8 AMERICAN GRAPE CULTURE. 



pressed in very much the same terms ; and to- 

 day we have a sufficient answer in the fact, that 

 grapes are now selling for three and four times 

 as much as they did fifteen years ago. This is 

 readily accounted for in the simple fact, that 

 the demand has kept steadily in advance of the 

 supply, notwithstanding the largely increased 

 area of cultivation. A little reflection will con- 

 vince the most obdurate of doubters that this 

 must continue to be the case for many years to 

 come. Let us for a moment look at some plain 

 facts, within the reach and comprehension of 

 any common-sense man. Taking the last cen- 

 sus tables as a basis, we may safely assume that 

 our population will increase for the next hun- 

 dred years at the rate of forty per cent per 

 decade. Let us then take into consideration 

 the fact, that the taste for grapes and other 

 good fruits is rapidly spreading among all class- 

 es of the people, so that fruit consumers here- 

 after will form a relatively larger proportion 

 of the community than heretofore. If we put 

 these two facts together, we may even take as 

 a standard the rapid increase in grape culture 

 which has been witnessed during the past five 

 years, and the conclusion will still be unavoid- 

 able, that the demand will be far in advance 



