Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-10-29
AN AMERICAN CLAREr,

The househOlders of New Il orr have
been asreeably surprised by receiving this
autumn, for the first time, excellent native
gTapes-the COncOrds, IsabeIlas, and other
varietieS-at prices Of from three 10 five
cents per pound, retail. This is partly ow-
ing 10 the opening by railroad and steam
boat Of new regions of supply Offruits, veg
etables, and game. Thus last 5 winter
brought rs CATTLE from greater distance
than ever before; and since the war il is
well known that we get supplies of fruits
and early vegetables from Southern States
which never formerly exported anything
Of this nature to us. So our grapes con-
tinualy come in from a wider circuit and
compete in value, until this year we find
cheap California prices in our market.
This change is by no means satisfactory
to the owners of vine-lands. There are
well known vineyards in the central and
western portions of this State where land
has been worth 81, 900 per acre which now,
owing to the fall Of prices in grapes will
only bring from 500 TO 500 per acre. The
result will of course be, either that the
vine-cultuTe viii De given up or that the
grapes will be turned into wine. No
doubt the latter viii be frequently the case,
as good vine-lands are Of verv little value
for any other puTpose- Cheap grapes ought
to mean a cheap native wine.
The great competitors of our yine-grOw-
ers in cheap wines are CalifOrnians. Yet
grapes nOS in the vineyard must be as cheap
here as on the Pacific cOaSt-say two cents
a pound. With that price the California
wine-maker inds il pay 10 turn the grapes
into wine, and export it five thousand
miles by sea TO this port. He can lay
down his wine here at one dollar per gal
lon, or twenty cents per bottle, aud still
make good profit, his labor havingcOst him
more than labor costs here. Surely the
New York and Ohio wine-fnaker can DO as
we'll. The average yield Of grapes in ives
Tern New York ought TO be equal.tO that i'm
Italy, or say $500 pounds per acre, that is
400 gallons Of wine. This at fifty cents
per gallon would give yield Of 500 per
acre, which is not Improbable farming.
Such wine, sold at one dollar per gallon in
our cities, would make cheap wine.
One obstacle in the way of this result
hitherto has been that the Eastern wine
grwers have chosen for grapes those which
contained much sugar, ami which there
fore produced strong wine. Now, a
strong wine has to be kept, for its maturity,
several years. But the keeping the wire
means the lying idle Of 50 mitch capital,
and therefore the increase Of the price.
What the grape-erOweIs in New York, the
central west, and portions Of Virginia and
Tennessee should do is 10 plant out such
varieties as "NOrton's Virginia Seeding
and other few varieties which will produce
a light wine, or a wine not stronger than
Burgundy. Then the wine can be sold
The first year, aud the capital turned over
rapidly, and truly cheap beverage be pro-
dueed. The large number of Germans
turning their attention in various parts OF
of the country 10 vine raising will eventu-
ally solve the problem Of cheap wine.
The effect Of cheap wines on habits of in
cannot be too highly rat 81. Com
peteht observers already note that in
Kansas and Missouri native wines are
driving ont whisky from the towns. We
look, too, for an influence almost equally
salutary on the public health from the use
IF light native wines. The inOrdinate ice
water drinking Of our cOuntTymen is pro-
by all our physicians TO be most
injurious. Then few people outside our
villages are aware how increasingly
difficult is thequeStiOn Of pure water supply. |
In most Of our small towns the wells are
adjoining cesspOOls aud stables, ami ie-
,eiye more or less Of the constant drainage |
IF the latter. A chemical analysis was |
made during the past year Of the water
rom the wells Of one Of our most thriving |
owns-lthaca-and most Of them were |
ound infected with poisonous animal mat
er. One house, whose well showed the |
worst composition, had been afflicted with |
enible diseases. IL is well known TO ply
ieians that nothing conveys typhoid cholera /
Ike drinking water which is infected with
esSpoOl drainages. Now free use Of a
heap claret with water would avert some
{ these i'll effects. and many diseases
would be checked. We trust that for
moral, sanitary, and economic reasons
ur cheap grapes may bring us a time of
heap light wines, and that the long-loOke4
or ''American claret" will soon make its
ppearauce.