Mr. J. E. Mottier gives us, as the result of his Delaware vineyard for the past two years, as follows:
| 1863—FROM 1½ ACRES. | |
|---|---|
| 165 gallons of wine, sold at $5 per gallon, | $825 00 |
| Sale of cuttings, | 1,630 00 |
| 2,455 00 | |
| Deduct expenses, | 200 00 |
| Leaving net, | $2,255 00 |
| Or $1,504 per acre. | |
| 1864—FROM SAME VINEYARD. | |
| 200 gallons of wine, at $6 per gallon, | $1,200 00 |
| Sold roots from layers, | 1,835 00 |
| Sales of cuttings, | 2,360 00 |
| 5,395 00 | |
| Deduct expenses, | 200 00 |
| Leaves net, | $5,195 00 |
| Or $3,562 per acre | |
Mr. Mottier says he might have obtained a larger yield of wine, but his vineyard being young, he would not allow it to overbear.
Your committee, therefore, take pleasure in submitting the foregoing facts, in refutation, in part, of the loose and reckless statements of Mr. Yeatman, and take this method of entering their protest against the same.
(Signed),
E. A. Thompson.
John E. Mottier.
The foregoing contains some valuable facts, but it would seem to me that our Cincinnati friends have hardly estimated labor and expenses high enough. We cannot begin to cultivate our vineyards at as low an estimate.
The following is a rough estimate of the last season's crop around Hermann. It may be rather inaccurate, but it is about as near as I could come to the result. There are now, I suppose, something like 1,000 acres planted in grapes, of which about 400 may be in bearing. Unfortunately, nearly all the old vineyards are planted with the Catawba, which was almost an entire failure this season, the average crop being only about 75 gallons to the acre. Most of the later planting has been done with the Concord and Norton's Virginia, but these vineyards are not bearing yet. Of the Norton's Virginia, the average crop the last season may have been about 600 gallons to the acre; of the Concord, 1,000 gallons per acre. The Herbemont may have yielded about 800 gallons to the acre.
| Grapes marketed, mostly Concord, 20,000 lbs. average price, 15c. per lb., | $3,000 00 |
| Catawba wine made, about 25,000 gallons; average value, $1.50 per gallon, | 37,500 00 |
| Norton's Virginia wine made, about 10,000 gallons; average value, $4 per gallon, | 40,000 00 |
| Concord wine made, about 5,000 gallons; average value, $2.50 per gallon, | 12,500 00 |
| Herbemont wine made, about 1,500 gallons; average value, $3 per gallon, | 4,500 00 |
| Other varieties made, about 1,000 gallons; average value, $3 per gallons, | 3,000 00 |
| Grape roots, cuttings, etc., grown and sold, | 50,000 00 |
| $150,500 00 |
I think the above is rather below the real amount; and the value of the crop may come up even as high as $200,000.