the solution of the several problems, upon the successful solution of which the future in store for the grape industries of California so essentially depends. The grape-growers, at The grape-growers, at least, now fully understand that quality, and not quantity alone, will in the near future be the determining factor as between profit and loss: and the somewhat heated discussions at a late convention show that they are not disposed to submit to an arbitrary classification of their products, in bulk, by the wine merchants, but will insist that special excellence, whether of locality or treatment, shall command corresponding prices, as in the wine countries of Europe. One of the chief difficulties now existing lies in the lack of a sufficient number of competent wine experts, whose judgment shall be unbiased by local habits contracted in the Old World, and open to the modifications called for by new conditions of climate and soil; and as well to the recognition of excellence not precisely in accord with any type of old-world wines, such as it is extremely probable will be found among the products of California vineyards.

Among the most important and at the same time most difficult questions still to be set tled for Californian viticulture, is the special adaptation of grape-varieties to local climates and soils, and to desirable blends; and before these points are settled, many heavy ⚫ losses and disappointments will be sustained. At this time some communities are so sensitive on this subject, that it is unsafe to suggest a doubt of the adaptation of the local climate to certain preferred and productive grape-varieties in which heavy investments have been made; and yet, the longer such delusions are indulged in, the heavier will ultimately be the losses from the slow and low sale of unsatisfactory products. No one locality or region can be good for all classes of wines; and those who insist on trying to force the Riesling and the Muscat into yielding their choicest products on the same acre of land, will simply find themselves distanced by prudent competitors who adapt their efforts to natural conditions.

All these things will inevitably right them

selves in the course of time by the surviva of the fittest. In the process of evolution on this basis, doubtless, a good many will suffer: not because "the business is overdone" in general, but because their particular product is a drug in the market, being, from whatever cause, below the mark of excellence required to secure profitable returns. They may, upon a different plane, experience a depression like that of 1875. The fact that immense quantities of very indifferent wine are consumed in France and Germany will not avail here, where the laboring masses rarely touch wine, good or bad, thus far preferring beer or strong liquors. It is hardly probable that, for some time to come, it would pay well to ship "vin ordinaire" all the way to Europe; and although the use of native wines is likely to increase materially in this country, displacing in a measure the less healthful beverages now consumed, yet this is too slow a process to be relied upon by those now planting vines.

We have a very analogous condition of things in the case of the orchard fruits, which until lately have been planted in a somewhat indiscriminate manner. Orchards made up of a few choice varieties adapted to the locality prove very profitable, and will doubtless continue to do so, being in demand for canning and drying; while indifferent and mixed fruit becomes more and more every year a drug in the market. But in this case the California grower has to compete with the products of the East, where there are regions whose orchard fruits, both fresh and dry, fairly compete in quality with ours. Not so in the case of the grape: for California seems to have, and is likely to retain, from climatic causes, the monopoly of the production of the European "vinifera" grape on the North American continent, and with it that of the production of wines like those of the old world, as well as of raisins. far, at least, few wines made from the grapes of the American stock are entirely free from the inherent "foxiness" which, while acceptable by way of a change, seems to militate against the daily use of wine, from the same cause that makes cake unacceptable in place

Thus

of bread; and the toughness of skin and acidity of the innermost pulp tell at least equally against the making of raisins from the American berries. On the other hand, since the American varieties also succeed perfectly in California, our wine-makers have the opportunity of producing blends such as have never been attempted as yet (unless quite lately, and upon a small scale, in France), and which promise remarkable re

sults.

Considering that when all the vineyards at present planted shall be in bearing, the entire product of California will probably still amount to only about one-thirtieth of the total product of France, and will only about equal that of Russia and Turkey, which is scarcely heard of in the world's commerce; that, as a consequence of the invasion of the phylloxera, the wine product of France remains stationary in the face of an increasing demand and higher prices, compelling an extensive importation from other countries to maintain an adequate supply; that the invasion of Spain and Portugal has but just begun, and seems to progress almost unchecked, despite all efforts to arrest it, having already caused a material falling off of the wine exports of those countries, whose somewhat unprogressive population will be slow to adopt the only feasible remedy of grafting on resistent stocks; that the inroads of the insect are but just beginning to be felt in the wine-growing districts of Russia and Greece; and finally, that for many years the price of wines, especially of the higher grades, has been steadily on the increase: it seems that the prospect of losses in consequence of over-production of good wines in California is too remote to deserve serious consideration at this time. Practically the same is true, even in a higher degree, of the raisin industry. Not only is it likely that the European production of this article will be materially decreased for some time to come, but the probable increase of consumption of an article so universally liked, but thus far too high-priced to be available to the laboring classes, should also be kept in view. In this case, as in that of wines, high quality

will, however, be needed to maintain profits. First and second-class raisins will not be a drug in the market for many years to come; nor will there be much difficulty in converting a raisin vineyard into a wine-making one, or vice versa, by grafting, should need arise.

There are two other clouds, apparently more serious at present than that of overproduction, that threaten the success of viticulture in this State. One is the presence of the phylloxera; the other, the scarcity of available labor, resulting from the "Exclu'sion Act.”

As regards the phylloxera, it seems to be gradually but surely spreading over the State, in the absence of any effective system of quarantine other than such as the grapegrowers of certain districts agree upon, or such as individuals practice for their own protection. Two chief causes contribute to this remarkable indifference toward a danger that has shown such formidable results in Europe. One is the indisputable fact that its attacks are not as fatal to the vine in California as elsewhere, despite the apparently favorable conditions offered by the climate. Another is the inveterate habit of Californians to take risks and abide by the results. A third may be found in the great rapidity with which young vineyards come into bearing, allowing losses to be made good in a much shorter time than would be required in Europe. However, a goodly proportion of the new plantings are now being made of resistent stocks, especially in districts al ready infested; while others are made with view to permanent protection by periodi inundation. Altogether, the grape-grower have evidently made up their minds to ge along with or without the phylloxera, as ma be necessary.

a

The other threatening difficulty is that scarcity of labor, and for the immedia future it is certainly a serious one. The e clusion act is rapidly rendering Chinese bor unavailable, and no other as yet appea to take its place. The difficulty is especi ly serious in the case of the great vineya enterprises covering thousands of which have been entered upon within

acı

last three or four years. These are in nearly the same predicament as were the cottonplanters of the South after the war, when they found themselves unable to command the negro labor that had previously run their thousand-acre plantations so smoothly. They tried to solve the problem by inviting immigration; buthe immigrants, when they came, would not serve on the same terms as the negroes, but wanted their own homes. In the course of experience, the planters' question, "How shall we run our large plantations?" has been answered by the practical response: "You must not 'run' them at all, but subdivide them, and settle families on moderately-sized homesteads." Measurably the same answer will, I think, have to be given to our thousand-acre grape-growers; and when they submit to the obvious necessity, their enterprises will perhaps bring them less money for the time being than if their vineyards had been "run" by gangs of Chinamen, but they will certainly redound more to the benefit of the community at large. Wholesale planting, whether of cotton, sugar-cane, wheat, or vines, is certainly the least desirable form of agriculture, and compatible only with servile labor or its equivalent. Like bonanza mines, it enriches the few, but leaves the laborers in poverty and dependence, and impoverishes the soil; while diversified farming on small holdings creates general and permanent prosperity among an intelligent and independent population. It must be gravely doubted that any system of tenantry or colonization can be more than temporarily successful in connection with these large enterprises. They are likely, moreover, to suffer from another cause. has been often said that the profits per acre in the wholesale planting of wheat are very small as compared with those obtained under similar natural conditions on smaller holdings, on account of the expensive plant, and the waste from numerous leaks that cannot be stopped when operations are conducted on o large a scale. If this is true of so simple an industry as wheat-planting, how will it be in the case of one involving so much judgment and technical knowledge as grape

It

growing and wine-making, and one so entirely dependent upon the quality of the product for its pecuniary success? Where are the experts to supervise minutely, as must be done, the details of the vintage from several thousands of acres, every part of which must be watched lest a little leaven should damage the whole of so delicate a merchandise as wine? By dint of its very vastness, the undertaking falls into the same risks as in the case of the attempted making of wine by each small grower, of whom not one in ten possessed the necessary knowledge of the processes. There is a measure below as well as above which an industry like this involves great risks of financial failure.

For small growers, whose families can contribute largely to the labors of the vintage, the labor famine will have no terrors; and, generally speaking, the grape industry will suffer less than that of orchard fruits, whose bulky products require much more handling before getting into a marketable and preservable shape. With the former, the pressure ceases with the picking. Must once in the casks or vats is not very exacting in the amount of labor required, however much it stands in need of the closest and most intelligent attention; and wine once made almost takes care of itself, and can wait for a market as long as the owner's financial condition will permit. Yet the grower of grapes exclusively will find himself under the difficulty of being unable to give employment throughout the year to those whose help he needs during the vintage; a disadvantage inseparable from all undiversified farming, except perhaps in the cases of cotton and sugar cane.

For this reason alone, even the small vineyardist should to a certain extent diversify his products: apart from the general maxim that it is unsafe to rely and stake all upon the outcome of a single crop, however rarely that crop may fail in our amiable climate. In the case of wine-making it is doubly desirable that the producer should be financially able to hold his product until it shall have distinctly shown its best quality; and unless he be a capitalist, he can do this

family party," and of which the traditional turkey and plum-pudding formed such an infinitesimal part; he listened with praiseworthy patience to Fessenden's languid exposition of his visit to a Yorkshire country house; he followed Mr. Rivers's household biographies of Laura's wit and Tom's manliness, with their physical failings and cult thrown in; he lent himself to the propping up of Mrs. Rivers's harmless vanities; and all, forsooth, because these were the branches whereon hung the rose. It's as old as the creation, this selfish and sudden interest in whatever touches the object of one's affection: I doubt not that if Eve had had any relations, Adam would have sneakingly submitted to their egotistic exactions, and flattered them.

As we have seen, Gurney held a high ideal of womanhood, but he had hitherto rather plumed himself on his indifference to feminine fascinations; now he was being bound tamely enough by the silken threads that one day or another enwrap the stoutest Gulliver of us all. He believed in wild roses, but there was a thorny Jacqueminot that scorned hedgerows, and he straightway forgot every other flower in the botanist's catalogue, and recklessly resolved to gather it, thorns and all.

The only other guest at the Christmas dinner was Mr. Ballard, who, in spite of Jack's irreverent description, seemed a very proper guest for any time. Noting how deftly he tided over all domestic quicksands, with what graceful turns he held out the sunniest side of the cloudiest social characters, how he contrived without intrusiveness to make even their host's bourgeois arrogance agreeable, Gurney could not but acknowledge that Mr. Ballard had a mission, and that he performed it nobly. It was impossible not to envy the versatility that could skip from the details of a lady's party dress to European politics; and there really did not seem to be anything of which Mr. Ballard was absolutely ignorant; in fact, he lent a sort of dignity to the most airy topics by the earnestness he brought to bear on them. Gurney wondered idly what the inner

mechanism of such a man might be, and whether he would step out of life in the same irreproachable manner that he had walked through it. Miss Oulton solved these doubts when appealed to.

"There was once," she said airily, "a youth loved of Aurora, and with the questionable generosity of her sex, she procured him the gift of immortality without having youth thrown in. It was said that the fickle dawn-goddess got tired of her withered immortal, and had him changed to a grasshopper. But I'm fairly convinced that a species of evolution and the needs of society have produced from the original Tithonus--Mr. Ballard. He has the spirit of youth, and as nobody knows how old he is, we may fancy he is immortal. Maybe in the next generation we will find the gift of the gods perfected."

Life

"That's very ingenious," said Gurney, with a slight laugh, "but not satisfactory. would have to be perfected too, for immortality to be anything but a bitter gift."

"Not life as Mr. Ballard sees it," said Helen, rather more earnestly than she often spoke. "If his elaborate compliments and witticisms are a little too-inevitable, they are always amiable; and better still, his charity is sincere. When I venture a cynical remark, he looks as if I had stabbed him. He is successful because he believes," she added, with a melancholy little smile.

"Then faith is the whole duty of man, no matter how much misplaced," retorted Gurney. Well, I want to choose my own idols, at any rate."

Mr. Rivers came just then to hurry them off to the Russells'. He was boring himself to please the children, and very naturally wanted to end his martyrdom as soon as possible. His nephews deserted them directly after dinner; Fred coldly ignoring such a very American thing: while Charlie, who was a light-hearted youth, constantly under treatment for his frivolity, objected to his uncle's society when it could be avoided, and wisely enough preferred his cigarettes and a new play to moral pills coated with Christmas sugar.