September i, 1885.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



16 



CURRANT GRAPE VINEYARDS IN GREECE. 



Few who habitually consume large quautities of the 

 Ooriuth, or currant grape in the form in which it is 

 inii)orteil, and especially at this time of year, are aware 

 of the place at, and the conditions under which the 

 cultivation is carried on. The currant grape is almost 

 exclusively grown in CIreece. and the adjoining islands 

 of Zante, Cephalonia, Ithaca and Suuta Maura, The 

 mainland of Jlorea is cultivated along its northern and 

 western shores — the quality of the produce deteriorating 

 as you proceed southward away from the Gulf of 

 Coricth. At Lepanto and Messolonghi in Livadia. the 

 industry is pursued with marked success. Greece is so 

 largely dependent on the currant grape Wueyards that 

 any temporary failure of the crop is attended with 

 serious loss as great and as widespread as that attend- 

 ing the failure of the potato iu Ireland. The olive, 

 which is another staple product of that part of the 

 world, is being rooted up to give place to currant vine- 

 yards. The neighbourhood of the sea is preferred, although 

 the plantations are not as a rule permitted to approach 

 nearer than 500 yards to the shore. The finest sites are 

 at the foot of wooded hills, with a sunny aspect, open 

 to the free circulation of air. Sea fogs and briny mists 

 are beneficial. The currant grape affects a rich light soil 

 with an admixture of sand — the characteristic of most of 

 the arable lands of the ancient Peloponnesus — and a clim- 

 ate with alternations of intense heat and cold, the 

 latter being of short duration. However closely the sites 

 selected maj' approximate to these requirements, it is a 

 noticeable feature iu the cidtivation that a uniform 

 quaUty in the crop cannot be ensured. The soil, exposure 

 and treatment may be identical, and the properties may 

 adjoin, but there will yet be a marked difference iu the 

 fruit. The size or the colour of the berry is sure to 

 differ, or the saccharine matter or aroma will abound 

 in the produce of one, and be absent, or deficient, in 

 that of the other. The Zante currant though smaller 

 is preferred for its sweetness and fa»our to that grown 

 in any other part of Greece. The vineyards are kept 

 free of all other cultivation as the currant is impatient 

 of shade. Bometimes, however, during the earlier years 

 tomatos and melons are cropped on the same soil, but 

 all good cultivators deprecate anything else being grown 

 between the sets as tending to impoverish the soil, 

 and withdraw from it the elements of plant nutrition 

 which do not naturally abound. In the mouth of .Janu- 

 ary cuttings are taken off the old plants, aud buried 

 until the following March, when they are permanently 

 put out at a distance of tour feet from each other. 

 In four years the vine will fruit, hut seven or eight years 

 must elapse before it comes into full bearing, and it 

 will continue, under favourable conditions, and good 

 caltivation to yield for upwards of fifty years. The 

 average age of a flourishing plantation is forty years, 

 after which it nesds renewing, but trees are met with 

 fully a hundred years old. The produce, however, of these 

 vetcraus is very small. AVith the object of securing 

 "bold fruit " the growers " ring out " the stems and branches, j 

 an operation performed when the fruit has set, and in- 

 tended_ to prevent the descent of the sap. This treat- 

 ment is prejudicial to the vigor and health of the vines, 

 and also to the keeping qualities of the crop, but it is 

 almost universally practised, It costs £100 to open an 

 aero of currant grapo vineyard, and the upkeep aver- 

 ages £10 per annum. This sum makes provision f( r 

 liberal sulphuring at the rate of Wi pounds per acre. 

 The sulphur being procured from Sicily in fine powder, 

 and sprinkled over the vines as an efficacious remedy 

 against mildew to which they are very subject. The 

 yield averages 2.000 pounds per acre. The iiest sort*:, 

 namely those growing about the Gulf of Corinth, along 

 the northern and western shores of the More a and in 

 the island of Zante fetch as much as 25 shillings per cwt. 

 The inferior sorts do not realize over 1,5 shillings per 

 cwt. Tlic average selling price may be put down at 

 £20 per ton. which gives the grower 10 per cent on his 

 capital outlay. Labor is expi-n.sive. and higher on the 

 Hiainlaud than in the i-stands, varying from 2 shillings 

 per diem iu the latter to i shillings in the former. In 

 the ielaud of ijante 10,000 acres are under currant oultiv^ 

 21 



ation, and this acreage is gradually increasing as olivef 

 are being rooted out to find roont for it, yielding annu- 

 ally 7,000 tons of currants. The entire exports do not 

 exceed 120,000 tons, and at the present time this appears 

 to meet the requirements of the world, but the use of 

 the fruit is extending. It is no longer confined to 

 confectionery, the ravages of the phylloxera having directed 

 the attention of French growers to its utility for wine- 

 making. In recent years over 30,000 tons have been 

 imported into that country for tins purpose, aud the de- 

 maud is not likely to decrease. More th.an a halt of the 

 total exports goes to England, but finds its way out again 

 to other parts of the world. 12,000 tons go to tha 

 United States directly, and a great deal more indirectly. — 

 Madras MaU. 



EVILS ATTENDING PLANT CULTURE- 

 IN POTS. 



This is a good time to give advice on this subject. 

 It is not a good plau to grow any plant in a pot ; but 

 pot culture is a necessity of horticulture, and as all 

 gardeners, great or small, grow an immense proportion 

 of their stock in pots for a shorter or longer sea.son 

 every year, it follows that they should know all they 

 can about pot culture an<l its evils. Gardoucrs, and 

 especially amateurs, are so much accustomed to growing 

 plants in pots, that we daresay the idea is a common 

 one, that that is the best way to grow them. It is 

 not the best way, however ; on the contrary, except 

 uuder a few exceptional circumstances, it is the worst 

 way. Very many of the ills which afflict plants are 

 directly or indirectly traceable to their culture in pots. 

 It is an acknowledged fact that green fly, thrips, red 

 spider, mil. lew, and not a tew other pests and diseases 

 which attack plants are encouraged and aggravated by 

 culture in pots. How is this? — some one will ask. And 

 in answer, it may be said that the idea is not a new 

 one, or broached for the first time. Lindley gave the 

 subject his attention, and so did Knight ; aud inventors 

 have devised pots that were said to overcome or mitigate 

 the evils complained of, but owing either to the price, 

 or inconvenience of using such articles, they have never 

 become popular, aiul for mostly all purposes the com- 

 mon flower pot is .'■till in general use. 



One of the greatest disadvantages connected with the 

 use of pots U the necessity of standing thfui in places 

 exposed to the air and sun, and the great fluctuations 

 of temperature and moisture to which the roots of the 

 plants growing iu them are thereby exposed. It is very 

 bad for any plant to have its roots in a medium that 

 is hable to be alternately wet and dry. or cold aud 

 warm, and these are just the conditions to which pots 

 expose them ; hence experienced gardeners are always 

 castnig about for some means of protecting the pots, 

 and resort to pliuigiug. shading, sprinkling paths, and 

 devising shelves and ventilating processes, so as to 

 prevent these agencies from working mischief as much 

 as possible, When a plant is newly potted in abundance 

 of soil, and freely watered, the roots are not so much 

 affected ; but when they reach the sides of the pot, 

 which they soon do, and there is nothing between them 

 and the sun and .air but about an eighth of an inch 

 of porous eiu'thenware, they are liable to serious injury 

 if not watched attentively. When the soil becomes 

 parcheil in the pots, it shrinks away from the sides, 

 leaving a space between the two; active evaporation 

 begins from the tender root.s, which, instead of absorbing 

 moisture, as is their function, part with it, and tho 

 consei|uence is that they are either killed or injured, 

 and the branches suffer in proportion. ^\' here large collec* 

 tions of plants exist, or where those in charge have not 

 time to attend to the wants of the plants, this is quito 

 a common occurrence at this season, and many a plant 

 is irretrievably ruined thereby. Kcpular attention to 

 watering and shading can only prevent such things 

 happening, and in the case of pot-bound jflants a good 

 deal of attention is required, becnu.se the toil in tho 

 pots soon dries up. To fully uudeistniul the cotidition 

 of a plant situated in a pot as described, it lunst he 

 remembered that in tho natural state, when a plant 

 grows in the ground, tbo roots liavB unlimited scope. 



