CROPS AK1) PRICES. 



17 



to the 1892 crop, which was shipped to market in 2,500 cars. 

 This season the best estimates place the crop at 2,000 cars. As 

 each car holds from 2,500 to 2,700 baskets, the reader can form 

 some correct idea of the quantity of grapes produced annually 

 in the belt. Besides, large quantities of grapes are used for 

 home consumption and for wine-making. The crop is dis- 

 tributed about equally between Eastern and Western markets. 

 The growers send table grapes to cities as far west as Omaha 

 and Denver, and as far east as New York and Boston. The 

 industry represents a capital of $10,000,000, and gives employ- 

 ment to 15,000 people the year round. There have been sea- 

 sons when Chautauqua growers picked over four tons of Con- 

 cords to the acre. The market price of grapes of late years 

 has been from 2 to 2% cents per pound, or from $40 to $50 

 per ton. It is these facts and figures that have induced so 

 many people to go into raising grapes. The rage of grape- 

 growing has spread with great rapidity in the Chautauqua belt. 

 The 4 boom' began about ten years ago, and has continued 

 down to the present day. There has been a demand for 'grape 

 land,' and, at the present time, the price ranges from $100 to 

 $200 per acre without a vine on the soil. The vineyards 

 extend from a few acres up to 100. Almost every person own- 

 ing a farm has some vines. Farmers who do not make a 

 specialty of grapes have vineyards of five or ten acres. Those 

 who make a business of grape-growing maintain from 20 to 

 30 acres. They expect to clear from $1,400 to $1,500 a year. 

 Then there are some growers who have 50 acres of vineyard, 

 and a few persons whose vineyards will reach 75 acres. 



"The Shipping Season in the Chautauqua District begins 

 about the first week in September, and lasts till the middle of 

 November. After that, only the late varieties, as Catawbas 

 and Niagaras, are shipped to market in small lots. The sea- 

 son is a busy one while it lasts. When the grape picking and 

 packing is at hand, there is a great demand for workers. It 

 is often difficult to, secure competent help. The majority 

 of the workers are women, who become quite expert in 

 their way. The crop is picked in crates which hold from 

 thirty to forty pounds each. The crates are gathered several 

 times during the day, and taken to the packing-house, where 

 girls pack the luscious clusters in the five and ten-pound bas- 

 kets that we see in our markets. The usual rate of wages is 

 one dollar a day without board, or three dollars a week w T ith 

 board. In some localities payments are based on the number 

 of baskets, the rate being one cent a basket for picking and the 

 same rate for. packing. There can be no uniform wages 

 throughout the belt, because of the difference between one vine- 

 2 



