wild American grape. He was exceedingly elated with his discovery, and in a letter to a friend says that "in bringing this grape into public notice I have rendered my country a greater service than I would have done had I paid the national debt." Though the national debt was then $90,000,000, Mr Adlum probably did not exaggerate the value of his discovery.

The

Twenty years later, in 1844, Mr Ephraim Wales Bull, of Concord, Mass., obtained the famous Concord grape from the seed of another wild variety. Concord has since become the most widely known, most generally planted, and for all purposes the best American grape yet introduced. Nine-tenths of the great crop of 85,000 tons of grapes from the Chautauqua grape belt on Lake Erie, in 1900, were Concords. The first Concord vine, from which stock the millions of vines of this variety have come, still lives in the garden of Mr Bull's cottage.

In 1830 there were 88 varieties of American vines known. Today there are at least 1,000.

In California the Mission fathers succeeded at an early date in growing a European grape for their own use. They had but one variety, which is still largely grown, and is known as the Mission. The Mission vine planted at Montecito, Cal., in 1795, was exhibited at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Some of the choicest European varieties have since been introduced and have thriven in their new home.

Mr George C. Husmann, of the Department of Agriculture, has recently published an exceedingly valuable paper on "Grape, Raisin and Wine Production in the United States," from which these facts are derived.*

In the United States there are two distinct grape-producing sections-one * Year Book of the Department of Agriculture, 1902, pp. 407-420.

east of the Rocky Mountains, where the American varieties are largely and profitably grown; the other in California, where the foreign or Vinifera varieties have found a congenial home.

To the late Senator Leland Stanford, founder of the Leland Stanford Junior University, belongs the distinction of having had the largest vineyard in the world, comprising nearly 5,000 acres and being over 7 miles long. The wineries on the place cover more than 6 acres of roof surface, and during the years Mr Husmann had charge of them from 21⁄2 million to 3 million gallons of wine were made annually, from 400 to 850 tons of grapes being crushed daily. Throughout California there are a number of vineyards of 500 acres each.

At Asti the Italian-Swiss colony has 1,700 acres in bearing vineyards. On the place are extensive wineries, with the largest wine vat of the world, holding 500,000 gallons. Near Cucamonga the Italian Vineyard Company has, during the last three years, planted nearly 2,000 acres in one field. The Riverside Vineyard Company during the same time planted 2,500 acres in one vineyard.

The amount of wine made in the United States is, however, very small compared to that produced in the countries of Europe. Even Turkey, whose Mohammedan population drink little wine, produces nearly twice as much wine as the United States.

In 1901 France produced of wines 1,523,233,200 gallons; Italy, 1,013,760,000; Spain, 520,080,000; Portugal,

155.760,000; Austria, 116, 160,000; Roumania, 87, 120,000; Chile, 85,120,000; Russia, 76,560,000; Bulgaria, 73,920,000; Germany, 60,720,000; Argentina, 55,440,000; Turkey, 50, 160,000; Greece, 32,300,000; Switzerland, 31,680,000; United States, 29,500,000, and Servia, 23,760,000 gallons. The industry in the United States is as yet in its infancy. A beginning has just been made in a commercial and businesslike manner to improve methods and expand markets. California has produced and sold annually the last ten years an average of 20 million gallons of wine, 2 million gallons of brandy, and 80 million pounds of raisins. Her wines and brandies have taken high honors at all important expositions, including that at Paris in 1900, and they are rapidly finding their way into all the principal markets of the world.

So far the raisin industry of this country has only supplied the small home demand of 100 million pounds, whereas the present population, were it to consume as much per capita as some other countries, say Great Britain, would now use 400 million pounds annually, not to say anything of extending markets and exporting to other countries.

When it is considered that France in 1901 produced 1,523,233,200 gallons of wine, while this country produced 29,500,000 gallons, and that the Golden State alone has a grape and wine producing area almost equal to the whole of France, some idea can be formed of the great possibilities of this important industry.

T

HE United States can supply all the wants of its people for coal, iron, copper, petroleum, and all the useful minerals; gold and silver also are found in generous quantities; but of

precious stones, the diamond, the ruby, the emerald, the topaz, etc., it has practically none, except what it has bought abroad. In 1902 we paid $25,000,000 to foreign countries for precious stones

that we imported, while during that year precious stones of the value of only $338,000 were found within our borders. These were principally sapphires from Montana, turquoises from New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and California, and tourmalines and chrysoprases from California.

The United States Geological Survey has just published a report by Mr George F. Kunz on "The Production of Precious Stones in 1902,"* which contains much interesting information as to the origin of the different stones.

Nearly all the diamonds come from the Kimberley mines.

The South African mines have recovered from the set-back of the Boer war, and apparently have an inexhaustible supply of diamonds. In the various mines a total of over 40,000,000 loads of blue or diamantiferous ground is blocked out, meaning probably more than 10,000,000 carats of diamonds. The largest pile of diamonds ever brought together was collected at the De Beers mine in South Africa in July, 1900. The directors wanted to know the quantity of diamonds necessary to fill a certain measure. Diamonds of all kinds were put in just as mined, and it was thus ascertained that a cubic meter of diamonds weighs 11,976,000 carats and has an approximate value of about $76,000,000. Up to the present time the Kimberley mines have produced more than $500,000,000 worth of uncut diamonds.

The number of diamonds from Brazil has fallen considerably during the last several years, because of the crude and unsystematic methods of hunting for them.

Some 5,000 people are engaged in diamond mining there, but their tools

*The Production of Precious Stones in 1902. By George F. Kunz. Extract from mineral resources of the United States, calendar year 1902: David T. Day, Chief of Division of Mining and Mineral Resources. Washington: Government Printing Office. 1903.

are the commonest-a hoe, a crowbar, an iron hook on the end of a pole, or a hammer and two basins for washing the gravel. The accompanying illustrations show two remarkable carbons from Brazil found on one claim-the first in 1894 and the second in 1901. The carbons are split into many pieces and used for diamond drills. The present output of 2,500 carats of carbons a month cannot supply the demand for them for mining and drilling machinery. The price per carat demanded by the miners in the field has jumped to $11 and $11.20 for carbons, which is more than is paid for average uncut diamonds.

A new diamond field is being exploited in southwestern Borneo, where diamonds have long been known to exist. In the region of the Landak River, near the mouth of the Soran River, a piece of so-called serpentine has been obtained which incloses a diamond apparently in its true matrix. The Rajahs of Panembohan and Pongerans possess an immense belt studded with diamonds, said to be from this district, one stone weighing 67 carats. It is a peculiar belief of the natives that the gold and diamonds in the earth are a sort of bank, and should be worked only when they themselves need money, since they believe that gold and diamonds are always there when they desire them. The great Borneo diamond of Mattam, said to weigh 367 carats, is believed to be from this same region.

India, so long renowned in history and tradition as the source of gems, produced in 1902 no diamonds and no precious stones, with the exception of considerable numbers of rubies mined in Upper Burma. The leading gem dealers of Paris and Amsterdam have agents at Mandalay who buy the rubies. directly from the Shans. The finest rubies go to Paris.

In examining rubies the Shans never use artificial light, holding that full sunlight alone can bring out perfectly