Fig. 48.—Scuppernong Grape Vine, Roanoke Island.—(Courtesy B. W. Kilgore.)
There is no part of the country, however, that grows grapes so abundantly as California. Many thousands of acres are covered with vines, both for table use and wine making. The climate is remarkably well suited to produce a grape very rich in sugar. The edible grapes do not have so high a content of sugar as those used for wine making, as is shown by the data below.
Composition of California Grapes
(three samples) (edible portion):
| Water, | 80.12 | percent |
| Protein, | 1.26 | „ |
| Sugar, | 16.50 | „ |
| Pure ash, | 0.50 | „ |
| Fat, fiber, etc., | 1.62 | „ |
The preceding analyses are evidently of grapes for table use. The juice of the wine-making grapes of California, according to the composition of the wine, contains about 24 percent of sugars.
The luxurious growth of the vine in California is illustrated by [Fig. 49], showing a scene in a vineyard near Fresno, California.
Fig. 49.—Vineyard near Fresno, California.—(Photograph by H. W. Wiley.)