Raisin

a dried grape. Two methods of drying are followed. Sun-raisins are cured by cutting the stalk of the ripened cluster partly through, and allowing the grapes to hang and dry in the sun before they are picked and packed in boxes for shipment. This is the old-world method. Spain, Asia Minor, and the islands of the Grecian Archipelago produce the finest raisins. Greece devotes 168,000 acres to raising a small seedless grape for raisins. Over 100,000 tons of these raisins are shipped annually. As these grapes were shipped mostly from Corinth they received the name "corinths," which became "currant," just as "Worcester" became "Wooster." California cures enormous quantities of raisins by drying the clusters on especially prepared floors. It is worth while to notice the markings on raisin boxes in groceries to learn where they have been produced. The importance of California raisins may be understood from the fact that while, in 1885, California produced a little over 9,000,000 pounds, and we imported over 53,000,000 pounds, in 1902 California produced 100,000,000, and we imported less than 7,000,000 pounds. See Grapes; Greece; California