358 



The Grape Culturist. 



beforehand. "With these facts before 

 our eyes, what remains for us to do? 

 First, we must raise, for home consump- 

 tion, light, cheap wines, wliicli can be 

 sold at lower figures and yet be of bet- 

 ter quality than the cheap imported 

 wines. We trust that those familiar 

 with our common Catawbas and Con- 

 cords will acknowledge that they are 

 cheaper, and at an average, of better 

 quality already than the cheap white 

 and red wines that are now imported. 

 We do not pretend to say that these will 

 be exported, butwe think they will soon 

 banish the cheap importations from our 

 markets and take their place. We ivill 

 show more full}^, at the close of this ar- 

 ticle, how this can be effectually accom- 

 plished. Second, we must, for export- 

 ation, raise a sufficient quantity of 

 choice wines — wines that will equal the 

 lloussillon, the choice Burgundy, Rne- 

 desheimer Berg, Forster Riessling and 

 Traminer, etc. Those who have tasted 

 the choicest of our Norton's Virginia, 

 Cynthiana, Delaware, Taylor, and Ru- 

 lander, will not doubt but that we have 

 abundant material to make them from, 

 and the onl}^ reason why they are not in 

 the market already, is that the}' are not 

 j^et produced in sufficient quantities for 

 the consumption of our connoisseurs, 

 nor have the same pains been taken to 

 produce them 3'et. Let us advance but 

 ten 3'ears more, let our vintners take 

 the experiments they have made so far 

 as a basis for future operations, and it 

 will not be long before American wines 

 will claim a high rank, and corres- 

 ponding prices, even in European 

 markets. 



Taking these assertions for granted, 

 the question remains : What must we 

 do to reach these results? What are 



the means to be employed to gain these 

 ends? We will look at them from the 

 standpoint of actual experience, and 

 consider each by itself. 



1st. We must plant healthy varieties, 

 varieties suited to the soil we cultivate, 

 which will yield sure and abundant re- 

 turns every year. Of course, ever}^ 

 grape grower must determine for him- 

 self which varieties will suit his soil and 

 climate best. We^ here, are satisfied 

 that we can produce at least 1 ,000 gal- 

 lons of good red wine a year to the 

 acre of Concord, Ives, Hartford, and 

 Telegraph. Of white wines we can pro- 

 duce the same quantity to the acre of 

 Goethe, Martha, and perhaps Maxa- 

 tawney. We can afford to sell this at 

 75 cents a gallon ; deducting 8250 for 

 labor, incidental expenses, interest on 

 casks, and other fixtures, would leave 

 a net profit of $500 to the acre. Even 

 half that amount would pay well. It 

 is true, we must not, like friend Engel- 

 mann, rely upon and plant the Cataw- 

 ba — with it, and similar varieties, we 

 would be reckoning without our host — 

 but wo must know first what will suc- 

 ceed in our soil, plant none but varie- 

 ties we can rely upon, and make as 

 good wine from them as can possibly be 

 made. And in order to do this we must 

 go to work on a large scale. AYe must 

 associate, unite. Let one furnish the 

 capital, the land, etc., another the la- 

 bor, a third the science ; let us make 

 wine in large quantities, and sell it at 

 Avholesale, thus reducing expenses and 

 furnishing a better article at less price. 

 It has long been our conviction that 

 most of the wine making, at least, will 

 be done by associations, or large capi- 

 talists, and only Avhen this is generally 

 understood and followed will this branch 



