New-York tribune., 1882-02-22
GRAPE-GROWING ~ NEW-JERSEY.

Alfred Speer. of Passaic, New-Jersey. gathered
nuIt last fall from about thlrtyh thousand grape
vines. To get his views on grape Gulturc-Niews
foru ed after twenty-five years OF hard work-a
| TKlBINE reporter talked with him on he subject
recently and this is what he said
81 have seen all the vineyards In this country
with the exception Of those IN san Francisco and
| from my many years experience believe there Is
no section in this country, and question II there Is
| in any other country. winch Is 50 admirably
| adapted by nature for growing the grape as that
which slopes from the Garrett Rock mountain ridge
| to the PaSsac River, extending from Montclar TO
Paterson There is no good reason why hundreds of
acres should not he devoted TO growing grapes. and
if tho farmers along this slope should 60 INTO II they
! would be liable to mOnOpnllZe the New ork mar
ket, for the reason that they cOuld get their pro-
duets to market in better condition and at less cost
than anyone else. If they did this they wonId
realize the highest prices. THIS Is not ali guess
work. because have fully proven IL by long years
Of tedious experiments; and have proved that
Passac County as red grape growing section. Is
not eXceed by any county in the country,
especially for the Concord table grape and the
OpOrto wine grape"
Upon what do you base this statement p in
QulTCd the reporter.
Upon thc nature of the soil the favorable eli
mate and the CLOSE proximity to an almost neXhauS'
tbe market for fine article. The soil IS brown
shalc on the top of rock lt contains large amOun
of iron and 1t Is this that gives he strong color to
wine. Then the proximity to market Is a very I'M
portant thing. Last year my grapes, which were
all sent in by wagons sold at better prices than
grapes grown IN Southern New jersey which were
sent mp by tram. for the reason that the blush was
not destroyed by handling"
Does the soil require very large amount OF
fertilizers"
Not as much az the farmers in that section.
apply at present 10 grow melons, corn and other
garden fruits and vegetables. About every other
year | make compost OF leaves, muck, animal
matter AMI coarse crushed bones. lhls l apply
lightly, pOnghing 1t in about SIX inches between
the rows. hen the fruit Is not sweet and luscious
enough | sprinkle between two hundred and four
hundred pounds Of German potash salts to the acre
around the roots of the vines which does all that is
required to make the irult as handsome as one
could wish TO see"
aNo rule can be laid down, because the soil and
climate aud exposure of the land have much to dc
with success The method pursue, and the same
rule will apply to all the section OF Passalc County
that | have mentioned, IS entirely dlilefent from
the mode of procedure IN the vineyards in the old
country. At first | followed their way, cutting the
vines down low, having them 5near together and
fastening to stakes. For eight years this was kept
up with little or no success. The vines did not do
well while the fruit was Of inferior quality. In
fact ] had pretty nearly become Disguised But |
went ahead. took out every other ylne which left
tho rows six feet apart, strung three wires along
each row. and traled tie vines along the wires. In
this way each root had six arms My foreign work
men laughed at me. They had always done differ
emily. and experienced men said my grapes would
ripen. In spite of all that was said the new
way proved an entire success and last year The
average yield an acre of Concord grapes was ll.3OO
pounds, which brought an average price OF $40
cents a pound, "a total of 5000 80 an acre. |
have been III the business nearly thirty years and
have found out that soil that abounds in iron and
provided the location aS regards Sunlight and the
circulation of wind is considered in planting the
vines. On one side of hill, tine treatment must be
different from that on the other. For instance. on
the north side the vines should be trled so as not
to shade each other any more than Is possible,
while on the south side OF the same hill it is
Sary to have each vine shade the other as much as
possible. Then again different trimming is neces-
sary where there are more sand and loam and less
Iron potash and animal bone. As have said If
the farmers west of the PaSSaic River between
Paterson and Newark give attention to tins sub
iect ii it is entered into with the right spirit and
persisted in with the close attention that New
Jersey farmers are accustomed to give to their
work. they will lind il to lie the most Profitable of
crops as the best grapes can be readily sold, while
tho smaller and rougher branches easily made
into wine. American wine is slowly but steadily
forcing its way into market. The prejudice against
it Is rapidly dying out. and with the statements of
good Judges that the article made in New-JerSev is
superior to that made in California. because of the
peculiar soil, | cannot see any reason why the
Pa>saic farmers should not be able to make money,
especially rs the culture of the grape in their sec
ton is past the experimental age"