hemically tested and submitted to the judgment of competent men, have
been pronounced to be admirably adapted to the purposes of wine-culture.
Then, the climate is all that could possibly be desired,--as during the
growth and ripening of the grapes they are never exposed to storms of
rain or hail, which often destroy the entire crop in many parts of
Europe. As an evidence of the great superiority enjoyed by California in
this respect, it may be remarked, that, while the grape-crop here is a
certainty, "the oldest inhabitant" not remembering a year that has
failed of a good yield,--in Europe, on the contrary, in a period of 432
years, from 1420 to 1852, the statistics exhibit only 11 years which can
be pronounced eminently good, and but 28 very good,--192 being simply
what may be called "pretty good" and "middling," and 201, or nearly
one-half, having proved total failures, not paying the expenses. Again,
the enormous productiveness of the soil is an immense advantage. We make
on an average from five hundred and fifty to six hundred and fifty
gallons of wine to the acre. The four most productive of the
wine-growing districts of Europe are--

Italy, giving to the acre 441 1-2 gallons
Austria and her provinces, 265 5-6 "
France, 176 2-7 "
Nassau, 237 1-2 "

Of these, it will be perceived, that Italy, the most prolific, falls
fully one hundred and fifty gallons short of the average yield per acre
in California.--In this connection the following account of a grape-vine
in Santa Barbara may be interesting:--

"Four miles south of the town there is a vine which was planted more
than a quarter of a century since, and has a stalk now about ten inches
thick. The branches are supported by a train or arbor, and extend out
about fifty feet on all sides. The annual crop of grapes upon this one
vine is from six to ten thousand pounds, as much as the yield of half
an acre of common vines. It is of the Los Angeles variety. There is a
similar vine, but not so large, in the vineyard of Andres Pico, at San
Fernando."

It is well known that California has within her borders five million
acres of land suitable for vine-culture. Suppose it to average no larger
yield than that of Italy, yet, at 25 cents a gallon, it would give an
income of $551,875,000. That this may not seem an entirely chimerical
estimate, it may be remarked that trustworthy statistics show that in
France five millions of