Evening star., 1896-10-09
IN A GRAPE RE Clio N
A Flourishing Industry in the Westerr
Part of New York.
How the Fruit is Gathered and Placed
On the Mnrket-Limited Use
in Making Wine.
Correspondence Of The Evening Star.

western New 1Ork, especially Cnautdu-
qua county. has long been known as one Of
the best grape-producing sections of our
country. The banks of Lake Erie and the
country for several miles inland abound
with vineyard after vineyard. Grapes have
been grown here on a large scale, for the
past twelve or fifteen years. In that time
grape culture has been extended until it is
now regarded as one Of the.most important
Industries, If not the most important, Of
this section. Concords form the largest
part Of the CROP but Niagaras, Delawares.
Nordens, Catawbas and a score of other
varieties are quite common. The farmers
devote a large portion of their time to the
vineyards. and watch them carefully while
the grapes are forming and ripening. When
the time to pick and ship the fruit arrives,
the country presents busy scene The
vineyards and packing houses are alive
with men and women engaged in rapidly
filling the baskets for shipment; the roads
are lined with heavily-ladened trucks con-
veying the baskets to the train, and at the
station dozens of-freight cars held in
readiness for their cargoes.
The earliest pickefs began gathering the
fruit about the 1se fof September. Since
that time the grape help" have arrived at
nearly every vineyard. They are, for the
| most part, young women who live in the
In the morning until in the evening, with
an hour at noon for dinner. and receive an
average of s. per week for their services.
They pick in pairs. land with a patent ar
rangement, made for the purpose clip the
stem from the vine and drop the bunch into
a long crate The pickers pass steadily
along up ore row and down another until
! they have entirely stripped the section Of
| the vineyard in which they are working
| The crates are left on the ground as soon
| as they are filled and are gathered up and
| carried to the packing house. The utmost
| care Is exercised In loading and drawing
| the grapes lest become cracked or
| broken.
| At the Pntiking House.
| When the grapes reach the packing house
the crates are stacked In one Of the rooms
| to stand over night, or until the fruit is
| slightly wilted. This latter process Is nee
essary in order that the grapes may be
closely packed in the basket without crack
| ing, as would be the case II packed as soon
| as picked Off the vine. When the fruit is in
| condition to pack, the crates are dis
| tributed among the packers, who sit at in
| clined tables and sort the punches and fill
| the baskets. Some Of these packers work
| with great speed, and frequently fill as
many as 300 10-pound baskets per day.
Trey deftly remove the cracked and broken
grapes, which are usually thrown in small
| barrels and made into wine.
| The packers are merry crowd, and the
| work Is made much lighter by the stories
and jokes which are constantly told. 1t is
| said that working in the grapes makes
person good humored. and if one Is to Judge
by the workers in the packing house the
| statement seems to be true A frequent di-
version Is to write notes to put into the
| baskets.
| AS fast as the baskets are filled the
board covers are nailed on and they are
| loaded on the truck ready to be taken to
| the train. This year, on account of the
| low price Of grapes, many of the grape
| growers have purchased the materials and
made their own baskets Ordinarily, the
| baskets are bought from the basket fac
| tories at cost of from $40 to S25 per
| thousand.
Shipping the Grapes.
At the shipping stations, which are to be
found every few miles along the railroad.
| several freight cars are sidetracked 1t is
interesting to observe the shippers when a
load of grapes draws near. Each endeav-
ors, of course, to secure the load for his
car. They almost pull the man on the
WAGON to the ground. Then the price of
| baS SketS and help Is added to the time and
labor spent. The grower, it is claimed, is,
and has been for two or three years, re-
| ceiving 6. very slight profit. That this de-
crease In prices is accountable for in part
by the prevailing business depression and
| hard times is believed to be true.
| Wine Making.
In some parts Of the country wine MAX
ing Is an extensive industry. A few Of the
men who raise grapes make their entire
product into wine. One of the largest wine
cellars-the largest in Chautauqua county
was established nearly forty years ago.
Some Of the Oldest wines are Of the vintage
Of 80.
The largest portion of the grape crop is
| placed in the market in the familiar little
wooden baskets, and will doubtless continue
to be sold in this manner for many years
| to come.