The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-01-20

more stiffness though o too stir.
Goo soil will produce better results
,han poor soil. though and sandy soil
in Eastern North Carolina can be
made very profitable in Scuppernons
Grapes.
A word as to the profit. An acre viii
set 10 vines. At three years old with
proper care. they should produce from
= peck to a half bushei each. At four
years old they should produce not less
than one To two bushels each. At his
time you can still cultivate oae-hale
the land. At seven years old you
should be getting from four hundred to
eight hundred bushels per acre. FAX
ing the lowest estimate. say four num-
cred bushels NJ s5 cents per bushel.
which we propose to pay for choice
grapes. YOU have an income Of SSoe per
acre. as low estimate for each year.
Vines live to be- over a hundred years
DID The Old Mother vine il still living
on Roanoke Island. and Is over three
hundred years old. and bore fruit last
year though utterly neglected. and It's
roots are bare. No crop You can grow
VIII give such sure returns Ten acres
IN grapes vii insure any man a steady
income after seven years: which beats
any l.fe insurance policy. While IL pro-
duces some times larger crops n
others. IL never falls utterly.
To land owners who will set out vines
we propose tn give contracts guarantee
ing a market at IA regular ms fair scale
of prices. for five years or longer, they
TO guarantee to sell US the crop each
ear. We 10 take ali the crop that Is
gathered and offered properly at the
nearest railroad station. or at our
winery.
North Carolina has, In the Eastern
part of the state. more than n million
acres Of land adapted to the growth OF
this grape. Granting that only n
acre in ZACH one hundred were planted
and that the minimum crop of 400 BUSH
els per acre were produced. and that
each bushel produced three gallons OF
wine, We have twelve million gallons
Of the finest wine in the world when
properly made. This il nearly half as
much as California makes. France
which is not so very mush larger h n
our state. produces over a billion gall
Ions OF wine. North Carolina GOULD.
if her people only WOULD. be in this
NSkNNN AN NV ~
AMERICA. and could make as much
wine as France. the greatest wine pro-
ducing country in the world. We hope
ia see the work started. IL the farmers
will make the grapes. we will try TO
make the wine and sell 1t.
There is no publisher treaties on
grape growing that is worth a cent %
applied to Scuppernong. Plant IL prop
erly, give Ii half-a-chance. and II will
make you rich in spite of yourself-ln-
dependent, at least. 1t takes a lltti"
time. Do not prune 1t ever. except
when necessary TO keep 1t in shape while
young. If cut il bleeds and dies. or
does not thrive. Civ ii arboraGe, and
nice rich soil protected from the sun
and rains by rich loan, or woods-mould.
and it will grow so fast you forget you
planted IL five years before. Don't be
deferred by the five years-you have
the use of nearly all you land while 1t
is growing, and once In full bearing.
you don't want, at most over fifty acres
to take care of a large family in COM
fort-even a%ffiuence. Even II Ii netted
you only 500 per acre, and you a only
twenty-five acres, it beats cotton on
tobacco as a money crop. Don't go In
too big at first; plant five TO ten acres
each year: then the posting and wiring
don't come all at once and break you,
and you begin TO get some income by the
time expenses of wiring becomes heavy.
We advise il you purpose to have a
vineyard Of twenty-five acres, to set
out five acres each year. IL you want
fifty acres set out ten acres a year.
In five years you will be on easy street.
in ten years you will be perfectly in
dependent. To any man N viii set
out vineyard we will give a contract
to take his entire product. Get near a
shipping point so you won't have SO far
to haul your grapes. They are heavy
and must be shipped promptly after
being gathered. We have and viii have
facilities to handle them as fast as the
farmers can ship them.
Yours very truly.
SOL BEAR & co.