AND WIKE MAKIKG. 183 



fers reduce the net amount received by the growers to 

 a small margin, but when the 0. S. R. R. is completed, 

 all of this will be obviated, and the profits will be 

 tripled or even quadrupled. In view of this there will 

 be heavy outlays by all growers this winter, and next 

 summer the largest stock ever grown here can be ex- 

 pected. The large majority of growers ship to Cincin- 

 nati, but Stanley & Rickey send their grapes to Chicago 

 alone. In illustration of the quality of the grapes 

 grown in this section, we will cite one instance : On 

 August 7, Southern Illinois grapes sold in Chicago at 

 5 cents per pound, on the same day Chattanooga grapes 

 brought 10 cents. 



The shipment from this point sometimes is very large ; 

 Stanley & Rickey have been known to ship in one day 

 as high as 4,000 pounds. They employ, at times, as 

 high as thirty men in their vineyard. A small portion 

 gather the crops, a larger number are busily employed 

 carefully assorting and picking. In a shipment no 

 over-ripe or rotten grape can remain in a cluster, or the 

 whole lot will be spoiled. The largest and finest clus- 

 ters raised this season have been by the Steele Bros., 

 who ship to Cincinnati. 



In the construction of stands great care must be 

 taken. Sassafras leaves are strewed over the bottom of 

 the drawer, then the grapes are packed very tightly, 

 when they are covered with another layer of leaves, 

 and are thereby kept in a thoroughly fresh condition. 



Almost all our grapes are raised on Missionary Ridge. 

 Nearly every cultivated field between Rossville and the 

 East Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia Railroad tunnel 

 has a vineyard of some size. This country, with its 

 numerous hills, is specially adapted to the culture of 

 grapes, and after rates reasonably profitable to the 

 grower can be obtained on the railroads, this section 

 will become one of the most important grape-growing 



