Tokay Grapes in California Vineyard, Acampo, Calif.

Here you are in the greatest grape-producing area in the United States. Note the luxuriant growth of the vines and the fine, big clusters of fruit that hang between each clump. These are the Tokay grapes from which a well-known brand of wine is manufactured. California easily leads all other states of the United States in the production of grapes. In fact it produces nearly as many as all the rest of the states put together. New York ranks second. Its great grape-raising area is called the Chautauqua Belt. This is along Lake Erie, and extends not only through sections of northern New York, but also through northern Pennsylvania and northern Ohio. This westward stretch is really a part of the basin of Lake Ontario which has been filled in naturally. A goodly part of the New York grapes is made into wine but in California the wine varieties and the raisin varieties are about equal. You know that raisins are only sun-dried grapes. California wines are widely known, but since France is the great wine country of the world, most of the California brands are given a French name. Such fine varieties of the wine grape as the Scuppernong and the Catawba are descendants of the wild grapes native to North America. The Tokay variety and many other varieties were imported from Europe. If you turn back the pages of history you will find that the grape is one of the oldest plants cultivated. The Egyptians had their vineyards as did also the Greeks and the Romans. The Romans brought the vine to England, and did much to promote the growth of grapes in France. The first vineyard in this country was set out by a Frenchman in 1610 at Jamestown. Keystone ID: 16747 Note: All titles, descriptions, and location coordinates are from the original Keystone Slide documentation as supplied by the Keystone View Company. No text has been edited or changed.