The record-union., 1899-09-24

AA0do p1dNtltSS 5IONlil5 OAl VI 7hSAA ~
system. The dealers who bought the
wines disposed of the low grade goods
as California wines, while the better
better qualities, sufficiently aged, to be
found in nearly every cellar, were gen.
orally sold at high prices as French
and German wines. The State thus
suffered all the discredit for the poor
wines, but obtained no credit for the
really fine wines which were produced.
This practice prevails to certain ex-
tent to-day, fostered by a false idea
which leads many people to pay high
prices for foreign goods, while scorn-
ing the home product, even though this
may be better in quality.
SECOND ERA OF THE INDUSTRY.
Under the impetus of increased de-
mand grape culture again revived, and
prices for grapes and wines from first
hands increased at such rate that
yiticulture once more promised to be
the best paying industry in the State.
1t. had been demonstrated that all va
rletles OF Wits vinifera flourished well
in California; that vines could be cul-
tivated successfully without irrigation;
that the dry summer only seemed to
stimulate the vines into a production of
perfect fruit, and that not only wines,
but raisins also could be produced equal
to the best brands of Spain. Under
this impression and in the belief that
California was to be the foremost grape
growing country on earth, a fuller
knowledge of European methods was
desired. A number of prominent wine
merchants subscribed to a fund and
sent Charles A. Wetmore-then a young
man and a graduate of the State Uni
versity, well versed in the French Ian
guage-to France to acquaint himself
with French practices. Mr.. Wetmore
was well received, treated with the ut
most courtesy, and came back enthused
with the idea that France was the
greatest wine producing country, and
that California need but follow in her
footsteps as a wine producer to be-
come the France of the New World.
Imbued with this idea, he presented a
bill to the Legislature creating a State
Board of Viticulture, with a liberal
appropriation, the main object being
to further viticulture in all its
branches. The bill also provided for
the districting of the State, with a
the State board, and for a chief ex-
ecutive viticultural officer with office
at San Francisco. Upon the passage of
this bill Mr.. Wetmore was appointed
the chief viticultural officer
The new regime was initiated in 1880
with great energy and zeal and. as
the members of the board were all
prominent grape growers, it was ac-
corded the general confidence of the
public. Mr.. Wetmore, especially, was
enthusiastic in advancing the theory
that this State contained a much larger
acreage adapted to viticulture than
France or any other European country;
that it could not be excelled in the pro-
duction of vim ordinaire. and that
enough of such wine could not be pro-
duced to satisfy the demand s This,
with lively demand for grapes at high
prices by the wine makers, created a
furore in vineyard planting in the early
SOS. Many persons thought they saw
in the industry the best means to be-
come wealthy in a short time and in
vested in vineyard property at high
prices.
Expensive cellars and wineries,
equipped with the best machinery
which the genius of Heald could invent.
crushers, stemmers and presses capable
of working up 800 tons of grapes per
day, were introduced As an illustra-
tion of the sudden rise Of the industry,
it may be noted that the small county
of Napa had over 200 cellars and win
cries, ranging in capacity from 10000
gallons up to 100000 gallons. that of
the largest cellar, the Greystone, above
St. Helena
DEPRESSION OF THE INDUSTRY.
The facts that success in grape cul-
ture could be attained only through
years Of toll, during which the vines
would have to be cultivated, staked
and pruned, and that rapid increase in
production would also necessarily re-
duce the prices, We're overlooked, or at
least not sufficiently considered The
legitimate result came only too soon;
a crisis followed in the year 1886, when
grapes dropped from S25 and $50 per
ton to SS and SO and ordinary wines
to and s cents per gallon from first
hands. The phylloxera had also been
doing its silent but effective work on
the roots of the Vinifera vines: mum
bers of the vineyards of Sonoma and
Napa Counties had succumbed to it's
ravages, but many Of the winners, not
believing that their vineyards would
be devastated by it, failed to adopt the
only remedy-the planting of resistant
vines as grating stocks. Many of the
grape growers We're bordering on des-
pair. They had invested their all
some of them more than their all-in
their vineyards, and, expecting returns
from them, had borrowed money from
the banks to keep them up. They now
found that the vineyards would hardly
pay the cost of cultivation. At to
cents per gallon for wine. the price
paid by the dealers. the hundreds of
cellars and wineries, with their costly
equipment, had TO close. and half of
these are still empty or working up to
barely half their capacity. Cooper
age, which had been paid for at the
rate Of 10 cents per gallon, fell to
and B cents, and can now be secured
for one-fifth its original cost Not only
was the wine business affected, but the
raisin business also suffered from over
production, notwithstanding the fact
that the growers had been duly warned
against it by George West. The con-
ditions described, which continued un-
til the '90s, formed the darkest davs
of the grape growers of California. and
they are referred to only with the view
of leading to an avoidance of similar
mistakes in the future. While these
difficulties and misfortunes, character
istic of the transition stage of every in
dustry, have passed, it is thought never
to return, it may be of benefit to re-
peat some of the causes which worked
the great change in the industry.
n1@ Il.