Los Angeles herald., 1908-11-09
ORGANIZES VINTAGE
MEN MORE FIRMLY
GRAPE GROWERS SEE NEED
FOR ACTION
Primary Object of Movement Is to Ad-
vance Price of Wine Fruit,
Which Is Now Disas-
trously Low

A prominent guest at the Van Nuys
yesterday was Secretary Stoll of the
Grape Growers association of Califor-
mia, who arrived here Sunday morning
from Fresno, where he had been SOW
! ing the seed of an organization to Co
] operate with the Grape Growers asso-
citation, and who will leave Tuesday for
Cucamonga, at which place he will de-
liver an address at o'clock Wednesday
night to the growers of that and other
! districts.
In the Cucamonga district Of San
Bernardino county it is estimated so
) per cent of the wine grapes of Southern
California are grown. While there Mr..
Stoll will be the guest of Secondo GU
asti, who has been one of the prime
movers in this work of organizing the
California vintage men on a stronger
basis. The primary object of the as
sociation is to raise the price of the
wine fruit as it is claimed the tendency
of the market threatens disaster to the
industry of grape-raising.
Mr.. Stoll has come from organizing
the growers of Turlock and Modesto in
the irrigation district and at present ia
consulting with Los Angeles growers.
From Cucamonga he will return Thurs
day to Fresno and Saturday he will
address q meeting at Tulare, which
practically will complete the organiza-
tion of the state.
1T is not generally known, said
Secretary Stoll, that the grape-grow-
ing industry in this state represents
500, 900 worth of property, two-thirds
of which is bound up in the wine in
dustry. In spite of this capital in
vested, the state has paid little atten-
tion to us, being liberal with all the
growing activities except viticulture.
The French government takes pater-
nal interest in the greatest industry of
it's people and one of the objects of this
association now being formed is to
seek legislative appropriations to faster
one of the chief industries of California.
Through organization, the association
has secured a reversal of a ruling by
the internal revenue department of the
government that entailed a loss this
year to the growers amounting to near
ly $3,000,O 900.
"By prohibiting the use of sweet
wines as medicinal compounds a ruling
made by the department last March,
the wine men could not pay the grow
ers more than Sc per ton for grapes,
having such a diminutive market for
wine, and as it did not pay growers to
pick them for that price they were a
total loss.
out or this alarming condltlOn grew
an organized campaign for a reversal
of the ruling. First a resolution was
offered to and accepted by the trans
mississippi congress, in spite of the fact
great number of it's delegates were
Prohibitionists. The same resolution
was laid before President Roosevelt, to-
gether with other telegraphic requests
from California business associations,
and finally all this effort resulted in
the withdrawal of the order
This was a signal victory, and since
the vineyardists have seen how neces-
sary is intelligent organization they
have been eager to join and give the
work impetus. At present the associa-
tion represents 5000 grape growers,
affiliated with fifteen organizations and
sc, 900 people, who are more or less af-
fected by the wine market because they
are employers or employees of the in
dustry."
Mr.. Stoll has comparatively recently
taken up the present work. He Is an
old newspaper man, having worked for
years on the San Francisco Call which
he left when the city was shaken by
earthquake in 1906 For thirteen years
he was with the Argonaut, having
risen, through his industry and intelli-
gence, from copy boy to some of the
most responsible positions on the Ar
gonaut. Q