MARKETING THE CROPS AND VINEYARD RETURNS
Viticulture, as all divisions of agriculture, is made up of two quite
distinct phases of activity: growing the crop and marketing the crop.
The subjects to be treated in this and the next chapter belong rather
more to marketing than to cultural activities. Treated in detail,
these operations constitute matter sufficient for a separate treatise,
and only an outline of present practices is in place in a text such as
this devoted to the culture of the fruit. The several operations to be
discussed are picking, packing, storing, shipping and marketing.
HARVESTING IN THE EAST AND NORTH
As the consummation of the care of the vine, the in-gathering of the
crop is celebrated in all European countries with rejoicings in song,
dance and mirth. In America the vintage is less of an event than in
Europe, but it is more picturesque and diverting than the harvest of
most other crops. It is work in which youth and old age, as well as
those in the prime of life in both sexes, can take part and is reputed
as a most healthful occupation. For these reasons, the grape harvest
in America, as in Europe, has somewhat the air of a holiday, so that
workers are usually readily found for the several operations of
harvesting. Laborers come as grapes begin to ripen from near-by cities
and towns and neighboring country-sides in such numbers that the care
of the crop is speedily accomplished.
_Pickers._
As a rule, pickers are hired by the piece rather than by the day,
experience having demonstrated that so paid they do more and better
work. There is usually much diversity in race, age and condition of
life of pickers so that harmonious and efficient work is scarcely
possible without a competent foreman in charge who must often be
assisted by a sub-foreman. Efficient supervision doubles the picking
capacity of a gang of workers, and, moreover, is necessary to see that
the fruit is picked and packed with proper care. In hiring pickers, it
is usually stipulated that a part of the pay is to be reserved until
the close of the season; otherwise those disposed to have a holiday
leave when the weather becomes unpleasant or seek greener pastures
when the grapes become scarce.
_Time to pick._
Unlike some fruits, grapes must not be picked until they are fully
ripe, as unripe grapes do not mature after picking. Grapes not matured
lack the necessary percentage of sugar and solids to keep well and
have not developed their full flavor. Many growers make the mistake of
sending grapes to the market before fully ripe, a mistake easily made
with some varieties because they acquire full color before full
maturity. Color, therefore, is not a good guide as to the time to
pick. In the northern and eastern states, late varieties of grapes may
be allowed to hang on the vines for some little time after maturity,
the late autumn suns giving them a higher degree of sweetness and
perfection. Some growers run the risks of light frosts to further
maturity and to secure the added advantage of the removal of many
leaves from the vines. Ripeness is indicated by a combination of signs
difficult to describe but easily learned by experience. These signs
are: first, a characteristic color; second, full development of flavor
and aroma; third, a softer texture of the pulp and a slight
thickening of the juice so that it is more or less sticky; fourth, the
ends of the stems turn from green to brown; fifth, the berries pull
more readily from their stems; sixth, the seeds are free or more
nearly free from the pulp and usually turn from green to brown.
_Picking appliances._
But few appliances are needed in picking grapes. Shears are a
necessity. These are of special make and can be bought from dealers in
horticultural supplies, costing from 75 cents to $1. Some growers,
after picking, pack the fruit in the field in the receptacles in which
it is to go to market. The greater number, however, pick in trays
which are taken to the packing-house and allowed to stand until the
fruit is wilted before packing for shipment. Trays may be of several
sizes and shapes, but are usually shallow flats holding from
twenty-five to thirty-five pounds. The picked fruit is taken from the
vineyard to the packing-shed in a wagon with flexible springs to
prevent jarring and jolting. Large growers usually have specially
built one-horse platform wagons, the front wheels of which pass under
the platform.
_Picking accounts._
It is no small matter to keep a picking account with pickers.
Business-like growers use one of several kinds of tickets or tags in
keeping accounts. Probably the most common method is to give a ticket
to the picker when the receptacle of grapes is delivered, the grower
either keeping half of the original or a duplicate of it. Objections
to ticket systems are that the pickers often lose the tickets, are
irregular in returning them, or exchange them with other pickers. To
obviate the disadvantages of tickets, some growers use tags which bear
the picker's name and are attached to his person. These tags have
marginal numbers or divisions which are canceled by a punch as
pickers deliver the grapes. Still another method is to keep book
accounts with each picker in which case payment is made by the pound,
each receptacle being put on the scales as brought in from the field,
credit being given for the number of pounds. It is the duty of those
in charge to see that each picker finishes the row or the part of the
row to which he is assigned, and that he does not wander over the
vineyard in search of the best picking.
_Packing-houses and their appliances._
The commercial grape-grower must have a house for packing and storing.
Houses differ in design and fitting for almost every vineyard.
Sometimes the house is a combination one for packing and storing.
Often the packing-house is a halfway place between the vineyard and
the shipping station, in which case it is an open shed or a lightly
constructed building. In these field packing-houses there are usually
no provisions for storing. The better types of combined houses are
provided with a cellar for the storage of grapes, the first floor is
used for packing, and the attic provides a place for the storage of
baskets and crates. In all such houses provision must be made for
thorough ventilation, especially for the storage cellar if the grapes
are to be kept for any length of time. Properly ventilated, the
temperature of the grape cellar can be kept as low as 50 deg. F. during
September and October. The cellar floor in these houses is usually of
dirt better to regulate the moisture-content of the room. Often the
first floor is divided into two rooms, one to be used for
packing and the other as a shipping room. A good combination
packing-and-storage-house of this type can be built for $1000 to
$2000. Now that cold storage facilities can be secured in most
grape-growing regions, and the rates of storage are becoming more
reasonable, there is less need of storage-houses.
Packing-houses are so simple in construction and may be so different
in design that it is neither possible nor necessary to describe them
in detail. A building that protects the workers from the elements and
affords conveniences in packing serves the purpose. Such a
packing-house, which is often located in the vineyard, should be well
lighted, should be connected with the storage-room for baskets and
should have advantages for delivering the packages from the
storage-room to the packing-room and from the packing-room to the
shipping-room. Its size will depend on the quantities of grapes to be
packed. The house must be built so that it can be kept clean and
sweet.
[Illustration: FIG. 46. Packing grapes on a packing-table.]
Every packing-house, whatever the design, must be furnished with
tables for holding the trays while the fruit is being packed. Usually
these tables are so made that the picking trays are set before the
packers on an inclined table. The packer transfers the grapes from the
trays into the baskets in which the fruit is to be sold. The trays of
grapes as they come from the field are set before the worker, who then
packs the fruit into the basket from the left. As the baskets are
filled, they are placed on a flat ledge or shelf in front of the
packer and are then taken off by an attendant. Empty baskets are
usually held in store on a higher shelf convenient to the packer and
from time to time are replenished by the attendant. Figure 46 shows a
packing-table of the kind just described. Sometimes the packing-table
is circular and revolves, the packers sitting about the table. The
baskets are held on the lap and the packer takes the grapes off the
table which is turned as fresh fruit is brought in. This circular
table is not in general use; its only advantage is that it permits the
packer to select from a larger quantity of fruit.
_Grading grapes._
Grapes are more easily graded than most other fruits; for usually
there are but two grades, firsts and culls. It is difficult to specify
exactly what firsts are, since a number of factors must be considered
which bring in play the judgment of the grader. At least, firsts must
have the following qualities: The bunches must be approximately
uniform in size; there must be few or no berries missing from the
stems; the grapes must be fully ripe, of a uniform degree of ripeness
and uniformly colored; and the fruit must be free from insect and
fungous injuries. It is easier to give specifications for culls, since
all grapes not firsts are culls.
In large vineyards, only good fruit or the best fruit is worth
grading. It is more advisable to sell poor fruit by the ton with
little or no grading. It follows, also, that the higher the price, the
more special the market, and the more carefully the crop is picked,
the more profitable it is to grade. The work of grading is done in the
packing-shed when the fruit is transferred from the trays into the
selling receptacles. A pair of slender scissors made for the purpose,
to be purchased from dealers in horticultural supplies, is used to
trim out diseased and crushed berries. The fruit must be permitted to
wilt for a few hours, a half day or overnight, before it can be graded
to advantage. In this work of grading, the greatest care should be
taken to keep the fruit clean and fresh, to sort out broken bunches
and to preserve the bloom. The less handling, the more finely finished
is the product.
_Grape packages in eastern grape regions._
Packages for grapes are less varied than those for any other fruit,
selling receptacles in the states east of the Rocky Mountains being
much the same for all regions. Dessert grapes are universally packed
in gift packages--that is, packages which are given away when the
fruit is sold--and this insures a clean dainty package. It seems
imperative that a uniform style of package should be used the country
over for the general market, but up until this time, although there
have been both national and state laws passed, uniformity has not been
secured. A national law is needed establishing standard commercial
packages so that the grower may safely ship from one state to another
without being a law-breaker. Such a package should be based on
cubic-measure and not on weight as is often advocated; for grapes
cannot be shipped without some loss from sampling in transit; and
there are also losses in weight by evaporation so that the grower,
although trying to comply with the law, may become technically a
law-breaker if the standard is based on weight.
[Illustration: FIG. 47. Climax baskets in two sizes.]
The most popular package for the grape in eastern grape regions is the
Climax basket made in various styles and sizes. These are cheap,
easily packed and handled, nest well in shipment and are durable.
Three sizes are commonest in use, the five-pound, the ten-pound and
the twenty-pound basket. The five-pound basket usually holds only a
little over four pounds; the ten-pound about eight pounds; and the
twenty-pound rather less than twenty pounds. Two sizes of Climax
baskets are shown in Fig. 47. It is commonly understood, however, that
the packages are short in weight, and as grapes are retailed by the
basket and not by the pound, short weight does not really deceive.
These baskets are made of thin wood veneer with a light wood binding
at the top and bottom. The cover is of wood and is usually fastened on
with staples. The handle is either of wood or of wire. When well made,
the baskets are firm and symmetrical, without splinters and are clean
and white. Packages carried over from year to year become dingy in
color, but the wood may be whitened by fumigating in the storage-room
with sulfur. The baskets also become yellow and discolored if left in
the sun and must, therefore, be stored in clean, dark, dry rooms.
When grapes are sold by weight to manufacturers of wine or
grape-juice, they are usually delivered in the picking trays which, if
the market is near at hand, are always returned. If they are to be
shipped far, they go to market in twenty-pound baskets or bushel
baskets, although the latter are not regarded with favor by consumers.
_Packing._
Grapes packed indoors, as has been said, are allowed to stand from a
few to twenty-four hours after being picked to permit them to wilt.
When thus wilted they are much more easily packed and do not shrink in
transportation, so that the basket usually reaches the market well
filled with fruit. Each bunch of grapes is placed separately in the
basket after all unmarketable berries have been removed. The bunches
are arranged in concentric tiers, the top layer being placed with
special care. When the basket is filled, the grapes rise a little
above the level of the basket, care being taken not to have the fruit
project too much so that the grapes will be crushed when putting on
the cover. In all this work, the berries are handled as little as
possible, so as not to destroy the bloom. Care is taken, also, that
the fruit is free from spraying material and is otherwise clean and
fresh. Much less pains need be taken when the grapes are packed in
trays to be sold by weight, but even in this there must be method in
filling the trays, otherwise there will be many open spaces and
corners between bunches.
Practically all commercial grape-growers now use labels on their
packages. These not only add to the attractiveness of the packages,
but are a guarantee of the contents, both as to name of the variety
and the quality of the fruit. These labels are, also, a sign by which
a grower's fruit may be distinguished and are, therefore, a valuable
advertising medium. Some growers have registered their labels in the
United States Patent Office in order to prevent others from using
them. Obviously, it is not desirable or worth while to label a poor
grade of grapes.
_Storing grapes._
The commercial grape-grower now stores his grapes in cold storage
warehouses if he keeps them any length of time after harvesting. There
is no question but that keeping a part of the crop in artificially
cooled houses is a great benefit to the grape-grower, since it
prolongs the season for selling by some three or four months.
Formerly, native grapes could be secured in general markets only until
Thanksgiving time or thereabouts, but now American grapes are very
generally offered for sale in January and February, while the European
grapes from California are in the market nearly the year around. The
grape-grower need make little or no preparation of his product in
putting it in cold storage except to make sure that the product is
first class in every respect. It would be a waste of money and effort
to attempt to store any but clean, sound, well-matured, well-packed
grapes. The grape-grower, however, seldom need concern himself with
storing, since the crop is usually stored by the buyers.
Few small growers seem to have learned the art of keeping grapes in
common storage, There are but few difficulties in keeping European
grapes for several months after picking if they are stored under
favorable conditions. Not all, but several of the native grapes may
also be kept practically throughout the winter if proper precautions
are taken. Among these varieties Catawba is the standard winter sort,
but Diana, Iona, Isabella, Rogers' hybrids and Vergennes, all rather
commonly grown, may be kept by the small grower.
To insure keeping, these native grapes must be handled most carefully.
The fruit is picked a few days before it is dead ripe and the bunches
placed in trays holding forty or fifty pounds. It is important that
the temperature be reduced gradually so that there are no sudden
changes. If the nights are cool, a valuable aid is to leave the grapes
out-of-doors in crates the night after they are picked, placing them
in a cool building or dry cellar early the next morning. The cellar or
store-room should be well ventilated and should be such that the
temperature is not variable, care being taken that the air in every
part of the storage room is changed. Draughts, however, should be
avoided or stems and berries will shrivel. If a temperature from 40 deg.
to 50 deg. can be maintained, the varieties named may be kept until March
or April. An expensive store-room is not necessary and ice to cool the
room is not only unnecessary but undesirable.
If the storage-room is too dry, the grapes wilt and lose flavor; if,
on the other hand, the atmosphere is too damp, the grapes mold. It is
essential, therefore, to strike a medium between an atmosphere too dry
and one too wet. It is possible that a light fumigation with sulfur or
formaldehyde might help to keep down molds in these common storage
grape-rooms, but as to the value of fumigation there seems to be no
experimental evidence.
Grapes grown on clay lands are said to be firmer and to keep better
than those grown on gravel or lighter soils. Some years ago there was
an association in Ohio known as The Clay-Growers Association which
handled only grapes grown on clay lands. The members of this
association believed that their grapes were much more desirable for
storage than grapes from regions where the soil was lighter.
HARVESTING AND HANDLING MUSCADINE GRAPES
The Muscadine grapes of the South Atlantic and Gulf states are unique
in vine and fruit, are used for different purposes and go to different
markets from the grapes of the North, so that they may be considered
almost a distinct fruit. Not only are cultural requirements peculiar
to this fruit, as we have seen, but the methods of harvesting and
marketing are quite distinct. These are well set forth by Husmann and
Dearing[18] as follows:
"Rotundifolia vines have been almost entirely grown on overhead arbors
in the past, the fruit being made into wine, and under such conditions
the general practice of jarring the grapes from the vines is perhaps
the most practical method of harvesting. If the vines are trained to
upright trellises or if the fruit is intended for shipping or table
use the grapes should be picked by hand in order to be sound and
clean. On account of the presence of leaves, twigs, etc., mixed with
the grapes jarred from the vines, wine and grape-juice manufacturers
will pay 5 to 15 cents a bushel more for hand-picked grapes. The
growers who make a practice of hand picking claim that the work can be
done at practically no greater expense than is necessary to shake off
and clean a crop, and the increased price obtained for the fruit will
more than pay the difference.
"A description of the harvesting of the Rotundifolia grapes by the
jarring method will be interesting to those not familiar with it.
Poles are attached to sheets of canvas measuring 6 by 12 feet and
having leather handles. A man is placed at each end of the sheets and
four men with two sheets work together. The wide sides of the two
sheets are brought close together under each vine, with the trunk of
the vine in the middle. The vines are then jarred, the berries falling
into the sheets. Those not caught by the sheets or that have fallen to
the ground by the shaking of the trellis when the fruit of the
adjoining vines was harvested, etc., and which are usually of the best
quality, are picked by hand. The writers are informed that it costs
approximately 15 cents a bushel to harvest the fruit on the ground and
12 cents to harvest that which falls on the sheets.
"The fruit is put in boxes or barrels, and if the quantity is not
large the leaves, sticks, etc., which become mixed with the fruit are
removed by hand. If there is a considerable quantity of fruit some
mechanical means, such as ordinary grain fan mills, are used to clean
it. After cleaning, the fruit is hauled or shipped to the winery. In
wineries with modern equipment there are blowers which thoroughly
clean the fruit. These are located near the end of the elevators that
carry the fruit to the crusher.
"A common and very objectionable practice followed in harvesting
Rotundifolia grapes, especially by the jarring method, is that of
gathering the fruit all at once, whereas there should be at least
three periods of harvesting. When harvested at one time the best
quality of fruit ripens, falls to the ground, and is lost before the
harvest is commenced and the last part of the crop is thrashed from
the vines in a half-ripe condition along with the ripe fruit. In this
manner not only is the first and best fruit entirely lost, but the
harvested fruit is inferior in quality, which necessarily results in a
poor product from the entire yield."
_Returns from Muscadine grapes._
"Great variations occur in the yields from Rotundifolia vines. At
times there are record-breaking yields and, again, small yields are
reported, the small yields resulting from black-rot, coulure, wet
weather, self-sterility, lack of cultivation, fertilization, lack of
pruning, age of vines, and various other causes. In spite of this,
Rotundifolia vines are said to be among the safest and most prolific
of fruit-bearing plants. While in one of the largest Rotundifolia
vineyards there has been only a partial crop during the last three
years, owing to various causes, another grower reports a yield of 177
bushels of grapes from 4-year-old James vines, in addition to a bale
of cotton to the acre. A Florida grower estimated his crop of white
Rotundifolia and Thomas grapes for the season of 1911 at 280 bushels
to the acre. An average yield of 27 bushels an acre from 4-year-old
vines, 100 bushels from 5-year-old vines, and 150 bushels to the acre
when the vines are in full bearing should be obtained.
"The prices paid for Rotundifolia grapes depend on the season, the
quality of fruit, and the market. In years when the crop is short
better prices are usually paid than when there is a heavy crop. Aside
from the grapes sold and shipped to wineries, grapes as a rule sell
for more in the cities and larger towns than in smaller places, the
local demand being somewhat in proportion to the population. In such
localities fruit of good quality will bring a much better price than
inferior fruit. Hand-picked fruit in half-bushel peach baskets or in
berry boxes usually brings from $1 to $2 per bushel. Grapes harvested
by jarring are usually sent to the wineries and bring an average of 75
cents per bushel of 60 pounds. The highest price paid for this quality
of fruit was reached in 1910, when $2.25 per bushel (f.o.b. shipping
point) was paid for white Rotundifolia.
"In many localities certain growers have built up quite a reputation
for themselves in choice, hand-picked fruit, which they ship to
special customers in distant markets. For this purpose the James
variety is usually grown because the berries adhere well and are of
good size and flavor. Several growers ship as far north as New York
and Boston, getting from $2.00 to $2.50 gross per bushel crate. In
shipping, three styles of carriers are used--the 24-box strawberry
crate, the 6-basket peach crate, and the 8-pound basket. More
attention should be given to this phase of the industry. The varieties
best suited for shipping are the James, Memory, Flowers, and Mish.
"In the fall of 1910 shipments of the James, Thomas, and Eden
varieties were sent from the Rotundifolia experiment vineyard at
Willard, N. C., to Washington D. C., part of the consignment being in
strawberry boxes and the remainder in bushel baskets. No important
difference could be noted in the two lots on their arrival in
Washington. The James variety arrived in perfect condition in both
packages; of the Eden 30 per cent and of the Thomas 35 per cent had
shelled. More extensive experiments along this line are contemplated."
HANDLING THE GRAPE IN CALIFORNIA
Grapes are grown in California for three purposes, wine, raisins and
the table. The handling of the crop for raisins and wine is best taken
up in a discussion of these products in the chapter on by-products of
the grape, leaving only table grapes to be discussed at this place.
The table-grape industry of the Pacific slope is dependent on the wide
distribution of the product in eastern markets for a profitable sale
of the crop, since production is so great that but a small part of the
crop is consumed in the markets of the Pacific slope. The growers in
this region, therefore, have special problems, chief of which are
those of successful shipment over long distances. California annually
ships in the neighborhood of 10,000 carloads of table grapes, all of
which must be handled within a period of about two months. As
competition increases, it becomes more and more necessary to extend
the area over which the fruit is to be sold; to lengthen the marketing
season through cold storage; and for both of these purposes to devise
new or to improve present methods of handling the fruit. The two
requisites for the successful shipment of this great bulk of grapes
are: The fruit must reach the markets in sound condition; and it must
have sufficient market-holding quality to remain sound for a
considerable length of time after it arrives in the markets.
Experience has thoroughly demonstrated to grape-growers in California
that decay in grapes is largely dependent on the presence of injuries
to the grape berries, to the pedicels or to the stems of the bunches.
Methods of handling grapes, therefore, and the type of package used,
must be such that the product is injured as little as possible.
_Careful handling._
In the shipment of European grapes from California, it has been found
that it pays to go to much extra trouble in handling the crop. The
bunches are picked with care to avoid bruising or crushing berries,
and as far as possible they are lifted only by the main stems. They
are then laid with care in the picking trays which are filled only one
layer deep. In moving the trays to the packing-house, they are handled
carefully, the trays being moved only on wagons with springs. In
sorting, special care is taken to remove all injured and unsound
berries and not to injure others in the bunch, here again handling the
clusters by the stems. In packing, the bunches are placed firmly in
the baskets with care not to crush or bruise the stems or to injure
the pedicels of the berries. A slight injury of either berry or
pedicel permits the spores of the fungus causing decay to gain
entrance into the fruit.
_Shipping packages._
The most common package for table-grapes in California is a square
basket holding about five pounds. These baskets are placed for
shipment in fours in crates. The bunches of some varieties may be too
large for these small baskets, and these extra large-clustered grapes
are packed in oblong baskets holding in the neighborhood of eight
pounds, two baskets filling a crate. No good filler seems yet to have
been devised for packing grapes in California. The cork dust in which
grapes from the Mediterranean are received is not available and a good
substitute has not yet been found. Sawdust is sometimes used but has
not proved satisfactory in holding the decay and the fruit absorbs
disagreeable flavors from the wood. Occasionally, however, grapes from
California are sent to eastern markets packed in dry redwood sawdust
and these seem to come through in good condition and not to have
absorbed a disagreeable flavor. Reports seem to indicate that this
specially selected redwood sawdust is proving much better than the
ordinary sawdust experimented with some years ago.
_Shipping._
Considerable work has been done by the United States Department of
Agriculture to determine how table-grapes could best be shipped from
the far West and reach the eastern markets in good condition. The crop
is, of course, shipped in refrigerator cars and much depends on the
cooling of these cars and especially on the temperature at which the
grapes are kept while in transit. To carry well over the 3000 miles of
mountain and desert, heat and cold, the best type of refrigerator car
must be used. It does not appear that the pre-cooling so advantageous
to citrous and other tree-fruits is worth the trouble and expense with
table-grapes, as it does not seem to prevent decay. Cooling cannot be
substituted for careful handling, which seems as yet the most
necessary precaution to be taken in the preparation of these grapes
for eastern shipment.
MARKETING
Table-grapes from both eastern and western grape regions are now
almost entirely shipped in carload lots. Since few grape-growers are
prepared to load a car quickly with grapes, some kind of cooeperation
is required, or the crop must be handled by large buyers. Cooeperative
methods are becoming more and more popular, although a large part of
the grape crop, both East and West, is now handled by buyers.
There are several important advantages in selling through a
cooeperative organization. Thus, in selling cooeperatively, the grapes
are graded and packed in accordance with one standard; more favorable
transportation rates can be secured by a cooeperative association; and,
most important of all, the output can be distributed to the grape
markets of the country without the disastrous competition that attends
individual marketing. In some of these organizations, also, supplies
needed by the grape-grower in producing a crop are purchased more
economically than by individuals; in particular, grape packages can be
purchased better by an organization than by an individual.
As the grape industry and competition grow in the different regions of
the country, the necessity of forming marketing organizations becomes
greater. Such organizations must be founded on the principles which
many experiments have shown best govern fruit-marketing associations.
It is not possible to discuss these principles at length, but the
following fundamentals will suffice:
An ideal cooeperative association is one in which there are no profits
nor dividends. Every member of the whole organized association is a
producer. All of the product grown by a member is sold through the
association. The association is democratic, all members having an
equal voice in its management and all sharing alike in its successes
and failures. When profits arise of necessity, they are distributed to
the members of the association in proportion to the amount of business
each has done. The work of the organization is conducted at as near
cost as possible and profits are declared only after expenses,
depreciation, interest on capital for future operations are deducted.
Thus it is seen that the plan of the organization is to give each
member as nearly as possible the exact price his fruit has brought in
the markets.
VINEYARD RETURNS
Grape-growing as a business is a comparatively new industry in
America. It is true that the first attempts at growing this fruit were
made to found an industry, but these were complete and dismal
failures, and the start in growing grapes in America eventually came
as a pleasing hobby. In evolving from a hobby into vineyard culture on
a large scale, the business side of the industry long lagged. At
present, with increasing competition, manifold uncertainties in
vineyard conditions, and much unbusinesslike administration, interest
in cultural operations, with which pioneers in the industry were
chiefly concerned, is eclipsed by the conception that grape-growing is
a highly developed commercial enterprise requiring for success careful
business management.
Unfortunately there is nowhere a substantial body of figures from
which growers can obtain a fair conception of what the outgo and
income of average vineyards in grape regions are. The value of such
data to investors or to those making an effort to keep track of the
finances of their business is obvious, and an attempt is made here to
put the reader in possession of figures that ought to be helpful. The
data given, although scant and fragmentary, show fairly accurately the
cost of producing grapes, selling prices and profits in the culture
of this fruit in one of the great grape regions.
The New York Agricultural Experiment Station is carrying on
experiments to determine the outgo and income from vineyards in the
Chautauqua grape-belt. The work is not yet finished, nor could the
findings be published in detail before being sent out by the Station,
but F. E. Gladwin, in charge of the work, has consented to set down
summaries of costs and returns taken from vineyards at Fredonia, which
will serve as a guide to planters of grapes in this region at least:
_First Year_
Interest on value of land @ $200 per acre $12.00
Preparation of land 8.00
Cost of vines per acre 12.00
Planting 4.00
Cultivating 6.00
------
Total expenditure for first year $42.00
_Second Year_
Interest on value of vineyard @ $225 per acre $13.50
Cultivating, hand hoeing, etc. 9.25
Pruning 1.00
------
Total expenditure for second year $23.75
_Third Year_
Interest on value of vineyard @ $250 per acre $15.00
Pruning 2.50
Posts (cost of) @ .10 240 24.00
Setting and driving 6.50
Wire and wiring, staples, etc. 11.65
Tying and twine 1.45
Cultivating, plowing, harrowing 9.25
Spraying 4.00
No. baskets sold @ .16 per basket 500 $80.00
Cost of baskets @ $20 per thousand 10.00
Picking @ .01 per basket 5.00
Packing @ .01 per basket 5.00
Hauling .003 1.50
------
Outgo for third year $95.85
------
Income $80.00
_Fourth Year_
Interest on value of vineyard @ $300 per acre $18.00
Pruning 2.50
Tying 2.90
Spraying and materials 4.00
Cultivating, plowing, harrowing, hand-hoeing and
plowing back one furrow 9.25
Trellis upkeep, driving posts, tightening wires, etc. 2.50
Pulling and poling out brush 1.69
No. baskets sold @ .16 per basket 1000 $160.00
Cost of baskets @ $20 per thousand 20.00
Picking @ .01 per basket 10.00
Packing @ .01 per basket 10.00
Hauling .003 3.00
------
Outgo for fourth year $83.84
-------
Income $160.00
Outgo for four years $245.44
Income for four years 240.00
_Estimates for Succeeding Years_
Gross income $125-200
Outgo 75- 85
[Illustration: PLATE XIX.--Iona (x3/5).]