300 AMEEICAtf GEAPE GROWIKG 



This year, the fourth, the vineyard ought to bear, say 

 three tons to the acre; calculating at the present prices 

 for choice grapes, this would pay for all the labor up to 

 this time, and leave the vineyard free of debt to its pro- 

 prietor, except original cost of land, and interest on cap- 

 ital; this can not be calculated, because land for vine- 

 yards in* these counties brings all kinds of prices. Good 

 vineyard lands in the neighborhood of St. Helena and 

 Rutherford may now be estimated at two hundred and 

 fifty dollars per acre, while nearly as good locations can 

 be had, but not exactly in the "grape boom/' at fifty 

 dollars per acre. Perhaps it would be safe to average 

 good vineyard land at one hundred dollars per acre, 

 without improvements. Bearing vineyards, in the neigh- 

 borhood of St. Helena, have been sold as high as one 

 thousand dollars per acre, but this is, in my estimation, 

 a fictitious value, based on the high prices for grapes now, 

 which may not continue. In fact, I believe there will 

 be a decline, and that very soon. But if choice wine 

 grapes come down even to twenty dollars per ton, they 

 would still bring a handsome profit to the grower, esti- 

 mating the cost of cultivation at twenty dollars per acre, 

 and the product at four tons to the acre. 



I have given these figures mostly for my Eastern 

 friends, who may, like myself, wish to make California 

 their home. That they admit of very wide variations I 

 freely acknowledge. They are based, however, upon a 

 liberal estimate of costs, in establishing a vineyard on 

 resistant roots, so as to be safe from phylloxera. If you 

 want to risk the cuttings of the varieties of Vinifera, 

 and save the expense of grafting, the whole estimate can 

 be cut down to at least seventy dollars. But this I would 

 consider poor policy, and I would not adopt it. 



I speak with reference to but one part of the State. 

 There are new settlements opening out every month, 

 every year, wherever cheaper lands can be had, and where 



