30 
BULLETIN 861, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
the climatic conditions most favorable for grape growing, and the 
steep banks and high hills surrounding Keuka 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 counties 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 by the 
various originating railroads: 
Table 3. — Carloadings of grapes in the Central Lakes district of Xew York. 
1916 
1917 
1918 
1919 
- 
1916 
1917 
1918 
1919 
Ontario Co. , Sept.-Oct. • 
Canandaigua 
25 

124 
21 
17 
11 
89 

25 

77 

11 

160 

Steuben Co. , Sept.-Nov.: 
Hammondsport 
Prattsburg 
199 


99 


108 


191 
4 
Rheims 
6 
Steuben Co. total... 
Yates Co., Sept.-Nov.: 
Benton 
199 
99 
108 
201 
Ontario Co. total.... 
170 
117 
102 
171 

127 
70 
20 
1 
1 
32 
137 
1 
508 
2 
45 
1 
125 
76 
11 
3 
i 
45 
141 
1 
298 

28 

55 
74 
2 
4 

IS 
63 

149 

15 
Schuyler Co. , Sept.-Nov.: 
61 
30 
92 
28 
40 
19 
101 
46 

Bluff Point 
132 
Branchport 
126 
IS 
Schuyler Co. total. . . 
91 
120 
59 
147 
Dundee 
Seneca Co., Sept.-Nov.: 

14 
62 
20 
4 
1 

40 
41 
7 
6 

15 
19 
9 

2 

29 
34 
50 
9 
4 

Himrod 
32 
Middlesex 
144 
Miln 
1 
Kendaia 
Penn Yan 
260 
Romulus. . 
Rock Stream 
1 
Seneca Falls... 
Starkey 
41 
Yale 
Yates Co. total 
Total loadings in 
district 
944 
730 
380 
762 
Seneca Co. total 
101 
94 
45 
126 
1,505 
1,160 
694 
1,407 
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, 
4 See Hedrick, U. P. The Grapes of New York. Report Agricultural Experiment Sta- 
tion for the Year 1907, II, pp. 83, 84. 
