30 



BULLETIN 861, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



the climatic conditions most favorable for grape growing, and the 

 steep banks and high hills surrounding Kenka Lake, together with 

 the thickly planted vineyards at its side, have given it the name of 

 u the Rhine of America." 



The commercial vineyards in this district may be divided into 

 three main sections, those contiguous to three of the lakes mentioned 

 above — the Keuka Lake section, comprising parts of the comities of 

 Yates and Steuben; the Canandaigua section, comprising particu- 

 larly the Naples Valley and Canandaigua section in Ontario County; 

 and the Seneca Lake section, parts of Seneca, Schuyler, and Yates 

 Counties, and, to a very limited extent, Ontario County. 



Table 3 shows the loadings at the various stations throughout 

 this district, as reported by mail to the Bureau of Markets b}^ the 

 various originating railroads: 



Table 3. — Carloadings of grapes in the Central Lakes district of New Tori;. 



Ontario Co. , Sept.-Oct. • 



Canandaigua 



Geneva 



Naples 



Orleans 



Ontario Co. total... 



Schuyler Co. , Sept.-Nov.: 



Hector 



Yalois 



Schuyler Co. total.. 



Feneca Co., Sept.-Nov.: 



Burdett 



Caywood 



Kendaia 



Romulus 



Seneca Falls 



Yale 



Seneca Co. total 



1916 



1917 



1918 



1919 



25 



17 



25 



11 







11 











124 



89 



77 



160 



21 















170 



117 



102 



171 



61 



92 



40 



101 



30 



28 



19 



46 



91 



120 



59 



147 











15 



29 



14 



40 



19 



34 



62 



41 



9 



50 



20 



7 







9 



4 



6 



2 



4 



1 















101 



94 



45 



126 



Steuben Co. , Sept.-Nov.: 



Hammond sport 



Prattsburg 



Rheims 



Steuben Co. total.. 



Yates Co., Sept.-Nov.: 



Benton 



Bluff Point 



Branchport 



Dresden 



Dundee 



Glenora 



Himrod 



Middlesex 



Milo 



Perm Yan 



Rock Stream 



Starkey 



Yates Co. total 



Total loadings in 

 district 



199 

 

 







127 



70 



20 



1 



1 



32 



137 



1 



50S 



2 



45 



1,505 



1 



125 



76 



11 



3 



45 



141 



1 



298 





 28 



1,160 



1918 



108 

 

 



108 



74 

 2 

 4 

 



18 



63 







149 







15 



380 



1919 



191 



4 

 6 







132 



126 



18 



7 







32 



144 



1 



2t;o 

 l 



41 



History. 



The earliest plantings recorded in the Central Lakes district were 

 in Steuben County in 1830. 4 The industry spread slowly around 

 the other lakes, and in 1854 the first commercial shipment was made 

 to New York City. Shortly after 1860, the Concord and the Dela- 

 ware were introduced into the district, and in the eighties the Niag- 

 ara became very popular, particularly in Seneca County. Had all 

 the vines set in this county come into bearing, they would have 

 flooded the markets, for distant shipments were not then practicable, 



* See Hedrtck, T\ P. The Grapes of New York, 

 tion for the Year 1907, II, pp. S3, 84. 



Report Agricultural Experiment Sta- 



