46 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1893. 



laud, improvements , maehiuery aud appurtenances, of $155,6Gl,ir)0, 

 and furnished employment to 200,780 persons, with a total of 401,- 

 261 acres in 1689, of which 307,575 acres were in bearing, producing 

 572,139 tons, of Avhich 267,271 tons were table grapes and 240,450 

 tons were used for producing wine, making 24,306,905 gallons, 41,- 

 166 tons for raisins, and 23,252 tons for dried grapes aud purposes 

 other than table fruit; add to this 45,000 acres of bearing and 15,000 

 acres of nou-bearing vines, an aggregate of small vineyards from 

 one-fourth of an acre upward, grown to supply a home demaud out- 

 side of the regular district already mentioned, to be found in every 

 State aud Territory of the Union, producing iu 1889, 67,500 tons of 

 table grapes and 22,500 tons of wine grapes, or 1,875,000 gallons of 

 wine ; add to this several thousand acres that have been set iu the 

 South during the past two years, and we can form some idea of what 

 the grape industry of the country is. 



Twenty-odd years ago I entered the field as a grape grower. We 

 were, at that time, following the practice of most of the farmers of 

 our neighborhood, that of growing corn and potatoes. This brought 

 but very little money into the house, for with the exception of the sale 

 of a few potatoes and what butter was made, there was nothing to sell. 

 So I was determined to set grapes, and to get out of the old ruts if I 

 had to break the wheels in so doiug. 



Location. One of the most important things in grape growing is a 

 favorable location. Especially does this hold true with us here iu 

 Northern Massachusetts, where under the most favorable conditions 

 we need every hour's sun during the season for the growth and ripen- 

 ing of our best hardy out-door grapes. To accomplish this let us 

 select some warm, southeast slope. We should not get too near the 

 bottom of the hill, as I have seen done in many cases, as the danger 

 there is that you may be cut a week or more short iu the season by an 

 early frost, that, had you been located 100 or even 50 feet higher up 

 the hill, you might have avoided, and thereby have saved your crop. 

 Neither is it a good plan to place a vineyard at the top of a hill, for 

 the exposure to the winds damages a large portion of the fruit duriug 

 the last stages of ripening. Aud above all things, we must have good 

 drainage, and avoid having the vines near stagnant water. While the 

 vine grows, and in an ordinarily wet season ripens its crop on very 

 light, sandy land, yet the fruit produced has not as good a flavor for 

 the table, and does not make as good a wine as when grown on heavier 

 soil ; but we must avoid too heavy soil, or we shall retard the ripening. 

 As it is not convenient for me to transport you all to Pearl Hill Farm 



