In the Middle region, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, about half the grapes
grown were for table use and half for wine. By far the largest part of
the grapes grown in this region was in Ohio, only about one-fourth of
the total area being in the other two states. Between 1880 and 1890,
viticulture scarcely held its own in this division. The decrease in the
value of the product, competition with California, and, more
particularly, ravages of insects and fungi were the causes of the
falling off in planting. In some localities many vineyards were
destroyed. The grapes sold for table use in this region amounted to
50,337 tons; to wineries, 14,456 tons.
So, too, in the Western region, Missouri and Kansas, but little progress
was made during this ten years and for the same reasons, though the
devastation in Missouri was caused chiefly by black-rot, which begun to
be troublesome about 1875. The plantings in Missouri were largely for
wine-making but in Kansas, which contained 5542 of the 17,306 acres for
this region, about half of the crop was sold for table use. The grapes
for table use in this region amounted to 30,794 tons, for wineries, 8290
tons.
The crop in the Southern region was about equally divided between wine
and table grapes, the production in 1889 amounting to 1,165,832 gallons
of wine and 14,539 tons of table grapes. The new plantings about
equalled the acreage destroyed so that in total area the region was
about holding its own. The chief market for the table grapes was in the
North where they were sold early in the season at prices ranging from
fifteen to twenty-five cents a pound.
We are concerned with the Pacific region in that its grape products,
especially its wines, compete with those of eastern America. The growth
of viticulture in the Pacific region in the decade we are discussing was
little short of marvelous. In 1880 the acreage was 35,518 acres and in
1890, 213,230 acres--much greater than that of all the eastern regions,
and the production of grapes being more than proportionately greater
because of the greater productiveness of the vines. In this region
43,414 tons were sold for table grapes; 173,037 tons for wine; 41,166
tons were made into raisins and 23,252 tons used for dried grapes and
other purposes than table grapes. The grand total for the region was
280,869 tons against 201,270 for all of eastern America. These figures
give an idea of how formidable a competitor to eastern America
California had become by 1890.
The census of 1900 shows but little increase in the total production of
American grapes. A few figures will show the relative status of
viticulture in the several regions in 1890 and 1900.
1890 1900
Tons of Tons of
grapes grown grapes grown
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