134 ANNUAL REPORT 



find it profitable to bury their vineyards. As several times an 

 offset to this extra labor is the difference between the cost of trans- 

 portation a few miles and hundreds of miles. The Minnetonka grow- 

 er has another decided advantage over any grower at a distance in 

 not being under the necessity of entrusting the sale of his product 

 unreservedly to another. He is in a position to know that he is re- 

 ceiving right treatment and the full market value of his crop. 



The appearance of the New York grapes in this market and the 

 consequent decline in prices, was a sore trial to the Minnetonka 

 grower. But after all, thousands were benefited while a few only 

 were injured. The home grower could not for many years have 

 began to supply the market, and such a decline in prices to what 

 the mass of consumers could and would pay had to come at last. 



The present aspect of the business shows no real cause for dis- 

 couragement, to the Minnetonka grower. Grapes can be raised at 

 Minnetonka as cheaply as in New York, freight charges are sev- 

 eral cuts less per basket, the fruit will go to market in a uniformly 

 fresh condition, its appearance, quality, etc., are all that can be 

 desired and here is the very threshold of one of the best markets 

 of America, 



Dealers who represent the best retail trade in the two cities buy 

 Minnetonka grapes of brands that are known to be gathered ripe, 

 and carefully handled, at a price much above that asked for the 

 best eastern grapes, for the reason that their customers prefer the 

 quality and they avoid the loss that attends the uncertainty of con- 

 dition of all foreign grapes. As Minnetonka grapes are produced 

 in greater quantity, this demand will contiune on a larger scale, 

 with less difference in price, until eventually when the home grown 

 supply reaches in full the public demand, the eastern grapes will 

 be practically driven from the market, during the Minnetonka 

 grape season. Being a somewhat better keeper, the New York 

 Concords will likely follow the Minnetonkas in the market, ex- 

 tending the season beyond the present limit of home grown grapes. 



Two features of grape culture at Minnetonka make it improb- 

 able that this region will ever contain large vineyards of hundreds 

 of acres, as do most localities where vines are cultivated as a busi- 

 ness. The absolute necessity of having the vines pruned and 

 buried before the freezing of the ground, intereferes with the 

 setting of larger areas than one can prune or get pruned by a com- 

 petent person before that time. Experience shows that to be uni- 

 formly safe the vines must be buried by November 1st, and as 

 they are seldom ready for pruning much before the middle of 

 October, the time is very short for this labor and the number that 

 can be handled necessarily very limited, 



And again large tracts all of which are safely adapted to vine 

 culture are not often found. But nearly every place of five, ten or 

 twenty acres, located within the Lake Minnetonka region will be 

 found to contain more or less land suited to this purpose, and a part 

 of every such place should be devoted to it. 



These features of the business are very advantageous to the de- 

 e lopment of this favored region. The owner of a small tract who 



