Mr. Barling, formerly of Michigan, was educated at Ann Arbor. In 1873 he left college and started West, settling in Merced county, California. There he became connected with the Farmers’ Canal Co., as their chief engineer, which position he held for seven years, and in that capacity conducted the water of the Merced river down to Livingston on the S. P. R. R. From Merced he went to Mexico in the employ of the Mexican Central Railroad, but returned to San Francisco, California, in 1882. Here he had charge of the construction of the large wharf at Alameda point, then being constructed by the S. P. R. R. Co. Becoming tired of working for a salary, Mr. Barling went to Fresno and rented a lot in the Central Colony. By dint of hard work, not having any capital at all to start with, he and his wife saved one thousand dollars, with which they purchased the present El Modelo vineyard, paying forty-five dollars per acre for the rough land in 1885. Mr. Barling and his wife went to work with a will and set out the land in Muscat cuttings, but through unfortunate and unforeseen circumstances all the first planting was lost. Undaunted they replanted in 1886 with great success, and to-day they own one of the finest and best-paying 150-acre vineyards in the county, having yearly added new territory to the first purchase. Last season they packed sixteen thousand boxes of Muscat raisins, and established the El Modelo brand, which in the market is considered second to none, and which has established an enviable reputation for its packers. This year’s pack is estimated to reach fifty thousand boxes of twenty pounds each. Mr. Barling’s thorough education and skill and experience as an engineer has materially contributed to his success. He has also held the position of assistant cashier in the Fresno Loan & Savings Bank for the last five years. FRANK H. BALL. The Ball Vineyard adjoins the town of Fresno, and is situated in the rich red lands, the sink of old creeks. The one hundred and twenty acres in Muscatels are among the best cared for in the district. Mr. Ball possesses the faculty of doing the necessary work at the right time and doing it thoroughly. The crop is annually sold in the sweatboxes to packers in Fresno City, no raisins being packed on the vineyard. Mr. Ball is the author of an excellent essay on raisin-grape growing and curing, published in the _California_ for July, 1890. His methods of culture and curing are the best, and the raisins produced by them are not surpassed by any in the State. Mr. Ball is one of our most successful raisin-men. SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY RAISIN PACKERS, 1889.