Evening star., 1934-03-04

I branch Of the Chilean Department OF
Agriculture Is devoted to viticulture
and its service bureau gives advice to
growers, provides new types Of plants,
and otherwise encourages the industry.
The vineyards are beautifully tended.
Broad acres stretch in the fertile VAL
leys between snow-capped mountains
and handling methods are more mod
ern than those Of France. Instead Of
peasants carrying baskets on their
heads, as In the French wine country.
in Chile one sees modern motor trucks
plying the finished roadways built
through the vineyards.
Argentina ranks ahead of Chile as
. South American wine producer, last
years production having been about
177,000,000 gallons, but Argentine
wines are not of the same quality.
What the name Cognac or Cham
payne means to France the name
Cuyo means to the Argentine Repub-
| lie, not as to character Of the product,
but in relation to the major industry.
The Provinces of Mendoza and San
Juan, which make up the Cuyo region,
are almost solely dependent on VIII
| culture. While in Chile most Of the
wine country is naturally watered, al
most all of the Cuyo region of Argen-
tina depends on irrigation.
Overproduction Threatened Industry.
Spanish expansion in South Ameri-
ca extended down the west coast and
vines were planted in Chile earlier
than in Argentina, but as soon as the
Jesuits penetrated the Andes they
planted vines which are the ancestors
Of many vineyards now in growth. Un-
til 1885 the industry was provincial
but in that year the railway was ex-
tended to Mendoza from Villa Merce-
des and an outlet was practicable.
That year Gates the rise of the Argen-
tine wine industry.
Cabernet, Semillon, Ponot and NAL
beck are the principal varieties, max
ing up about 80 per cent of the total
production. The product of the Ar
gentine vineyards Is protected by a
tariff and imports have been largely
superseded by the domestic wines. Ar
genttna, 1t will be recalled, has been
the destination of very large Euro
pean emigrant population, largely
from Spain, Italy and France-all
large wine drinking countries. This
increasing population. the steady
growth in the prosperity of the coun-
try and the tariff combined to make
wine growing prosperous industry
and the acreage devoted to vines has
steadily increased.
As in case of the wines Of Chile.
there was no expectation to the
United States before prohibition, but
now that repeal has altered the
American situation, the Argentine
growers anticipate substantial mar
ket in this country.
The Argentine wine industry has
an interesting chapter in its history
suggestive Of some of the difficulties
Of farmers In the United States
About 1914 there was overproduction
of grapes and prices fell to one-third.
The government fostered cooperative
enterprises, it even went 50 far as
to buy wine and grapes and destroy
them in much the same manner as
the A. A. A. has bought or arranged
to have destroyed live stock and cot
ton and grain here Nothing availed,
however, until a period of severe
frosts cut production by natural proc
esses. The industry has not recovered
fully in spite Of successive govern
mental efforts. If substantial North
American market can be stimulated,
prosperity will be restored.