but found little in the
books that was of any value. So he made a trip to Spain, and inspected
all the processes in the Malaga district. He gathered many new ideas.
One of the most valuable suggestions was in regard to prunings and
keeping the vine free from the suckers that sap its vitality. When he
returned from this trip and passed through Los Angeles County he saw
that the strange disease which was killing many hundred acres of vines
was nothing else than the result of faulty prunings--the retention of
suckers until they gained such lusty growth that their removal proved
fatal to the vine. His vineyard is as free from weeds and grass as a
corner of a well kept kitchen garden. The vine leaves have that deep
glossy look which betrays perfect health. When my visit was made the
whole crop was on trays spread out in the vineyard. These trays had
been piled up in layers of a dozen--what is technically known as
boxed--as a shower had fallen the previous night, and Mr. Butler was
uncertain whether he would have a crop of the choicest raisins or
whether he would have to put his dried grapes in bags, and sell them
for one-third of the top price. Fortunately the rain clouds cleared
away. The crop was saved and the extreme hot weather that followed
made the second crop almost as valuable as the first.

The method of drying and packing the raisin is peculiar and well worth
a brief description. When the grape reaches a certain degree of
ripeness and develops the requisite amount of saccharine matter a
large force is put into the vineyard and the picking begins. The
bunches of ripe grapes are placed carefully on wooden trays and are
left in the field to cure. The process requires from seven days to
three weeks, according to the amount of sunshine. This climate is so
entirely free from dew at night that there is no danger of must. The
grape cures perfectly in this way and makes a far sweeter raisin than
when dried by artificial heat. When the grapes are dried sufficiently
the trays are gathered and stacked in piles about as high as a man's
waist. Then begins the tedious but necessary process of sorting into
the sweat boxes. These boxes are about eight inches deep and hold 125
pounds of grapes. Around the sorter are three sweat boxes for the
three grades of grapes. In each box are three layers of manila paper
which are used at equal intervals to prevent the stems of the grapes