GRAPE 



Marketing and Profits.— The crop is mostly marketed 

 fresh in the local or neai-liy markets, as the ordinary 

 freight and ex|in-^-i latrs will nut permit profitable re- 

 turns on the v:iri. !!• - iii.i-ily ^'rown. But it has been 

 demonstrated that iim. i.i i|.(^ tliat will carry well can 

 easily be grown in Tin- .sc.urli. and, when handled in best 

 manner in neat baskets, are iiuite profitable. 



There are a few established wineries in the South, 

 which use Ives, Norton Virginia, Herbemont, LeNoir, 

 and some of the Seuppernong and other Muscadine va- 

 rieties. The chief complaint of wine-growers is that 

 legislation brought about by the prohibition movement is 

 adverse and often entirely prohibitive. In consequence, 

 some have bottled the .juice fresh under some sterilizing 

 process, but the ]>i_m>J)1(.' art_' not yet educated up to the 

 use of this exnli. i;, l:.:u;l,;i)i; nourishing beverage, 

 yet the demand i i ii^-, and may be largely 



increased by >'nt i • i^. 



Reports collc.-ird i r .m ail | ii i^ nf the South state the 

 profits all the way Hcni n-ilntu: lip To $ir>0 prracre, 

 sometimes higher, and it i> riraih (■\ jMi iit Iliat tiie in- 

 telligence and enterprise of tho |ilani. r i-, tli.- .Iiiof ele- 

 ment in controlling protit^. i u' aoui-r. I .aalitirs, soils 

 and varieties play important jiari-. lait an intilligent 

 grower would not select poor localit) . ^iiuaiioii, soil and 

 varieties to start with, just as be won|,l mt pursue- poor 

 methods in the conduct of the btisJTiov^. As au illustra- 

 tion, the writer knows persons who luiii!,' totlio I)i-nison 

 [Tex.] market, a place of 20,000 population, Ives and Per- 

 kins Grapes in bushel baskets, getting, by hard work, 

 about one cent a pound, while others bring in neat 8- 

 pound baskets, carefully packed, Delaware, Brilliant, 

 Diamond, Niagara, Rommel and others of like good 

 qualities, and get from 30 to 00 cents per basket the 

 season through, with brisk sales and no grumbling. 



It may be said, in conclusion, that the South promises 

 everything to the wide-awake, intelligent Grape-grower, 

 for its capabilities are unlimited in the production in 

 quality and season when no other section competes 

 with it, and it has vast markets at home and in the 

 great cities just north of it. T. V. Munson. 



Grapes on the Pacific Slope.— The Grape industries of 

 California are established upon the success of the vinif- 

 era species. There are two wild species in the state, 

 Fitis Galifornica and V. Arizonica, but by a popular 

 error the term California Grape has been often used to 

 indicate the Mission Grape, which was introduced from 

 their earlier establishments in Lower California by the 

 padres, who entered the territory now comprised in the 

 state of California in 1769, to extend their missionary 

 work among the aborigines. This Mission Grape has 

 never been fully identified with any variety now grown 

 in Europe, and whether the padres brought it to America 

 in the form of seeds or cuttintrs is not known. The dif- 

 ficulty in identifyiuL' it lias l,-.l many to consider it a 

 seedling, but it i^ iu-t a- rra-i.uahle to hold that it was, 

 two hundred y.-ars aL'o. an .-lo.ined variety which was 

 displaced in the i-ouis.- oi' viticultural progress by better 

 varieties, and its survival at the California Missions is 

 due to its isolation from that progress. It was this Grape 

 which was found in California bv the early American 

 settlers, and verv lartrr- areas of it w.ro planted, but for 

 the last thirty v.- nr< it Im-- <li ■■•,:,, ,; i,, famr vajiMI-. 



being displa.-oil'i.' • -■ i i' 1 ■•■-■'- 



for various pur,... : I ■ ■ : .. , ■ 



of the viiiifora . , , i . , \i ■ 



and tlloil- inij.i'o . ., • ■ I ■ . -.• in 1 ■ahroriila 'aIi'-1 



given suiiiol- ■ : . I .!■ ulturo, but tlii'V do not, 

 meet air I : - i, ' -hmand. A very fewpack- 



ages u:liii I - i : ' i u krt for their kind, while 



thevinii. Ill i,ii '.■ \ li '1. loa selling in large quanti- 

 ties. Only a few indiviilnals ^^ive any consideration to 

 American varieties for wine, and none of them are suited 

 for raisins. The only attention given to the American 

 species is in the use of some of them as phylloxera-resis- 

 tant roots, upon which to craft the vinifora varieties, as 

 is done in France; and Califoniia r\p.ri,- 

 reproduction of French results in this rirc 



GRAPE 



677 



close 



collections of the leading European varieties were intro- 

 duced, and state aid was secured for the promotion of 

 viticulture. The first raisins were showu in 18G3, and a 

 considerable wine product was attained soon after, but 

 the sale of it was attended bv many disappointments, and 

 discouraKement ensued. In" the latter seventies the wine 

 intrrrst was rovivr-d by better demand for the product, 

 and a iioxv luoiM-imda for extension on better lines and 



with 1 ■(■ siMiaMe methods and better varieties, was 



eaiiio-rly taki n up. Again the state granted funds liber- 

 ally, and the agitation resulted in vine planting and 

 cellar construction in the valleys and foothills all over 

 the state. The product increased more rapidly than the 

 demand for it, and the quality of much of it ' 



the 



It 



are still free from invasion, that in the end all onrvinit- 

 era vineyards will be upon American roots. 



Grape-growing upon a large scale began in California 

 very soon after the American occupation. In the fifties. 



fully impeached. Losses and disappointments were 

 again encountered, and the area of wine Grapes was 

 largely reduced by abandonment, by the advancement 

 of the phylloxera and by the inroads of a peculiar dis- 

 ease which has baffled effort to determine its cause, 

 though thousands of acres have been swept away by it. 

 Even the lessened wine product found most acute trade 

 issues to meet, which were temporarily overcome by 

 growers' cooperative effort until the constantly shrinking 

 production met au advancing demand, and profitable 

 prices tor wine Grapes were again secured. This fact 

 has again stimulated interest in planting, even with 

 the greater investment required by resistant roots, and 

 the century closes with a renewal of confidence which 

 bids fair to again extend the wine industry of the state. 

 The raisin interest of the state did not attract wide 

 attention until about 1875, but it advanced with great 

 rapidity until 189i, when a product of 103 million pounds 

 was reached and a decline of value below the cost of 

 production ensued. As events have proved, this decline 

 was largely due to lack of j.ropir system in marketing, 

 for a p.rio'l , ,f h ,. ^ a i d d. pi . - - ion has been followed by 

 return to pi ;. ~ '.', ,,, - In-ough control of the 



niark.tin.' !■ - mon of the growers. 



i.;f,.r.-! : ■■ . I I ' - ■"! points the way to 



,,f oyorlaiMi ■: 1 : ■. • I ;:-■:■ .i|„.s in Cali- 

 fornia in l!i' ■ I : , , ; , , , , , Muith table 

 Grapes, tH ■ : i ■ '• ur-seveuths 



wine Grape-, a- m arh, a~ ran li.' e^linial. .!. 



The Grape has a wider ranp-e ot a.laptation in Cali- 

 fornia than any other single fruit. It endures all eleva- 

 tions to which commercial fruit-growing is carried; it 

 thrives in the most intense valley heat if amply supplied 

 with water by irrigation. It accepts all fertile soils, but 

 is most profitable upon light. dee]i, wariLi loams, both 

 in the valleys and on the hilM'h-. All varieties which 

 will bear well with such trc-atmeut are grown wiili low 

 stumps and very short pruning, whieh diseards nearly 

 all of the previous season's growth. Only a few varieties 

 are given longer canes and the support of a wire or a 

 high stake. 



