the fine wines of Europe are made, the quality of the wines differs enor- 

 mously in different years. In every five (5) vintages they count on two of 

 good quality, two of bad and one of passable. 



To have the grapes on the sunny slopes of our coast ranges injured by 

 rain or a cool autumn is an exception which does not happen once in ten 

 years. If our wine is not always of the best quality it is not the fault of 

 the grapes, of the soil or of the climate. It is the fault of the grape-grower 

 and the wine-maker. 



We have to learn new methods of grape growing, new methods of 

 wine-making suitable to our soil and our climate. The methods of Europe 

 will not give us the best results. These new methods we are gradually learn- 

 ing and our wines are gradually improving. 



There is no country in the world where the growing of wine grapes 

 and the making of wine can be carried on with such certainty of good 

 results as in California. 



In the south of France the Aramon, Carignane and Alicante Bouschet 

 produce 8, 10, 12 tons per acre. In the Sacramento and San Joaquin Val- 

 leys the same varieties produce as much or more. In France, in favorable 

 years, these varieties attain 17 or 18 per cent of sugar, in unfavorable only 

 14 or 15 per cent. In California, they nearly always attain 22 to 23 per 

 cent and only in occasional unfavorable seasons or when the crop is excep- 

 tionally large do they fail to exceed 19 or 20 per cent. 



In the fine wine districts, the contrast is no less in our favor. The 

 crops of the hillsides of the coast counties are larger than those of Burgundy 

 or Medoc. The Pinot in Burgundy produces but one or two tons per 

 acre, the Sirah of the banks of the Rhone and the Cabernet of the Medoc 

 but little more. The two last varieties give easily three to four tons in 

 California, and produce wines whose only defects are excess of color, body, 

 alcohol and all the attributes of a fine wine and only require blending with 

 lighter or more neutral wines to make them the equal of the bulk of the 

 wines of the most famous wine districts of France. 



The larger wine-makers of California are showing their confidence in 

 the future of the market by offering long term contracts to grape-growers. 

 The prices vary from $12 per ton for grapes raised In the rich soils of the 

 interior valley to $16 for those raised on the sunny slopes of the Coast 

 Ranges. These are remunerative prices and enable the grower who does 

 his own work to clear from $50 to $100 an acre per year from his vineyard. 



A man who owns 20 acres of vineyard can do all the work himself, ex- 

 cept gathering the grapes, and will clear a thousand dollars a year. A 

 family where two or three boys are capable of taking a share in the work 

 can manage 40 acres and earn a corresponding income. 



Land is cheap, and any man not afraid of work can earn his living, plant 

 and bring into bearing 20 acres of vineyard and pay for it in six or seven 

 years with a very modest capital to start with. Between $500 and $1,000 

 is all that he will need for this purpose. 



The growing of fruits and table grapes often gives better results than 

 these, but still more often they give poorer results. There is probably no 

 branch of farming in California or elsewhere that offers such certainty of 

 success as the growing of wine grapes. 



The intending grower must, however, use intelligence as well as in- 

 dustry. He must avoid the mistakes which some of his predecessors have 

 made and profit by observing the causes of the success of others. There 

 are hundreds of instances where twenty and even ten acres of wine grapes 

 have provided a good living for a family and many others where money has 

 been lost on a hundred acres. One of the chief causes of failure has been 

 the attempt to handle too much. Ten acres properly planted and carefully 

 looked after is worth more than 100 acres neglected. 



With twenty or thirty acres of land, two-thirds planted with wine 

 grapes and the remainder devoted to garden, alfalfa or other crops suitable 

 to the district, a family has an assured income that will support it in com- 

 fort and produce a modest but healthy growth of its account in the savings 

 bank. 



11 



