American Grape Growing and Wine Making (1883)

^sSMS^^^îî^S^^^^Mi:^^^.^ >sc^ ;^$M^;^;;i;$!^x;v^^^^^^;^^^^^^ iUMi ^^^^^jg^MlM^P»^;^M^s$aiimiiiiiffi ••"'>*'''' . -^^ •'i LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. -^ Shelf .V\.^_.5 5 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. AMERICAN GRAPE GROWING AND WINE MAKING. BY GEORGE HUSMANN, OP TALCOA VINEYAKDS. NAPA, CAX. NEW AND ENLABGED EDITION. WITH SEVERAL ADDED CHAPTERS ON THE GRAPE INDUSTRIES OF CALIFORNIA. ri ILLUSTBATED. NEW YORK OKANGE JUDD C 751 BROADWAY. 1883. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1883, by tbe ORANGE JUDD COMPANY, . lu the Office of the Librarian ol Congress, at Washington. PREFACE TO THE NEW AND ENLARGED EDITION. The progress of horticulture is so marked and rapid, that those who do not keep even pace with it, are soon left behind. This is especially true with grape culture, which has perhaps pi-ogressed more rapidly than any other branch. When I look over the first edition, issued only a few years ago, I find that it has already fallen behind, although its aim was to present the most recent experience. New varieties of grapes have since made their appearance, while old ones have been dropped from the lists, the taste of the public having become more refined and critical. New areas have been opened to grape culture, which is spreading into every State and Territory, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and the all-important question, one that " is asked every day, in every locality, is : What grapes shall plant ?'' This is as it should we be ; progress is the watchword of the age, and no one can be more willing to acknowledge its claims than I, who have wished for it and believed that it would come, when others thought that these hopes were but the dreams of an enthusiast. Especially since my removal to the Pacific Coast (in the fall of 1881) have I become aware that a book which I aimed to make as cosmopolitan as possible, in the experience it sought to impart, can not claim to be a guide unless a large share of its pages are devoted to grape culture and wine making in California. A visit to this shore, in the summer of 1881, convinced me that this was the true home of the grape, and that California, with her sunny and dry summers, and her mild winters, was destined to be the vine land of the world ; that promised land where every one ^' could sit under his own vine and fig tree." Diseases of the vine are here comparatively (III) IV PREFACE. unknown, the rainless summers, when no showers are expected from May until September, allow nearly all of the crop to ripen every year. Even in the unusually cool summer of 1882, with early and abundant rains in Sep- tember, the crops rijêned sufficiently to make a fair wine, perhaps only the more agreeable because not too heavy. These favorable climatic conditions simplify the culture and training of the vine, the gathering of the fruit, and the operations in wine making. Gallizing and Petioliz- ing became superfluous, and would not even pay, as grape juice is cheaper than sugar and water would be. In this climate it becomes possible that one man can own and superintend hundreds of acres of vineyard, and that a fair wholesale price for the wine, when three months old, is from twenty to thirty cents per gallon. At this rate it pays the producer well, as it costs him on the average about twenty dollars per annum per acre to cul- tivate the grapes and make the wine ; and five hundred gallons per acre is considered an average yield. That, under all these favorable circumstances, California must become the first grape-growing State in the Union, seems to be but natural, especially when we consider also the raisin industry, perhaps still more profitable, and the extended shipments of table grapes to the Eastern States, and other sources of profit. But, easy as are grape culture and wine making here, there is a vast field for improvement ; and nowhere else perhaps are rational knowledge and proper skill more needed. The very ease of the pursuit, which allowed any one, even with the simplest culture and the most common treatment, to raise a fair crop and make a drink- able wine, has led many, in fact a large majority, to em- bark in grape growing who knew but little about it, and did not try to learn more. They followed the pursuit negligently and mechanically, without proper study and observation. The results were, the culture of varieties PREFACE. V which produced the most, without regard to quality, and a great amount of inferior Avines were made from them. These poor wines, of course, obscured the merits of the really fine wines, and brought them into bad repute. For a number of years California wines were almost unsalable, even at twelve or fifteen cents per gallon. But this state of affairs has changed for the better, and the improvement still continues. The old Mission grape, which was almost the only variety cultivated at first, and which gives a very heady and heavy wine, but of little fineness and delicacy, is generally cast aside for better varieties, of which nearly all the new plantings have been made. Wines are now beginning to be appreciated according to their merits, the habits of the choicer varieties of the grape are studied more, and their pruning and treatment changed accordingly. Dealers begin to discriminate in their purchases between cellars filled with ordinary wines and those of superior grades; they pay higher prices for the latter, and are reluctant to purchase the former at any price. That this change is as inevitable as it is desirable, must become clear to every one whose judgment is unbiased. It is the ^'old, old story," which repeats itself in every branch of industry, that only those whose motto is, ^'^ Excelsior," who work with brain as well as hand to achieve the best, will eventually win the day. California has wines already, which can take their place with the choicest productions of the Ehine, France, and Burgundy, and we may safely claim for our wines, that a better article can be bought in San Francisco to-day, from some of our leading firms, at from six to nine dollars per case, than can be purchased in St. Lonis or New York, of foreign importation, at from fifteen to twenty-four dollars per case. That these wines are often shipped to the East in bulk, and then sold under French and German labels, detracts nothing from their merits ; that this is even done in San Francisco, is indeed to be deplored. But Vr PREFACE. this will change; I hope to yet see the day in which Cali- fornia may proudly claim a place in the front rank in the production of fine wines, and when they will boldly sail under their true colors. To accomplish this change, we need a closer study of the best varieties for each location, and rational treatment according to their habits ; we need more skill in the making and handling of wines ; more especially do we require a free and unshakled exj^ression and interchange of experience and opinions among grape growers. The State Viticultural Commission, created by act of Legislature approved in April, 1880, with an annual appropriation of ten thousand dollars, have done a great deal to spread information, and to gather it. The first Convention of grape growers, held in Dashaway Hall, San Francisco, in September, 1882, brought together perhaps the largest and finest exhibition of grapes and wines ever held in the State, and elicited much valuable information. But un- fortunately it was also characterized by a dictatorial and arbitrary spirit, which did not allow as free and liberal an interchange of experience as could be wished, and a great deal of time was consumed in learned essays and impracticable theories, which could have been more profit- ably devoted to experience from practical men, who were in a measure shut out from the discussions, if their views did not happen to coincide with those of the ruling spirits. Let us hope that a more liberal spirit may prevail in the future, and that the next convention will give us a full and free expression of the views of all practical men. We need close attention to insect pests, and especially to the Phylloxera, which has already made serious inroads in many sections of the State, and may become as de- structive to our vineyards in the near future, as it has already been in France. We want to prevent its ravages, not by costly insecticides, or by quarantine, but by the only rational method, the planting of vines able to resist PKEFACE. YII it; this will establish our vineyards on a permanent basis. To do my share in this great work, to contribute my mite to the fund of general knowledge, has been the aim of the additional jDages, devoted mainly to grape culture and wine making on the Pacific Coast. It is true that my experience here is but limited, but I have observed closely, and have quoted the experience of others wherever I could obtain it. I do not claim to be an authority, nor do I acknowledge any. We are all workers in a common cause, liable to err, but also gathering experience as we labor, which may be of service to others, if imjârted. Let me hope, that my brother vintners will receive this new edition as kindly as the former one.

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