RAISINS (OF. raisin. reisin. Fr. raisin, It. racemo, grape, dried grape, cluster of grapes, from Lat. racemus, cluster of grapes: connected with Gk. /3c4;, Hula-, berry). The dried fruit of the grape. Raisin grapes are usually the product of warm climates and contain from 28 to 30 per cent, of sugar. They arc for the most part dried in the sun, and as this requires several weeks of prac tically rainless weather, the areas of commereial culture are limited to a few countries about the Mediterranean Sea and in the Western Hemis phere to Southern California and Chile. The principal and most valuable class of raisins is the Muscatel or Muscat from Malaga and Valencia in Spain. and from California. The seedless raisins of commerce are largely the product of the sultana grapes. The Thompson seedless. which is a promising seedless raisin grape in California, produces raisins a little larger than the sultana. The smallest raisins come from the small currant grape, originally from Corinth. The small black currant of Zante belongs to this class. (See CURRANT.) In the sun curing of standard raisins in California the bunches of grapes are picked by the stems, and all imperfect berries, dirt, etc., haying been removed. laid in
trays slightly raised so as to incline toward the sun. When about two-thirds dry, which will be at the end of six to eight days. they are turned by placing an empty tray over the filled one and inverting both. The upper or original tray is then removed and the grapes exposed four or five days longer for further drying. At the end of this time the grapes are stored and put through a sweating process of from fifteen to twenty days. when they are ready for packing. Sometimes the is done entirely in drying houses. in the Mediterranean district, the stems of the ripened bunches are sometimes partially cut and the sun drying begun on the vines. An other method of curing is to dip the bunches into a hot solution of potash lye. to which has been added a little salt and olive oil. This method is practiced much more in Europe and Asia Minor than in California. Some of the best raisins of commerce are thus. treated. The raisin industry in California has developed rapidly. and in 1900 about 40,000 acres were devoted to this crop. Consult Eisen, The Raisin Industry (San Francisco, 1890).