THE GRAPE JUICE INDUSTRY 

 GERALD FREY, of The Grape Belt, Dunkirk, X. Y. 



Wherever grapes are grown, be the production ever so small, 

 there it will be found that a large portion of the fruit is being 

 pressed for its juice. It may be wine that is being sought, or 

 perhaps juice free from fermentation; but, nevertheless, grapes 

 will be pressed as surely as there are vines upon which to bring 

 the fruit into being. 



New York ranks second among the states of the Union in the 

 quantity of grapes produced, being exceeded only by California. 

 It naturally follows that the Empire State is equally prominent 

 in the matter of grape-juice production, both fermented and 

 unfermented. 



In the early days the grape juice produced in the state was 

 naturally small in amount, and was consumed almost entirely by 

 the families making it or in connection with religious services. 

 As years went by, and the growing of grapes became a busi- 

 ness, the making of wine was commercialized and increased in 

 amount in accordance with the growing demand and the improved 

 facilities for pressing and transportation. When methods were 

 finally discovered for keeping grape juice in an unfermented state 

 indefinitely, the growing of grapes and the making of juice 

 received its greatest impetus. 



The several grape belts of the state are all producers of wine 

 and unfermented juice, but the Chautauqua belt, lying along the 

 shore of Lake Erie in the western part of the state, is far in the 

 lead in that respect; in fact, it leads the world in the production 

 of unfermented grape juice. This belt comprises about 37,000 

 acres of vineyards, and in normal years yields from 75,000 to 

 80,000 tons of grapes. In late years more than one-third of its 

 total crop has been pressed for wine and unfermented juice within 

 the belt. 



The Concord is the king of grapes in the Chautauqua belt, as it 

 is also in the other grape-raising sections of the state; and it is 



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