228 



The Grape Cultunst. 



sold at that price, and can still be ob- 

 tained at it; if not from the merchant 

 or middleman, at least from the pro- 

 ducer; yet it appears that the laborer 

 has not yet availed himself of the op- 

 portunity thus offered to him, and 

 that the ungrateful millions are rather 

 slow in drinking wine daily ! Why 

 should our native wine be cheaper in 

 future than it is now ? Are the wine- 

 growers' profits at present excessive, 

 or will our vineyards in future be more 

 productive ; or will labor be so much 

 cheaper ? Is there not native wine 

 enough in the market to suppl}' the de- 

 mand? If, however, the assertions 

 (Sub. 1) are correct, — if the grape- 

 grower can afford to have his grapes 

 retailed with advantage to himself at 

 five cents a pound, then I dare to say 

 he can afford, with even greater ad- 

 vantage, to sell his wine at fifty cents 

 a gallon. 



JSub. 3d. It is predicted that "we 

 shall become exporters of wine in a 

 few years, instead of importers." 



To become exporters of Avine in 

 competition with other wine-growing 

 countries, it will be necessary either — 



(rt) That we produce a better article 

 than the competing countries ; or, 



(6) That the average j'ield of our 

 vineyards be greater; or, 



(c) That our costs of production be 

 less; or, 



(d) That our facilities for trans- 

 portation be so much better and 

 cheaper. 



It would be interesting to know 

 upon which of these points the Editor 

 principally relies for his assertion ; one 

 or more of them, or all of them com- 

 bined, must come to our aid to make 

 us successful exporters of wine. 



According to the best information 

 which I have been able to collect, the 

 average yield in fruit of an acre of 

 vineyard in Europe is about the same 

 as that here in America, and the facil- 

 ities of commerce and transportation 

 are also about the same over all the 

 civilized world. In Franco the annual 

 labor to cultivate an acre of vineyard 

 can be hired at from 40 to 50 francs > 

 in Germany at from 20 to 30 guilders, 

 or 15 to 20 thalers; in Spain the wages 

 are about the same as in France, and 

 in Hungary they are still lower ; while 

 in this country the cultivation of an 

 acre of vineyard ranges up to near 

 one hundred dollars per year. So the 

 chances appear to be rather against 

 us, except as to the quality of the 

 wine, and we would be blind if we 

 were to disguise the fact from us, that 

 on the average foreign wines are pre- 

 ferred to the native product ; but even 

 if this was not so, if our wines were 

 superior to the foreign wines in point 

 of qualit}', still the item of wages 

 would be an obstacle to their exjsorta- 

 tion in competition Avith the wines of 

 other countries,; to overcome which 

 will not be an easy matter, so long as 

 the present price of labor is sustained, 

 and it is neither probable nor desirable 

 that it soon be reduced. 



Theod. Engelmann. 



Looking-Glass Yineyards, 

 St. Clair Co. , Ills. , June, 1869. 



We are glad to hear the views of so 

 old and distinguished a graj^e-grower 

 as the writer of the above, even when 

 he differs in his estimation of the 

 profits of American grape-growing. 

 We think, however, that he has plainly 

 mistaken our meanins: on some of the 



