The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1886-09-02
CIR IN FLoRnn,A.

If there is any industry which, except
within the last three years, has nevel
been much thought of in Florida, it ID
the growing Of grapes for profit. Soup
pern0ng arbOrs could be seen ornamentine
| the gardens of almost every plantation,
but bearing hardly enough TO make, with
the addition of large percentage of sugar
and water, few gallons of wine for fam
lily use. If some parties cultivated Soup
pernongs on larger scale, and converted
their grapes into wine, they found it diff.
cult to dispose Of this wine outside Of a
circle Of friends and acquaintances. Soup.
pernong wine not being a current article
of consumption.
On my first visit to Florida, and upon
inquiries about grape-growing in this
country, was told by some that the So
called bunch grapes would not do here
that they had been tried and proved fail
ure. BY some others, that they did not see
why grapes would not grow here. This
was not sufficient to discourage or encour-
age me, and as had come to this State
with the intention Of testing her capabil-
ity as grape-growing country, decided
to make an experiment by myself, and
plant few acres of grapes. Now, the
difiulty was to discriminate among the
crowded list of American grapes those
suited to this climate. / had seen some
Concords and Ives growing well and bear
ing good crops, but how long would they
last? And furthermore, was it necessary
to come so far south to raise 80 poor
grapes? There were some Delaware and
Rogers Hybrids on little place which
we bought in Gainesville, Alachua county.
They were doing we'll enough, though
planted on third-class pine land, the natu-
raj drainage of which was very deficient.
But how to dispose of those Rogers Hy
brids, which do not bear transportation,
and are not profitable as wine grapes.
AS | had no confidence in European
grapes, though disposed to give them a
fair trial, and having in view the growing
OF grapes for wine making, I thought
that the best varieties of the ZEStiu0lis
class were the proper sorts to plant, inas-
much as | had noticed that among the in
Vulnerable grape vines growing wild along
roads and borders, the heal,hiest and best
bearers belong to that species.
AS regards location, although found
great many places in different counties
farther south, which seemed to me espe-
tally adapted to grape culture, / became
enthusiastic of the beautiful country sur
rounding the city OF Tallahassee. We
bought some twenty-seven acres of land
on the south shore of this lovely little
sheet of water called Lake Hall, and the
first year-that is, in the spring of 1889
we set out in vineyard the following va
rieties and quantities Of grape vines
Cynthiana, $500; Norton's Virginia,
1000; Delaware, 200; Lenoir (Jacquez),
200; Elvira, $50; Missouri Riesling, 100,
and perhaps fifty to sixty other varieties
in small quantities.
In the fall of 1985-that is, two years
and half after planting of our
vines bore, and we made about 475 gal
Ions of wine (claret) from the Cynthiana
and Northern grapes, and twenty-five
galIlSgns Of yhite wine from 70 Elyra and
pounds of grapes sold in town. We kept
planting every year on our Lake Hall
place, and on our Fort San Luis planta-
tion. Our vineyards consist now of thirty
acres, and we expect to make this year
1900 gallons of wine, and ship some
thousand pounds of Delaware grapes to
the Northern markets. When our thirty
acres are in bearing we can reckon on
5000 or 5000 gallons. l am satisfied
that we can raise here the right kind of
grapes to make as fine wines of Claret,
Hook and Sauterne sorts as any on this
continent; and with my experience as a
European wine grower, l may say far su-
perior to the bulk of imported wines.
When say "here do not mean Leon
county, or Middle and Western Florida,
but any part Of the State where piece
of we'll drained land can be found.
Now, how is it that 80 few persons
think of engaging in grape growing, and
wine making, when it is known that these
industries brought wealth to all countries
where they have been pursured Simply
because they have been considered sci
ence only within the reach of those
born in wine land; because, also, most
of the treatises on the subject have not
been written from practical standpoint,
but only to set forth personal theories
and boast of botanical knowledge
AS feel confident that the culture of
grapes in Florida will, in the near future,
if not supersede, at least go at par with
that of the orange, intend to publish
in this paper . series of articles on "Prac-
tical Grape Growing, and Wine Making
in Florida. ."-E Dubois, IN the Florida
Rural Home.