THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 491 



THE OUTLOOK FOR THE GRAPE.^ 



By Frank T. Sm'Ett, County Horticultural Commissioner, Martinez, Cal. 



At the present time the outlook for the grape indiistr}' — like its 

 sisters, the apple and the peach industries — is decidedly unsettled. It 

 Avill need the Avisdom of legislators, the skill of technicians, and the 

 ability of business men to carry it through the coming decade without 

 incurring severe losses, the effects of which would fall heavily on 

 growers of grapes, on banks, on business men and on wage earners. I 

 will add, also, that if conditions continue to be as unsettled as at the 

 present time, the orchardist, even if he does not grow a single grape- 

 vine, will be one of the first, during the next few years, to feel the 

 effects. 



The growth of the grape and Avine industry in California has been 

 steady, continuous and rapid. Taking five-year periods, beginning in 

 the period ending in 1873, the total amount of wine produced in 

 each period in round numliors of gallons runs 16,000.000, 21,000,000, 

 42.000.000, 71,000,000, 89,000,000, 96,000,000, 142,000,000, 187,000,000, 

 225.000,000. 



There are noAv 170,000 acres of wine grapes. In addition a large 

 part of the product of table grape vineyards and of raisin grape vine- 

 yards goes to the wineries. This steady growth could not have taken 

 place unless, on the whole, the price of grapes had averaged a profitable 

 figure to the grower; had it been otherwise new vineyards would not 

 have been planted. This is in contrast, to the violent fluctuations of 

 the orchard business. ]\Iany folks picture the orchard interests of Cali- 

 fornia as having groAATi steadily and continuously. Let me submit 

 some figures taken from the fifty-ninth annual report of the State Board 

 of Agriculture : 



I'^OO 1010 D<^orease 



Apples 2,878,169 2.482,762 395.407 



Apricots 4.244,384 2.992,453 1.2.51,931 



Pears 2.-512,890 1,410.905 1,101,985 



Cherries 680,891 522,304 164,587 



Olives __ 1,530,164 836,347 693,817 



Lemons 1,493,113 941,293 551,820 



romelos 80,918 43,427 37,491 



Almonds 1,601,947 1,106,1.30 435,217 



Plums and prunes 9,823,713 7,168,705 2,655,088 



rr 



Totals 24,852,189 17,5(>4,326 7,277,343 



In other words, during a ten-year period, the above nine varieties of 

 fruits dropped from an original acreage of 248,000 down to an area of 

 175,000, a falling off of nearly one-third — a shrinkage of nearly 73,000 

 acres. 



In the mean time the vineyard acreage has grown to a total of about 

 330,000, composed of about 170.000 of wine grapes, 110.000 raisin 

 grapes and 50,000 acres table grapes. What is the outlook for this 

 acreage and for possible further planting? 



♦Address before the State Fruit Growers' Convention, Palo Alto, Cal., July, 1915. 

 2—19979 



