Part 3

_Labor._--The labor in Malaga is the most expensive in Spain, the best laborer being paid forty cents per day, while in Denia the labor is obtained for fifteen cents only; but it must be remembered that the packing of the Malaga raisins is a much more particular work than the packing of the dipped Denias.

The price paid for Malaga raisins at the packing-house is at an average of seven cents per pound for the best, or from one to two cents more than what is paid in California. The lower grades bring from two and a half cents upwards.

VALENCIA AND DENIA.

_Extent of the Districts._--The Valencia raisins, or, as they are called, the Lexias or Spanish dipped raisins, are produced in the province of Valencia, situated on the east coast of Spain. The district contains three sub-districts, the southern one, the Alicante district, extending from Villa Joyosa in the north to Elche in the south. The raisins of the Alicante district are inferior to those produced in the other districts, both as regards quality and quantity. The most northerly district is the Valencia district proper, extending from Cullera in the south to Castellon in the north. North of the latter place the Muscat grape does not come to perfection, and even within this district comparatively few raisins are now produced as compared with a few years ago. But the bulk of all the raisins produced in the province are exported from Valencia city, and hence these raisins are known as Valencias, while in reality they come principally from Denia.

The bulk of the Valencia raisins come from the central district, or the Denia sub-district, comprising the land between Villa Joyosa in the south and Cullera in the north, or about thirty miles on each side of the town of Denia. Towards the interior the raisin district extends at the most nine miles, but the average is less, so that the whole district over which the Denia vineyards are spread includes only an area of 350 square miles, equal to ten townships of land, or about 224,000 acres. A large part of this land is not cultivated, and consists of mountains and waste places only suitable as watersheds. The town of Denia is the principal town of the sub-district, and has now a population of about 2,600 people. It is situated about half way between Valencia in the north and Alicante in the south, on the shore of the Mediterranean, in about the latitude of Sacramento in California, or thirty-eight degrees, fifty minutes north. Being one of the oldest towns in Spain, Denia was first founded by the Phœnicians, who here established the worship of Diana, from which word the name Denia is a corruption. The Phœnicians also introduced the grapes, and possibly also the drying of raisins; but the local tradition gives the honor of the latter industry to the Moors, who are said to have brought with them the variety of grape known as the Muscat of Alexandria. During a part of the year, Denia is the export harbor for the raisins of the district. This is only possible in the early part of the raisin season, as then only are the winds favorable,--the so-called harbor being nothing but a roadstead. Later in the season, when storms and rains set in, all the raisins are shipped to Valencia by railroad, and from there exported by steamers and sailing vessels.

Among other industries of the Denia district are the cultivation of onions, the manufacture of cotton goods, its sardine fisheries, etc., all giving work to the vineyard workers during a time of the year when there is nothing or but little to do in the vineyards and packing-houses.

The raisins of Denia are not all of the same quality, but vary according to the locality where grown. The whole district is dotted with small villages, all producing raisins. The principal ones of these are, besides Denia proper, Jabea, Jaraco, Jerrea, Oliva, Pedreguer, Jalon, Gandia, Ondara, Vergel, etc. Of these, Denia proper produced in 1876 over 2,500 tons of raisins, Jabea 1,700 tons, Oliva 1,600 tons, Pedreguer 1,000 tons, Retoria 900 tons, Jalon 850 tons, Ondara and Benisa 800 tons each. But, besides these, there are some twenty odd more villages or smaller raisin centers, which produce from 200 to 700 tons each, or an aggregate of 20,000 tons of raisins.

_Soils and Appearance of the Districts._--The soils of the province of Valencia, where the vineyards are situated, are of various kinds, such as cretaceous and calcareous soils, containing admixtures of clay, sand and gravel. The color is often red, changing to gray where irrigation has been practiced, but much of the soil is of an ashy white color, similar to that of bottom lands generally. In many of the lower situated plains, the soils are blackish or dark gray, especially so where stable or other manures have been used for years.

Many vineyards are situated on the hillsides or on the rolling lands, where the gravelly soils produce raisins of smaller size and in less quantity, but sweeter and finer flavored. But the largest bulk of the vineyards are on comparatively level land, which can be and which is irrigated. The raisins produced on these low grounds in the moist and cool valleys are larger, but not of equal flavor and sweetness. In wet seasons, the hillsides are preferred, the valley lands then being too wet and cold. Accordingly, as the seasons are wet and cold, or dry and warm, the various localities produce raisins of different qualities, which again are valued and paid for differently. The extent of the valley or plain lands decides the extent of the raisin districts, and of late years the rolling vineyards have decreased in quantity, while those on the plains have increased, until at the present time almost all the plain lands are occupied with raisin vineyards, especially in the Denia sub-district.

_Climate._--The climate of Denia and its surroundings is rather cold and windy; damaging spring frosts, as well as early fall rains, frequently interfere with the setting of the grapes and with the harvesting of the crop; it has even happened several times that the entire crop has been seriously injured by one of these, or by both causes combined. Farther north, or in the Valencia district proper, the climate is milder, and frost is rare. Oranges are here at home, while the culture of raisin grapes becomes less every year. North of Castellon the climatic conditions are such that no raisin culture is possible.

As compared with the climate of Malaga, that of Denia is much less favorable to the raisin grape. The production of sun-dried and undipped raisins in Denia is not possible, and, although it has been attempted several times, it has seldom succeeded. The rainfall of Denia averages twelve inches per year. The rainiest months are those of November, February and April, but the heaviest rainfall at one time occurs quite frequently in the first week of September, while light showers are not uncommon in August, at that time doing much damage to the grapes or the just exposed raisins.

_Irrigation._--Not only is irrigation necessary to grow the vines successfully and to produce an abundance of grapes, but the irrigation in the province of Valencia is necessary to the health and longevity of the vines. Nowhere else in Spain is the water so abundant, and no saving of the water is necessary in the majority of the districts. Through an abundance of water, the soil on the lowlands has now filled up to such an extent, that in the best vineyards the surface water is only from five to eight feet from the surface of the ground. Those vines which could not be irrigated have gradually become diseased, and the hillside vineyards are being rapidly abandoned and devoted to something else. Upon the abundance and constancy of the water depends the prosperity of the whole province, and there is hardly a more prosperous country in Spain. To show the close connection between irrigation and raisin production in Spain, it will no doubt interest many to know something of the irrigation system and the irrigation districts of the province of Valencia, than which no more important ones are found in Spain.

The district of Alicante is supplied with water from the river Monegre, and the Elche district from the river Minalapo. In the northern part of the province is the Murviado irrigation district, taking its water from the river Palencia. The Jucar irrigation district, situated immediately south of the _huerta_ of Valencia, takes its water from the Jucar river, distributing 850 cubic feet of water per second upon some 50,000 acres of land.

The Valencia irrigation district consists of 26,350 acres of land close to the town of Valencia, and is watered by the river Guadalaviar, or, as it is generally called, the Turia. The water is distributed through eight canals, each carrying from 35 to 120 cubic feet of water per second, the combined low-water discharge of all the canals being from 250 to 350 cubic feet of water per second. Of the importance of irrigation in this district, we can judge when we learn that the above 26,350 acres contain 72,000 inhabitants and sixty-two villages, or an average of 1,774 people per square mile, not including the city of Valencia itself, with a population of 120,000 people. It is also remarkable that this enormous population on a territory not as large as the arable land surrounding any one of our principal inland towns in California, is not alone due to the irrigation and care of the land, but to the minute subdivision of the land, which makes this culture and irrigation possible. It is a practical illustration of the value of the colony system as inaugurated in California, showing what we can expect of our inland plains when they become fully irrigated and the land properly subdivided.

_Quality of the Raisins._--It has already been stated that the grapes grown in Denia are the Muscat of Alexandria, which were introduced there by the Moors. Farther south, in the Alicante district, other varieties are more common, but play no important part in the raisin production of the district. The Valencia raisins are inferior to those of Malaga, the want of heat requiring them to be dipped in lye before drying. This, again, gives these raisins a peculiar reddish, semi-transparent color, which unfits them for table raisins. The Valencia raisins are principally used for cooking; even the best grades of Valencias are inferior to the inferior grades of Malaga raisins. During the last season (1889) large quantities of Denia grapes were cured on the Malaga style, and with great success. Large quantities of such sun-dried Denias were sent in bulk to Malaga, and there repacked for export to the United States, the Malaga crop having so diminished that the usual demand could not be supplied. Years in which such sun-drying is possible in Denia are rare.

_Planting and Care._--The Muscat cuttings are planted generally in February. The best cuttings are considered to be those taken from vines at least six years old. The cuttings are set at various distances according to the richness of the soil. The richer the soil the less room is given the vines. Thus the vines are set either five by eleven feet or five by twelve feet, or, in other words, they are set in rows eleven or twelve feet apart, with the vines five feet apart in the row. The depth of the cutting is regulated by the moisture of the surface soil, but averages eighteen inches. The vines begin to bud in the middle of March, and are from the start subject to great care and constant cultivation. The first operation after the cutting is planted is to cut off the top bud as soon as the vine starts to grow, leaving the two shoots only from the two lower buds. No more shoots are allowed to grow the first year. Next winter the smaller of these two branches is cut off completely and the remaining branch is pruned back to two eyes. In the second year the young shoots from the vine are allowed to grow to ten inches or so long, when all are cut away except two of the strongest. Next winter again these are pruned so to leave only two eyes on each, or four buds on the whole vine. In the succeeding years the branches are gradually increased in number, but always pruned back to two eyes. After the vine is five years old, it is seldom increased as to branches; it is then always pruned back to the same number of spurs. It can be said that the Denia growers pay less attention to the quality of the raisins, and prune more to attain quantity. They leave more spurs on their vines than do those in Malaga, and in this respect resemble many of our own California growers, who frequently leave from twelve to fifteen spurs on a vine. The vines in Denia are also raised higher above the ground than in Malaga, very much as we have been in the habit of pruning our own vines. At the age of three years the vines come into bearing; but no fine raisins are made until the vines are five or six years old.

_Dipping and Scalding._--The dipping process is one of the greatest importance, and gives the peculiar characteristics to the Valencia or Denia raisins. As a similar process will sometime or other be more generally used in California, a more detailed description may prove interesting to California growers. We can probably not do better than to imitate them, although in mechanical appliances we will readily improve upon their methods. The dipping is always done at the drying ground or _secadero_. The larger part of the dipping apparatus, or the kettles, are placed under the ground so as to save heat and fuel. A trench eight or nine feet in length is dug to the depth of three or four feet. At one end is built a chimney protruding three or four feet above the level of the ground. In the other end of the trench is built a brick wall with an opening for feeding the fire. Some trenches are lined inside with bricks, making them more permanent and solid. On the top of this flue, and on a level with the ground, are built the kettles or boilers, containing not less than twenty gallons each. The boiler nearest the fire entrance is destined to contain a solution of lye or ashes, the one next to the chimney being for boiling water only.

The lye is made from the ashes of burnt vine cuttings, together with lime and sometimes some salt, by men who have acquired the art from years of experience, and who know by the appearance of the scalded grapes whether the solution is too strong or too weak. If too weak, the skins of the grapes will be insufficiently cut, which will delay the drying of the grapes, and cause them to rot if the weather is damp and foggy. If, again, the lye solution is too strong, the skin will be destroyed and the berries seriously injured.

The grapes to be dipped should be perfectly ripe. If dipped before, they will become inferior both as to color and taste. The perfect ripeness is a most important point. The grapes are picked in baskets of about ten pounds each, and carried to the scalder. The man nearest him on the right fills a perforated ladle with about twenty pounds of the grapes. The ladle is made either of wire netting or of tin or zinc, with large perforated holes about three-eighths of an inch wide. There is a scalder at each boiler. The first scalder dips the grapes in the scalding water for a second, and immediately hands them to the second scalder, who dips the same ladle in the boiling lye solution for not over two seconds. The grapes are then carefully turned out on trays to dry.

The dipping first in scalding water is of the greatest importance, both in washing off the dust of the grapes and in preparing them to receive the alkali wash with more effect. Since the hot-water process was introduced, the Valencia raisins have materially improved in quality. The grapes are never rinsed in cold water after being dipped, and it is more than likely that the lye prevents molding, as, according to A. B. Butler, dipped raisins are sometimes exposed to the rain for three weeks without being totally ruined. In California, our dipped and washed raisins spoil quickly if exposed to rain. The object of dipping is, of course, to slightly crack the skins so as to allow the water to readily evaporate. Dipped raisins dry sometimes in five days, while undipped raisins would require as many weeks. Efforts to produce sun-dried raisins without dipping them have repeatedly been made in Denia; but they are invariably spoiled by the rain, and lately two firms were ruined in their attempts to dispense with the dipping process.

_Drying and Curing._--After the grapes have been properly dipped, the drying proceeds very quickly. The grapes are immediately spread on cane trays or _cañezos_, about six feet long by three or four feet wide. These cane trays are made of the common Italian reed or _Arundo donax_, which grows everywhere, even in California, and is here incorrectly known as bamboo. The trays are made either of split or of entire canes tied strongly together. These trays are placed flat on the ground, only leaving enough space around each one to allow the workmen free access to the tray on all sides. After having been exposed to the sun for three days, the grapes are turned, in order to dry evenly on both sides. On the fifth day, the raisins are turned again, and, if the weather has been favorable, many of the raisins are then ready to pack. A day or two after this, all the raisins are ready, and are collected and housed. If, again, the weather has been unfavorable, the drying is very much delayed. At the approach of rain, the mats or trays are taken up and piled on the top of each other, under sheds previously made. Every drying ground has stationary appliances for this purpose. These simply consist of poles stuck in the ground, and extending five or six feet above the same. Other cross-rafters or scantlings are nailed between the poles, thus forming rows of roofless sheds eight or nine feet wide, of greater or shorter length. Painted canvas, or simply mats or empty reed trays, are used as covers, under which the raisin trays are piled. Under and between each tray are placed five little cubes of wood, for the purpose of lifting the tray and preventing it from pressing too heavily on the grapes underneath.

_Packing and Disposing of the Crop._--When at last the raisins are dried, they are either stored by the producer, or, as is more generally the case, are taken to the merchant or packer who has supplied the grower’s wants during the year in anticipation of the coming crop. There are thus a number of special packers in Denia, who own large and splendid packing-houses in which the crop is yearly handled. The grower never packs himself, the enhanced value of the raisins not being sufficient to warrant the trouble. One of the best and by far the largest packing-houses in Denia is owned by J. D. Arquimbau. A more perfectly equipped establishment is not found anywhere else.

All of the packing is done by women, while the men do the carting of the raisins from the vineyards to the packing-houses. During the balance of the year, when there is no more work in the packing-houses, these very men occupy themselves with the sardine fishery, while their wives then dress the sardines and pack them in oil. They have thus work all the year round,--an absolute necessity in a country where the wages are so small, and where the poor man has no chance to save up a capital. The wages paid for packing in Denia is only fifteen cents per day; while in Malaga the same work commands from forty to sixty cents per day. In some of the warehouses in Denia, from two to three hundred women are employed, as well as a number of men. The boxes now used are halves of twenty-eight pounds, or quarters of fourteen pounds each. The large or whole boxes of fifty-six pounds each are no longer in use. The raisins are all packed “off-stalk,” or, as we say, “loose.” Bunch or stem raisins, or “on-stalk” raisins, are seldom seen. This great improvement in packing is of recent origin, and is due entirely to the influence of English merchants. Some thirty years ago, the raisin industry of Valencia had so deteriorated, that it threatened to entirely cease. The cause of the deterioration was principally the habit of the buyers to pay for crops, not according to the quality of the raisins, but according to the quantity. The small farmer with a few hundred pounds of raisins carefully cured was paid less, or at least not any more, than the man who had hundreds of tons carelessly cured. As a consequence, it was to no one’s interest to take any particular pains in curing. The raisins deteriorated; no care was paid to packing; anything, almost, stalks, dirt and bruised berries were dumped in boxes together; brands, trade-marks and labels were unknown. The whole business was apparently going to ruin. The orders from England became less and less every year. Those from America almost ceased. The “equality price” or “average price,” which has been so much in vogue in California, actually ruined the Valencia raisin industry. We ought to take a lesson from them, and change this system in time, or we will be in the same bad fix as they were.

The improvement in Valencia raisins was entirely due to the energetic efforts of English gentlemen. Mr. George Graham, agent for an English firm, established himself in Valencia, investigated the raisin business, and, seeing the true cause of the ruin, set himself to work to remedy the same. He introduced better methods in growing, curing and packing; and through his efforts a better price was paid for a better grade of raisins, and it was not long before the raisin business was on an entirely different footing. The object of the grower was from that on, not only to increase the quantity, but to increase the quality as well. To begin with, the raisins were shipped off-stalk or loose; but the boxes were not faced. Now the raisin boxes are all faced, and the raisins are carefully selected and assorted. As a consequence, the Denia trade has of late years increased enormously, until at present all the land available has been planted to raisins. There is at present but little or no first-class raisin land left in Denia, and it looks as if the raisin production there could not be further expanded.