The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-10-15
ON GRAPE CULTURE.
SOME FACTS ABOUT CALIFORNIA;
GROWING INDUSTRY.
Great Wide Green Fields of Grapes.
Little Left to VIII or Naturc-"SIips''
or "Cu.:inIs'-A Well Trimmed Vine.
yard-tathcrinS the Fruit.

or ''Cu.:inss''-A Well Trimmed Vine.
yard-Gathcrin, the Fruit.
am going to set down some facts about
grapes and this very great industry which
have come across ont here in the California
vineyards. In the fist lice, it may not
be genera, Known that we gather two crops
year ont here from the most of our vines.
But this i, tn .s5s. 1t seems strange to see the
great vi,ic ;,r,cI fields of grapes still continue
green rs green ms it is possible for green to he,
all the season through, without "a drop of
water, AID 20 right un and blossom and bear
a second rep - soon the first one is
gathered: and il j. II fact to store up in your
memory and ~ DOWN 10 the credit of Cali
fornia
There ar, perhaps fifty kinds of vines here;
maybe | cCIi safely double that number.
But tn I'D popular grape is Hungarian
variety. - u. 10 Spanish vines now ex-
cept tn !-.;r! and honest oil mission grape"
And " = TIA mission grape came from no
one NOS: at Il OF course it is of Spanish
orig. .s... 4 bore by the monks; but it is
not IL il amy part of Spain now.
Til Or :.rapc, which was for many
yea: ,.--.,.!y- Einai of grape grown in Cali
for g., :. Ia wcI for wine making at all
now, 49, i II grown to any great extent.
Blu; a ~ool table grape, and the few re-
voted t. the table and to the making of
brandy.
The great Improvement in California wines
within the last few years is due largely to the
improvement in the plant. II would only
lead to confusion, and few would care to read
the long list Of rare grapes that you almost
daily here about here in the heart of the
greatest grape land in the world and so l
will not give the names, but the search for
nm fa la ,vI.or is md
sistent all over the world. Men are kept con-
stantly travelling in Europe and Asia seeking
new varieties.
MODERN CRAZE CULTURE
The verInin which attacked and destroyed
the vines of France is a sort of louise which
destroys the root of the vine. 1t has made its
appearance in California, but its advance has
been checked, and its further progress is not
greatly feared. Still, it Is conceded that the
Californian who claimed to have discovered
certain remedy, and secured IA patent for the
same, has not yet received the millions which
France and Italy offered reward. l may
mention that when the panic incident to the
appearance of the verinin in the grape fields
here was ut its height the grape growers re-
sorted To the Missouri grapes, with good re
suit. The louise does not attack American
vines only imported ones
But there is little left to the will or the
nature of the vine i'll modern grape culture.
You viii have to tear down all the Chamber
ing vines which the old Greeks loved To pic
ture on their vases or in their poems There
is little left that is poetic i'll the grape here.
There is nothing that is oven beautiful except
this one broad sea OF green, and this is beauti-
full indeed when brought into sharp contrast
with the yellow and russell and tawny old
lion-lilie hills which tower up and hang high
over these emerald seas of vine.
THE grape is not raised from either the
seed or root, but from slips" or cuttings
like the cane III the southern states You
can cut Off almost any part of a grapevine
and stick it in the ground, give it anything
like half chance, and in less than three
years it will lie clinging to rock or stump,
bricr or bush, anything that is nearest, cover
in. up with its wonderouSly beautiful leaves
and tendrils all the hard angles and ugly
features Of whatever it clings to- trying its
best to make this beautiful world still more
beautiful. Another evidence of its sNeet
femininty. Bat after this cutting" has taken
root and had one or two years of leisure and
liberty III the nursery, it is dug up and set in
regimental line, no more to run riot or grow
and reach out and cling, and cover up the
follies and the faults of others.
a WELL TRIMMED VINEYARD.
These cuttings are now planted about as
wide apart-onc in each hill-as corn in tho
great corn fields of the west And it is at
once cut down almost to the ground. As |
said before, you must abandon all your old
picture IDEAS founded ON Bible tales or ira
ditions from profanc history. For the grape
in California i permitted To he only a stump
Every year j. il shorn down almost to the
ground. Out yondcr in the almost shore
less sea of green Grapcvires you can find
stumps of i-ripc trr.5 almost us thick your
body. But tie vines are only of this years
growth. \ well trimmed vineyard in Cali
fornia, after the last crop is gathered, looks
exactly like Il field OF stumps in a clearing
Not i:Iu "A romance or beauty about that.
But thory il plenty of money and this is tho
way that pays bS=:, and poetry must yield to
utility.
How nru ii will one acre yield. Wei, in
Napa valley they show you n field that yields
fourteen tons of grapes to the acre. But this
is an extraordinary yield From eight to ten
tons Is the average crop. These grapes are
sold 10y the ton. They are sometimes sold as
they stand: sometimes they are sold on deliv-
cry ut some wine press. They bring from $50
to so per ton, according t. the yield, n
rule
The prCtticst and clcanest employment
ever saw Is that of gathering grapes. But it
IS hard on the back, and i'll the end is not easy
work OF course. the ugly stumpS are en-
tiIrly hidden by the vines long before harvest
time. IndcSl. the thousand vines and ten
drills ana blossoms that branch out from tho
little black stump in the earliest days of
spring have long before harvest time com
Pc tely covered every inch of ground with
vines and leaves and tcndrils that reach al
most Ia yul.Y waist. And the stump is one
solid mass Of luscious grapes. They are all
there CIinSinS to the stump, not scattered
about over ;hr ground on the long vines that
are to H. Sho.I away But YOU begin to feel
down il the dC..>r sn:lS, of leaves and tendrils
for your stamp. AMI At every stump you find
a it'll, cl.t.oIsi OF i,r.:.les.
But, cl;@;. .-':w..h ,,i.Iiuy all | can say or
do, fear ny T How ls.urUr win cling TO the
dirty ali e.. -. a., t... J ci:i>, hu. his hatred
of thos, - ,gs,. : Z, .: ...,I Lrlved danger
and r!a p; a.: $50 - prefers the pest
hou$, ior =. IL I'm ., Ike green grape