36 



Mr. H. 'B. Daly (DunoUy Association) read the following 

 paper on " Wineries, Market for Wines ; Phylloxera ":— 



The Minister of Agriculture having asked the Board of Viti- 

 culture whether in its opinion it he advisable to hold a general 

 conference in the interests of the wine industry, the Board met, 

 and having considered the question at considerable length, re- 

 turned an answer in the affirmative. The Minister then appointed 

 this, the 10th day of May, as the day on which to hold the Con- 

 ference, and the Board-room of the Lands Department as the 

 place wherein it should be held. He also intimated the subjects 

 to be dealt with at this Conference, namely, three in number — 

 first, wineries ; secondly, a market for our wines ; and thirdly, 

 diseases of the vines, particularly by the destructive pest, phyl- 

 loxera. I will deal with these subjects as they are named, and first 



wineries. I am of opinion that local wineries, if they can be 



established, would be of immense value and utility to young 

 growers, who on starting to grow wine would not have the means 

 to buy casks and build cellars, and who could at once sell their 

 grapes to these wineries and receive the cash for them, enabling 

 these young growers to at once proceed with their work with- 

 out stop or hinderance, while the manager of the winery could 

 make the grapes into wine in his own style, and thereby turn out 

 a marketable article ; while, if the wine were made by the young 

 inexperienced grower, it might be entirely worthless ; so far, 

 local wineries are good. There should also be attached to the 

 local winery a local distillery, this would utilize the marc and 

 •the lees and any wine in the district which might be considered 

 off, so that the wine industry in the district, having a winery and 

 distillery combined, would be safe and complete, so far as human 

 foresight could provide. Now this view of the question is the 

 thing wanted. But can it be accomplished ? It may be carried 

 out in some districts, but certainly it will be difficult to do so 

 in every wine-growing district in the colony, for the following 

 reasons — there is not sufficient capital among the wine-growers 

 in some districts to establish a winery, and even if there were a 

 great many wine-growers would rather sell their crop of grapes, 

 as they would not become large shareholders in the wineries, not 

 having the desired capital to spare. A large outside capital 

 would be required. Can this be secured ? Besides the cellars, 

 distillery, machinery, and working staff would be a very large 

 item, too much altogether for many districts in this country. 

 Then, again, these local wineries would not get sufficient wine 

 to pay expenses, as it could not be expected that the large 

 growers who have erected cellars, bought machinery, and estab- 

 lished a good business in wine are likely to forfeit all this simply 

 to establish wineries in each district. Again, supposing it to be 

 possible to establish the local wineries (which I sincerely trust it 



