California is beautiful in the spring. "All of California quickens with produce, and the fruit grows heavy." Chapter 25, pg. 441 Men of knowledge protect the crops from disease and insects. They graft grape vines with the skill of surgeons. "The year is heavy with produce. And men are proud, for of their knowledge they can make the year heavy.
They have transformed the world with their knowledge." Chapter 25, pg. 442 The small farmer has benefited by the scientific advances in agriculture, but because he has to sell his produce to large canneries at a price competitive with the produce from large farms he cannot afford to harvest his crop. These farmers will be bought out by the owners of large farms who also own canneries. Crops go to waste because the farmers cannot afford to harvest them, and the smell of rotting fills the country. More and more people are being forced into poverty and watch food being wasted while they starve. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." Chapter 25, pg. 445
