New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-10-25
An American Ciaret.

| The householders of New York have been
| agreeably surprised by receiving this au'
| tumn, for the first time. excellent native
! grapes-the ConcOrds, Isabellas and other
! varieties-at prices of from three to five
| cents per pound. retail. This is partly
| owing to the opening by railroad and steam.
| boat of new regions OF supply of fruits.
| brought us game from a greater distance
| than ever before, and since the war il is
I we'll known that we get supplies Of fruits
| and early vegetables from Southern States
! which formerly never exported anything Of
| this nature to us. So our grapes continually
come in from a wider circuit, and compete
| in value, until this year we lind cheap Cali
| fOrnia prices in our market. This change is
| by no means satisfactory TO the owners of
vine lands. There are we'll known vine-
yards in the central and western portions
of this State, where land has been worth
$1,000 per acre, which now. owing to the
fall of prices in grapes, will only bring from
| 800 to 5000 per acre. The result will of
course be either that the vine culture will
be given up. or that the grapes will be
turned into wine. No doubt the latter will
be frequently the case. as good vine lands
are of very little value for any other pur-
pose. Cheap grapes ought to mean cheap
native wine.
The great competitors of our vine growers
in cheap wines are CalifOrnians. Yet grapes
now in the vineyard must be az cheap hero
as on the Pacific coast-say two cents a
pound. With that price the California wine
maker finds it pay to turn The grapes to
wine. and export it 5000 miles by sea to this
port. He can lay down his wine here at 81
per gallon or twenty cents per bottle, and
still make good profit, his labor having
cost him more than labor costs here. Surely
the New York and Ohio wine maker can do
as we'll. The average yield of grapes in
Western New York ought to be equal to
that in Italy. or say 22OO pounds per acre:
that is. 400 gallons of wine. This at fifty
per acre. which is not Improbable turning.
Such wine, sold at 81 per gallon in our cities,
would make cheap wine.
One obstacle in the way OF the result
hitherto has been that the Eastern wine.
growers have chosen for grapes those
which contained much sugar, and which,
therefore produced strong wine. Now,
strong wine has to be kept, for maturity.
several years. But the keeping the wine
and therefore the increase of the price,
What the grape growers in New York. tbf
Central West. and portions Of Virginia ane
Tennessee should do is TO plant out sucia
varieties as 'Norton's Virginia Seeding!
and other few varieties which will produ.
light wine or wine not stronger tkco
a Burgundy. Then the wine can be pan
the first year, and the capital turned eolo
rapidly. and truly cheap beverage be Ner
duced. The large number of Germans :lirn.
ing their attention in various parts of the
country to wine raising will eventually
solve the problem OF cheap wine. The
effect Of cheap wines on habits OF intern.
perance can not be too highly rated. Com
petent observers already note that Kansas
and Missouri native wines are driving out
whisky from the towns. We look, too, tor an
influence almost equally salutary on the
public health from the use of light native
wines. The inordinate ice water drinking
of our cOuntrymen 10 pronounced by all
our physicians to be most INJURIOUS. Then
few people outside of our villages are aware
how increasingly difficult is the question Of
pure water supply. In most Of our small
towns the wells are adjoining cesspoOls and
stables, and receive more or less OF the con.
slant drainage of the latter. A chemical
analysis was made during the past year of
the water from the wells Of one of our most
thriving tOwps-lthaca-and most Of them
were found infected with poisonous animal
matter. One house. whose we'll showed the
worst compositions had been afflicted with
terrible diseases. 1t is well known to
physicians that nothing conveys typhoid or
cholera like drinking water which is in
fected with cesspool drainages. Now free
use of cheap claret with water would
avert some OF these ill effects. and many
diseases would be checked. We trust that
for moral. sanitary and economic reasons
cur cheap grapes may bring lis time Of !
cheap light wines. and that the long.
looked-for American claret" will soon
make its appearance.-Ner York Times.