122 



THE WESTERN POMOLOGIST. 



1871 



Again, he is beliind his day who says that any 

 American grape, in any just sense, equals the best 

 foreign varieties. Now we Iiave not an American 

 grape tliat has a flavor at all equalling them, nor 

 the fleshiness of them, nor the delightful aromatic 

 sweetness of the foreign. I will come right out 

 and say he is a dullard that don't know that ! 



Yet in saying these two things — that, first, eciual 

 advances in excellence with the improvement of 

 our natives are made in the foreign ; and, second, 

 that we have not and cannot, for I know not how 

 long, appr<iach the foreign in their delightful, 

 choice, refined flavors, I am not condemning what 

 we, as Americans, have or can do. This my friends 

 well know, who have read my scores of pages on 

 improvement of American grapes. And what I say 

 now is only to stimulate to further seeding, cross- 

 ing and subduing our natives to that high standard 

 they are sure in the end to reach. I am only, in 

 fiict, recommending that as we have not over twen- 

 ty-five varieties that are worth a place in our 

 esteem, of all the hundreds of American varieties 

 that in the last twenty years have been proven, we 

 must go on, do better. That each and every wes- 

 tern man must help do the seed-planting and the rear- 

 ing of at least a score of new grapes, new apples, new 

 pears, new fruits of other kinds too. That crosses 

 and re-crosses must be made for the western moun- 

 tain sides, as well as prairies. That Oregon and 

 California, and other vast oceanic and midland 

 States must get the newer and better foreign varie- 

 ties. He who in California has a vineyard of 

 Mu.'icat Hamburg, or Wm. Carpenter, will have 

 grapes such as he never saw before. He who in 

 Oregon or Utah has the Diana Hamburg, will eal 

 what he cannot over praise. 



'Orape Growiii!-' aud AVluc making ou 

 Lake £rle. 



Sandusky is pre-eminently the great wine and 

 grape mart of the United States. Situated very 

 nearly in the centre of the largest and best gra2)e- 

 growing district on the continent, it becomes the 

 heiidquarters of the American wine trade as a mat- 

 ter of course. 



I have taken some pains to gather from th<' freight 

 agents of the dillerent railroad and steamboat lines 

 centering here, and others, all the fads in relation 

 to the business that may be of general interest. 



The nundjer of houses engaged here, not coun- 

 ting those that press one thousand gallons of juice 

 or " must," is thirty-eight. Mr. E. J. Parsons runs 

 three presses, and has pressed this season forty 

 thousand, nine hundred and forty-six gallons of 

 juice, and shijiped four hundred and ninety-eight 

 tons of grapes to Cincinnatti ; and his is but one of 

 the thirty -eight grape and wine houses of San- 

 dusky. He has two presses yet in operation. 



and about thirty tons of grapes on hand to be 

 pressed. 



The American Wine Company of St. Louis has 

 a branch house here, with three presses, which 

 have produced this season seventy-eight thousand 

 and fifty-four gallons of juice. This company has 

 also purchased the entire product of the Parsons 

 and other presses, and have about one hundred tons 

 of grapes on hand to be pressed. 



The Sandusky Wine Company have pressed this 

 season one hundred and twelve thousand gallons of 

 pure juice. They have in their cellar one hundred 

 and fourteen casks, holding from seven huudred and 

 fifty to one thousand, three hundred and fifty gal- 

 lons each, but on on average one thousand gallons. 

 All but two are full. 



I give the details of the three largest houses, to 

 show the magnitude of the trade. I need not give 

 the particulars of the other thirty-five houses, but 

 will state instead, the aggregate wine and grape 

 business of Sandusky during the present season. 

 Here it is : 



Oalhms. 

 Pressed within ( Catawba, 609,000 



the city limits, j Isabella, (10,000 



„ J . „ T , , j Catawba, 140,000 



Put-in-Bay Island, j Isabella, oiooo 



Bass Island, Catawba, 90,000 



North Bass Island, Catawba, 01,000 



Catawba Island, Catawba, 50,500 



j Catawba, 63,700 



Peninsula, 



Isabella, 



0,000 



C!atawba and Isabella Wines, 

 Ives Seedling, Virginia, Norton and 

 Concord grape wines. 



Total, 



1,104,300 

 5,300 



1,109,400 



As there are over one hundred .md thirty tons of 

 grapes yet to be pressed, the total wine product of 

 Sandusky this j'ear will reach very nearly one and 

 a quarter million gallons of pure grape juice. How 

 much wine may be eventually made from it I have 

 no means of knowing. I have reason to believe 

 that the largest portion of it will be put upon the 

 market without adulteration. A few more seasons 

 like the present will make pure wine cheaper than 

 the counterfeit. 



The grape crop this year has indeed been won- 

 derful. People mention a hundred tons of grapes, 

 as though smaller lots were hardly worth consider- 

 ing. One of the numerous steamers that ply be- 

 tween this port and adjoining Islands, has brought 

 on an average fifty tons of grapes per day, during 

 the past six weeks. 



Besides the grapes used in making wine, there 

 have been shipped from here by railroad during the 

 present season over thirteen hundred tons, as 

 follows : 



