The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1904-10-11
WINE GROWING IN HAWAII

iisean is the only country. pfoduo.
ihr nne quality of rfspes which o..
pitra itself BY law % the opportunity
~ turn them into wine a gentleman
living on tho outskirts ~ town. has an
nmrie vineyard which b. thiaks ~
giving up. FOR nll b. can got Tor his
product from the retailers g. 81 for
sixteen POUNDS figure which does
not pay Tor his trouble. Portuguese
come 10 him and say that they would
take the grapes and make vine OF them
on shares, promising as good "a product
ns that OF Portugal or spain. But
there stands stubborn blue law
across the path. II is the only obstacle.
for there IL none OF soil pests or
climate. Fine clarets and ports
madelras and sauternes and even or
binary champagnes are quite as prac-
ticable here az they are In any grape
country SO why not enable ourselves
10 turn our grapes into these profita-
BILE wares and build up "A staple indus
try worth n great annual income to
the Territory and capable of sustain
ing the Portuguese who now want to
get away. as well as many others be-
sides? There ~ nothing for us in
raislns for they cannot, owing to fire.
quent showers, be safely left out to
dry in the sun. The local demand for
fresh grapes, good as it Is, has been
exceeded by the present yield. To at
tempt the expectation of grapes to the
coast would be like sending Goals to
Newcastle; but Hawaii could send
wine there in full confidence that it
would sell on its merits even in Cali
fornia. Good wine from over the sea
never lacks for buyers.
The rest of the United States is in
the wine business on a large scale.
Last year the mainland produced 3d.
631 ,154 gallons. a very handsome yield
indeed. Southern Europe, Germany
and Austria Hungary distilled rivers
of grape Juice and made millions OF
dollars i'm the process. A good bit Of
money came from here. for Hawaii
consumes a large supply of both for
eign and domestic vintages, the like of
which, with the exception of such
wines of the higher grades as require
land whence the cultivation of a CEN
fury has driven all the acrid salts,
might be raised and manufactured on
her own soil. Surely it is an economic
blunder to keep on buying what the
land could produce and the sur
plus of which we could sell for cash.
There are no statistics to show the
value of wine Hawaii is now import
ing but in the last year of the Re-
public as given by the Collector Cen
erals report, the bill of costs was
$lS3, S63.07. 1t cannot be far from that
now though the consumption of local
beer may have cut into the total some
what
The moment a California viticultural
law were put on the Territorial statute
books the emigration of the Portuguese
would stop and there would be strong
demand for vineyard sites hark of Ho
nolulu and through the country gem
orally Small farming could not fail
of marked impetus. If there is one
thing the agricultural Portuguese know
we'll it is grape growing and wine
making. They take to it as the New
England farmer does to growing APP
pies and making cider. Given a chance
to make money from wine and they
would import new varieties of grapes
and go into the business on a scale
extensive enough to enlist and reward
capital for the manufacture and export
worth working for? Would it not JUS
tify the early attention of the Legis-
lature?