The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-10-10

lands that ten years ago were not worth
over $40 to SIS an acre for generally agri-
cultural purposes are now held at from
500 to $500 an acre. These grapes whose
cultivation has made grape grow
ing the most prof table farm pro-
duct in Central and Western New
York are the Concord, Catawba and Della
ware varieties that are easily made to
grow luxuriantly along steep, stony hill
sides and ravines, in soil and under cir
cumstances that exist in many parts of
Washington, q land where late spring or
early autumn frosts are of rare occurrence,
and where plenty of land identical in soil
and situation with the grape belt Of Gen.
trail and Western New York can be found.
The face Of this New York grape growing
district is uneven and billy, deeply cut at
intervals by ravines that are natural
drains for the hill country. On the slopes
the vineyards are planted in soil of clay
loan predominated by that of shale and
black slate. The grapes that can be raised
to advantage in Washington and Oregon.
the Concord, Catawba and Delaware, are
all sprung from the native stock
of the American wild grapes,
while the California grapes are from
imported foreign stocks. For the table
the native American grapes are better than
the California; they have thinner skins;
are of more sprightly flavor. They COM
mand as good price as the California
grapes, and yet our fruit growers do not
raise enough in either Oregon or WASH
ington to supply their home market. be-
cause as they say the railroad rates are SO
high that there is no money in sending
fruit to market. The first Isabella grapes
sent to New York city twenty-five years
ago sold for 16 cents pound; while today
they sell at retail for cents pound, and
all the grape-growing farmers are getting
rich selling their crop at 81 cents pound
wholesale.
OF course it is easy to say that the great
cities make great market, but when We
remember that Idaho and Montana are
not large fruit raising countries; that
these states, as well as Washington and
Oregon, are rapidly increasing in popula-
ton, we cannot doubt but that at no very
distant day there will be a remuneratiye
market for such splendid pears. prunes
and grapes as we now raise in the Walla
Walla district of Washington and in
Southern Oregon. There is no sound
reason why Montana and Idaho
should not prefer fine fruits, fresh
from Washington, to stale fruit
al rol hxv
another ten years the increased population
ought to make an increased demand that
will make fruit growing valuable indus
try in both Washington and Oregon. At
fair rates fruit buyers certainly would pre-
fer fresh fruit to stale fruit, especially
the table are as fine in flavor as Concords
and Delawares raised in Washington and
Oregon, or pears that are equal to the
Flemish Beauty as grown in the Walla
Walla country. The grape growers of Gen.
trail and Western New York make very
large quantity of red native wine from the
Concord and other grapes, which finds a
ready sale in every state in the Union. If
wine can be made of these grapes in New
York and sold to advantage, the time will
come when Southern Oregon will add wine
making to her industries on as large
scale as Central and Western New York,
where there are half dozen wine compan-
les who each put annually on the market
not less than 500, 600 bottles of champagne
and from 100000 to 100000 gallons of still
wines The manufacture of wine from the
Catawba grape is a valuable industry in
Ohio, and this variety of grape is easily
grown in Washington and Oregon.