23 



Worcester County, Massachusetts, has gathered crops 

 from his vineyard the value of which has averaged 1700 

 dollars to the acre. 



Mr. Bull does not think the situation of his own vine- 

 yards very favorable, but states that he has raised 

 seven tons per acre ; and that last year, which was an 

 unfavorable one for grapes, he gathered five and a half 

 tons per acre, while for seventeen successive years he 

 has not failed to have a good crop. He regards seven 

 tons of the Concord grape per acre as a fair average 

 yield for a vineyard well established, in a favorable as- 

 pect, soil, etc., and states that a ready market is secured 

 for the crop at prices which have steadily advanced 

 from ten to twenty cents a pound, while at ten cents 

 the full crop of an acre would amount to $1400, and at 

 20 cents to $2800. 



These amounts seem fabulous. Nevertheless, Mr. 

 Bull states, on his own knowledge, that $2000 per acre 

 was realized in 1865. But let us suppose the average 

 crop to be but 02 tons per acre, and the price but ten 

 cents per pound, this gives $700 to the acre. 



I visited some of the vineyards in Concord last year, 

 and, on making inquiries as to the matter of profits, I 

 was convinced that Mr. Bull had not overstated the re- 

 sults. A proprietor of one of the small vineyards in- 

 formed me that his net profits for the preceding three 

 years — one of which had been unfavorable for grapes — 

 had been an average of $996 per acre. 



But, may not the market be glutted, and the j^rices 

 be so reduced as not to be remunerative ? This ques- 

 tion is discussed by Mr. Bull, and satisfactorily answer- 

 ed in the negative. Moreover, it is worthy of remark 

 that no one apprehends a glut in the market for apples,- 



