GRAPE PRODUCTS 257 



treatment constituting an essential part of the grape-cures of 

 European countries. The })rocess of making an unfermented 

 grape-juice that will keep from season to season as an article of 

 conunerce is, however, a modern invention, and is the outcome 

 of the discoveries of the last half century regarding the control 

 of the agents of fermentation. 



The manufacture of commercial grape-juice in America, to 

 which country the industry is confined, began as a home prac- 

 tice following the fundamental processes of canning fruit. 

 Toward the close of the last century, several inventive minds 

 discovered methods of making a commercial product and began 

 developing markets for their wares. The begimiing of the 

 present century found the new industry in full swing, since 

 which tii]ie its growth has been truly marvelous. In 1900 

 the amount of grape-juice made in the United States was so 

 small as to be negligible in the census report of that year. By 

 1910, the annual output had reached for the whole country over 

 1,500,000 gallons and at present writing, 1918, it is well above 

 3,500,000 gallons per annum. The manufacture of grape-juice 

 (s no longer a home industry but a great commercial enterprise. 

 It is an industry closely associated with grape-growing, however, 

 and as such needs further consideration here. 



Grape-juice regions. 



The manufacture of grape-juice is centered in the Chautauqua 

 grape-belt in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. So far, 

 the demand seems to be almost wholly for juices made from 

 native grapes, the juice of European grapes grown on the Pacific 

 slope being so sweet as to be insipid. Possibly 80 per cent of 

 the grape-juice now manufactured in America comes from a 

 single variety, the Concord. There can be no question, how- 

 ever, but that sooner or later grape-juices of distinct qualities 

 will be made from many varieties of grapes, thus gi\'ing wider 

 sale and greater variation for the product. A very good spark- 



