336 



GRAPE EXPERIENCES IN SOUTHWESTERA MICHIGAN. 



hoeing, the two strongest shoots were tied to the 

 stakes and all others rubbed off. This left the vines 

 in good condition to bear the second season ; but for 

 some reason the crop was very light, and the receipts 

 for grapes was less than what the corn crop had been 

 the previous year. The fourth spring, posts and wires 

 were set, the bottom wire z\ feet and the top 5 feet high. 

 On the strongest vines four canes were left in pruning, 

 two for the bottom and two for the top wire ; but many 

 of the vines were so small that only the two bottom canes 

 could be left. The crop this season was good, averaging 

 12 pounds per vine. We picked and shipped about one- 

 third of the vineyard, and the balance sold on the vines 

 at 12 cents per basket (about 8 pounds). The west side 



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P"ig. 9. Hachiya. 



bore the heaviest crop, where the soil was the lightest. 

 In order to equalize matters, I sowed 400 lbs. bone meal 

 on this side the following spring. The fifth year (i88g) 

 the crop was again light — only 4^ pounds per vine, but 

 the vines made a tremendous growth. Last spring we 

 cut back to four canes, except where a vine had made an 

 extra rank growth, when six canes were left. I do not 

 know of a vineyard in the county that was cut back 

 closer, but the crop was all the vines could carry. The 

 average was over 23 pounds per vine. This year the 

 east part bore the heaviest crop, averaging fully three 

 baskets to the vine, while the yield on the west side, not- 

 withstanding its previous dressing of bone, was notice- 

 ably lighter. 



Until this year we have always picked in holders, 

 drawn the grapes to the packing-house and packed the 

 following day. This gave them time to wilt, and a good 

 packer could easily make her baskets weigh ten pounds. 

 This year local buyers came in, and a basket was a bas- 

 ket with them, provided the grapes were good and the 

 baskets packed full. If very lightly packed, they would 

 shade the price a trifle. Considering this, we determined 

 to pack direct from the vines, and were well satisfied with 

 the result. By close figuring we could bring the cost of 

 picking, packing and delivering at the depot to two cents 

 per basket, but it could not be done with inexperienced 

 help. One hundred baskets is a good day's work for a 

 packer, and one man can cover for about five packers. 



To give the fig- 

 ures for the six 

 years : The land 

 occupied was lij- 

 acres ; total cost 

 the first year was 

 $135.75 ; the sec- 

 o n d year in- 

 creased the cost 

 to $156.75 ; the 

 third year t h e 

 crop o f grapes 

 amounted to 

 1,800 pounds, 

 and netted only 

 $25.60. H o w - 

 ever, this paid 

 expenses and $1 

 over, the reason 

 being that very 

 little work was 

 put on the vine- 

 yard ; other and 

 better paying 

 fruit demanded 

 attention. The 

 fourth year, on 

 account of wir- 

 ing, the expense 

 was $63.14, but 

 the net sales of 

 grapes amounted to $186.42, leaving a profit of $123.28. 

 The yield was 12,048 pounds. The fifth year a cold rain 

 storm mixed with snow came, the 30th of May, when the 

 vines were in blossom, and blighted the crop. The yield 

 was only 4,575 pounds, but they sold for $110.55, leaving 

 a profit over expenses of $41.71. The sixth year (1890) 

 the expense of pruning, cultivating, hoeing, etc., was 

 $30.34. It cost $75 to market the crop, and the baskets 

 (2,709) cost $94.82. 1,630 pounds were sold by weight to 

 home consumers, which if packed, would have made a total 

 crop of 2,012 baskets from 1,000 vines. The entire ex- 

 penses for the year were $200. 16 ; receipts, $655.92 ; net, 

 .76 — about 250 per cent, on the investment. "Who 

 wants to go to California ? 



