view which, I am sorry to say, has not generally been entertained before. Prices for young wines so far are also very low, and but few sales have been made, as the dealers have full stocks on hand and rarely purchase until after the period of assessment for taxation, in March. The prices paid so far have been even lower than last year, ranging from 12 to 15 cents per gallon for new wine when whole cellars are purchased. The industry therefore presents a rather discouraging aspect to-day. To this may be added the alarming spread of the new disease, which, for want of a better name, has been called the black rot and which threatens to obliterate the vineyards in the southern part of the State. As far as I have been able to ascertain, it is a fungoid disease and a vitiation of sap, causing complete stagnation or, if I may be allowed the term used in the animal kingdom, blood-poisoning. It bears a striking resemblance, in many of its symptoms, to the pear blight of the East, and may be attributed to similar causes. So far it has appeared mostly in irrigated vineyards, and as a disease similar to it appeared in Napa and Sonoma in 1881, after a late and immature growth of the vines in the fall of 1880 and a sudden sharp freeze, we may surmise the cause to be similar to that of the pear blight, i. e., sudden and rapid changes of temperature when the roots of the vine are surcharged with moisture, cause this vitiation or sap-poisoning. This cause may be a sudden excess of heat as well as cold, and it seems this is often the case in the south, where irrigation in June and July is followed by burning heat in August. So far as I have been able to learn, it has only appeared in irrigated vineyards or those not naturally well drained, where there was stagnation of water around the roots; and I hope yet that our hillside vineyards, on well-drained soil and without irrigation, will never know it.

Be that as it may, however, it will have a tendency to decrease our production, especially of sweet wines and brandies, which were mostly made in the south, where they freely acknowledge now that they can make at the best but indifferent dry wines. There are several other causes which lead me to believe that the wine production of California will decrease one-third in the next three years instead of increasing. Among these I will name the following:

The Phylloxera.-While this little insect does not make the rapid progress it made in France, yet its inroads are very perceptible in our best dry light-wine districts, especially in Sonoma and Napa, where its ravages can be seen in every vineyard. As so many of our vine-growers have neglected to plant resistant vines, although they have proved an unfailing remedy, they now reap the fruits of their negligence in seeing their vineyards disappear and having wine cellars without wine.

Improper Selection of Varieties.—In the preceding years, when every one rushed into planting vineyards, the majority thought that anything would do. An immense amount of red-wine grapes have been planted in localities and on soils where they will never make a choice red wine. This has been the cause of wholesale production of some very inferior wines, which remained a drug in the market, and ought to do so. Many of these vineyards are on land which produces fine raisins, and, as these have sold at good prices, and realized the owners a handsome and immediate profit, their Zinfandels and other varieties will be grafted with muscats or other raisin grapes, thus increasing that product and decreasing the production of inferior wine.

The Drying of Wine Grapes.-This was done to some extent last season, and the product has brought very satisfactory prices, from $15 to $20 per ton for the ripe grapes before they were dried. The dried grapes have sold at from 3 to 41 cents a pound, with a seemingly unlimited demand, and if these prices can be obtained next season a very large amount of wine grapes will be dried. (Pl. XLI represents a view in a raisin-grape vineyard at gathering time.)

Low Prices of Wines and Grapes.-The prices ruling last fall have induced many of our vineyardists to leave their grapes on the vines, as they thought they would

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not pay for picking and hauling. These men will not naturally care much for their vineyards; they will be neglected and to a large extent abandoned. Many are now already planting fruit trees among their vines, with the intention of uprooting the latter when the trees are old enough to bear. This will again decrease the product of our vineyards, and as but very few new plantations will be made under existing circumstances, we cannot count on a large increase from new plantations.

This may not be a very bright picture of one of our main industries at present, yet I think it is a true one, and believe it will eventually lead to a brighter future for those who persevere. The consumption of really good California wine is steadily increasing, and all these causes combined will rectify many of the mistakes made in the past-improper selection of soils and of varieties, and inferior handling of inferior wines-which have so far been a bar to the appreciation of our really good wines, which we can make as well and perhaps better than any other country on the globe. These causes will naturally tend to raise the prices. We have an abundance of good grape lands; in fact, the best have hardly been occupied or utilized; we have a bountiful production compared with Europe; can make salable wines every season, without adulteration, from the pure juice of the grape; we are learning fast to use all the natural advantages, and our machinery and apparatus for wine-making are already the wonder and admiration of the world. As an instance, I will quote that the crushers and stemmers at Vina, Gov. Stanford's winery, are capable of working up 480 tons of grapes in 12 hours.

We have an unrivaled climate and a productive soil. We have made the first advance in our young industry within thirty years, and if we are not perfect yet we are far ahead of other countries after their first century of experience.

I am fully convinced that a good time is coming for all who have really good locations for producing fine, light, dry wines. The area for producing these is limited here, and we must get rid of the idea that they can be produced anywhere within the limits of the State. Those who persevere indefatigably and experiment thinkingly will reap a rich reward for their labor in the end. It will be a case of the "survival of the fittest" in this industry as well as in any other. Hundreds will fail who entered the ranks years ago with high hopes of making a fortune in a few years, without practical knowledge or the stamina to acquire it. But the remainder, those who know no such word as fail, will survive and succeed—indeed, are succeeding now. The opening of the Wine Exchange at San Francisco, under the auspices of the State Viticultural Commission, is a step in the right direction, and will enable the producers of really fine wines to obtain good prices for them. As to the raisin industry, which was languishing worse than our wine industry only a few years ago, it has revived wonderfully since better methods of packingresulting in a more uniform product-have been adopted, and the last season shows a pack of about 1,025,000 boxes of 20 pounds each, nearly all disposed of now at satisfactory prices. This is an advance of about 30,000 boxes over last year's crop, and may well be considered an enormous increase over former packings and shipments. In fact, the California raisin bids fair to drive the imported entirely out of the mar ket of this country. May we not hope that our wines will do the same at no distant day, when our pure and skillfully made products receive the attention and patronage we are confident they will deserve when we have progressed beyond the more initiatory steps of this great industry?