The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-02-07

more stiffness though not toe ssiR-
Good soil will produce better results
b o soil, though and sandy soil
in Eastern North Carolina can be
made very profitable in Scuppernong
Grapes.
A word as to the profit. An acre VIII
set ITO vines. At three years old with
proper are they should produce frona
a peck to a half bushel each At four
years old they should produce not less
b one to two bushels each At his
time You can still cultivate one-half
the land. At seven years Did you
should be getting from four hundred to
eight hundred bushels per acre TAX
ing the lowest estimate, say four hun
cred bushels at IS cents per bushel.
which We propose to pay for choice
grapes, you have an income OF $500 per
acre. as low estimate for each year.
Vines live to be over a hundred years
Did. The Old Mother vine Is still living
on Roanoke Island. and Is Over three
hundred years old, and bore fruit last
year though utterly neglected. and its
roots are bare. No crop you can grow
will give such sure returns. Ten acres
Ia apt VIA AEiS0AS 0As A%A~AA - SN~-1S
income after seven years; which beats
any life insurance policy. While it pro-
duces some times larger crops than
others, it never fails utterly.
| To and owners who will set out vines
we propose to give contracts guarantee
ing a market at a regular and fair scale
| of prices, for five years or longer, they
to guarantee TO sell US the crop a
Il Uaar rra - fala al. tho nrnn that Ia
| 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 a million
acres of land adapted to the growth OF
this grape. Granting hat only one
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 is nearly half as
much as California makes. France
which is not so very mush larger than
our state, produces over, a billion gal
Ions of wine. North Carolina COULD.
If her people only WOULD, be in this
respect the SOUTHERN FRANCE OF
AMERICA, and could make as much
wine as France, the greatest win pro-
ducing country in the world. We hope
to see the work started. If the farmers
will make the grapes. We will try to
make the wine and sell it.
There is no publisher treaties on
grape growing that is worth a cent as
applied to Scuppernong. Plant it prop
erly, give it half-a-chance, and it will
make you rich in spite Of yourself-in-
dependent, at least. It takes a little
time. Do not prune it ever, except
when necessary to keep it in shape while
young. If cut it bleeds and dies, or
does not thrive. Give it 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 it 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 AXE care of a large family In COM
fort-even afnuence. Even if it netted
you only 500 per acre. and you had only
twenty-five acres, it beats cotton OF
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 Of wiring becomes heavy.
We advise if you purpose to ave a
vineyard Of twenty-five acres, TO SET
out five acres each year. If you wan,
fifty acres set out ten acres each year
In five years you will be on easy street
in ten years you will be perfectly In
dependent. To any mar who Will Sc
out vineyard we will give a contrac'
to take his entire product. Get near
shipping point 50 you won't have so Ia
to haul your grapes. They are heavy
and must be shipped promptly afte1
: being gathered. We have and will have
facilities to handle them a.. fast as TIT
: farmers can ship them.
J, Yours very truly,
SOL BEAR & CO.