Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1848-08-19
From the Public Ledger.l

IN this country, both for the purpose of fur
nlshing an article for table use; and for ma.
King vine. The only reason we can think of
ior this apathy is, there being SO many and
such various means and opportunities of em.
poying capital and skill in oti cw and wide
spread country, that the grape culture has
been overlooked
Although the grape is not Indigenous in
Europe, all having been originally brought
from Asia, yet France alone in 1928, had
four millions four hundred and sixty-ive thou
slnd acres 1864 ,0oo) of land in vineyards.
producing annually nine hundred and one mil
lions (9ol 900, ,o0o) gallons of wine, and worth
two hundred million of dollars (S2OO, Oo0, ,OOO)
besides the millions of grounds used for raj
sins, table use, &C.
Now the vino is Indigenous in every State,
Territory and Province in North America,
| from the Atlantic TO the Pacific and from
Canada to California.
The carly culiivaiors of the vine in this
country, have thrown away some hundreds Of
thousands of dollars in trying TO acclmate
foreign varieties of the grape TO our soil and
climate. None of the efforts have been sue
cesoiul in open culture. n. bongworth; of
Cincinnati, and Dr.. II. T. Undcrhill. of New
York, each have spent several thousand dol
lars in trying 10 cultivate foreign vines--boih
have discontinued the culture of foreign. aid
both are now Jealous and successful cnltva-
tors of American vines. Mr. Longworth has
one hundred acres in Il bearing state, princi-
pally of the Caiawaba variety. DR.. Under
hill has twenty acres in bearing, principally
of the ls;ibclla. To the best of our Knowledge
they are the two largest grape growers in the
Union. The whole number of acres in vino
yards in bearing near Cincinnati is about four
hundred. The grapes are raised there for
wine making. From the Ca,awba is made
an excellent wine, without either sugar or al
cohol, equal 10 The best Hook of Europe, and
which at one year old, readily sells at one
dollar and fifty cents per gallon. In the
| spring of is47, MIR Longworih made six thou
| sand and Mr.. Miller four thousand bottles of
champagne, and of so good quality as TO
! command Twelve dollars per dozen. Several
Germans in Berks County, Pa, are cultiva-
ling the Isabella, Caiawba and Alexander
grapes with success and last season produced
more than twenty thousand gallons of wine.
DR.. Underhll raises grapes expressly for
the New York market, sending there several
thousand baskets yearly, and selling at nine
dollars per hundred pounds, or about four dol
lars fifty cents per basket BY the last CEN
sus it appeared that in 1882 North Carolina
was the greatest wine growing State in the
Union The Scupperung is the iavorite grape
at the South, where it grows with great luX-
uriancc, one vine having produced one hun
dred and fifty gallons of wine in one season.
Sidney Weller, of Brinklcville, n. C., informs
me that he has sold all his first quality of
wines of last years vintage, at three dollars
per gallon.
To show that we are in one of the best To-
cations in the Union, for grape growing, as
regards soil and climate, we need only state
one fact In lS45, James Laws at his farm
near Chester, produced ten thousand pounds
of Isabella and Caiawba grapes TO the acre,
and realized by selling them at wholesale,
|eight hundred dollars per acre, besides ma
king more than two barrels of wine TO the
acre.
Mr.. Laws crop of grapes would have pro-
duccd more than one thousand gallons OF
wine TO the acre, without the addition of Ell
ther sugar or alcohol and worth when one
year old, fifteen hundred dollars.
We will mention few OF the good reasons
for grape culture in this country The aver
age price of and in France, for grape cul
ture, is two hundred dollars per acre-ihc
average price in this county would not be
one fourth part of that sum-
The cost of manuring in some parts of Eu
rope is upwards of sixty-seven dollars Pc
acre, being four or five times tie cost in thi
country. The average quantity OF wine made
to the acre in France is less than two hun
dred and fifty gallons. At Cincinnati the av
erage quantity is four hundred and seventy
five gallons per acre.
If you have the space TO sparc we propose
10 furnish the two hundred thousand reader
OF the Ledger with n few practical essays ol
the culture of American grapes, and the man
ufacture OF wine, the cost of forming vine
} yards, the profits of vme culture.
II. G. Boswell