144 AMERICAN GRAPE GROWING 



in 1878 they had handled about 800 tons of grapes, and 

 made 130,000 gallons of wine, of which 20,000 were 

 manufactured into sparkling wines. They expected to 

 handle about 1,500 tons of grapes during 1879, and 

 to make something like 200,000 gallons of wine. The 

 prices of both establishments seem to be about the same, 

 112 to $14 per case for sparkling, 70c. to 90c. per gallon 

 for still wines. 



These represent but two of the main industries of that 

 region. It may be safe to say that 500,000 gallons of 

 wine are annually made there, and that fully one-half of 

 the grapes, if not two-thirds, find their way to the mar- 

 kets of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, and 

 other large cities, for I saw them everywhere, and in 

 such good condition, and at such low figures, as to place 

 them within reach of the laboring classes. The steamers 

 which make round trips every day, from Penn Yan to 

 Hammondsport, one in the morning, and one in the after- 

 noon, and which land at every pier and every vineyard 

 where they can pick up freiglit and passengers, transport 

 an immense quantity of grapes, at very low rates, and at 

 the same time afford a convenient and pleasant oppor- 

 tunity for tourists and visitors. I have no doubt that 

 this and the neighboring lakes, with their beautiful 

 scenery, and their many facilities for a pleasant summer 

 resort, will, in time, become as famous for their ''grape 

 cures " as the Rhine and the Moselle are in the old world. 

 They are within easy reach of all the crowded cities of 

 the East, and to thousands will prove a more • pleasant, 

 because more quiet and rural, retreat during the hot 

 months, than Saratoga. This is another phase of Ameri- 

 can grape-growing, but little developed as yet, and which 

 has only to become fashionable, to be fully appreciated. 



