He secured possession of a section of land, planted it to grapes; 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 from becoming entangled, thus breaking the fine large bunches when removed.  The sorter must be an expert.  He takes the bunches by the stem, placing the largest and finest in the first grade box, those which are medium sized in the second grade, and all broken and ragged bunches in the third class.  When the boxes are filled they are hauled to the brick building known as the equalizer.  This is constructed so as to permit ventilation at the top, but to exclude light and air as much as possible from the grapes.  The boxes are piled in tiers in this house and allowed to remain in darkness for from ten to twenty days.  Here they undergo a sweating process, which diffuses moisture equally throughout the contents of each box.  This prevents some grapes from retaining undue moisture, and it also softens the stems and makes them pliable.