221 FRUIT 



GROWING 



form a delightful table fruit and can be made 

 into delicious and lucrative jams and jellies for 

 winter use; there is little grape jelly now on 

 the market. 



At Fredonia, Chautauqua County, New York, 

 in "the Grape Belt " of this State, there is a col- 

 ony of wine growing Italians holding title to 

 1758 acres of land and conducting a thriving 

 business. There are four hundred families or 

 about 2000 persons, and they have increased 

 the value of the land in that section from $35 to 

 $150 per acre. A large proportion of them own 

 their own farms and are not therefore paying 

 tribute to landlords. Frugality, thrift, and per- 

 sistent, faithful attention have made their vine- 

 yards profitable to an extent unknown elsewhere 

 in this country. The fresh grapes bring from 

 $20 to $30 a ton, the wine from a ton of grapes 

 fetches from $30 to $36. The cost of production 

 runs from $8 to $10 per acre, and an acre pro- 

 duces three tons of grapes annually after the 

 first three years, so that the grower has an aver- 

 age profit of $75 per acre. 



These farms and vineyards have done much to 



