10 



• 



" Westward the course of Empire takes its way, 

 The first four acts already past; 

 The fifth shall end the drama with the day,— 

 Time's noblest otferiug is the last." 



Next to the cereals of California no other production of 

 the soil, wool perhaps excepted, is so important as the 

 grape. The State has about 30,000,000 vines, two thirds 

 of which are in full bearing. The amount of wine made 

 is probably about 6,000,000 gallons ; that of brandy 

 about 400,000 gallons. This is exclusive of the large 

 quantities of grapes used for the table. Many of the 

 vineyards are quite profitable, yielding from $100 to 

 $500 per acre. Some of the varieties, such as the 

 Flame Tokay, have occasionally produced 8000 to 

 10,000 pounds per acre. Nearly all the vines are for- 

 eign varieties, among which strongly predominate the 

 Mission, as it is called, the Muscat of Alexandria, the 

 Black Hamburg and Rose of Peru, the latter probably 

 being the St. Peters. of our collections. The cheapest 

 grapes are the Mission, but they have often paid from 

 tifty to one hundred dollars per acre. The grapes sold 

 for eating bring from four to ten cents per pound ; but 

 three quarters or more of the crop is sold to the wine 

 manufacturer at about twenty dollars per ton. All the 

 foreign kinds are grown, of which there are at present 

 some two hundred varieties on trial. 



California has great advantages for wine growing. The 

 vines produce very abundantly, and much more to the 

 acre than in our western vineyards or in those of Europe. 

 The yield is constant and regular in California, without 

 the risks of frost or damao-e from rain. Lands suitable 

 for vineyards can be had in the interior and on the foot- 

 hills for a few dollars per acre. The vine is being planted 

 on these foot-hills for up into the mountains, and both the 

 fruit and Avine are considered of finer flavor than that 

 raised on the bottom lands. The vines are grown in tree 

 form, without stake or trellis. The stems, from two to 

 three feet in height, — some of the oldest ten to fifteen 

 years planted, — are fully six inches in diameter. No 



