416 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



If I were asked to epitomize grape packing, I should say pack tightly, for 

 therein lies the whole secret, or, at any rate, so much of it that every other 

 detail is but of secondary importance,. Many run away with the idea that 

 they cannot do anything better than envelop each bunch loosely in paper ; 

 whereas they could scarcely find a surer way of reducing the value of their 

 grapes. The paper rubs the bloom off, and does not in any way add to the 

 security of the berries. I have more than once seen grapes unpacked in Co- 

 vent Garden which were much damaged in this way, and I remember very 

 particularly a splendid sample of Lady Downes, and which had come a long 

 journey, coming out all bruised and crushed ; they were not worth the cost 

 of transit. "Look here," said the recipient, a Centre Row fruiter, "did 

 you ever see grapes packed like these — thick paper round each bunch? If 

 they had been dropped into the box and the lid shut down on them without 

 further trouble they would have come better." 



We pack our grapes very simply and they never sustain injury ; we have 

 never had a bunch reduced in value by transit in a period of twelve years. 

 Some soft hay is placed at the bottom of the box or basket, a sheet of paper 

 goes on that and the sides are lined with paper. The bunches are then put 

 in as closely together as it is possible to get them, no play being allowed. 

 A few leaves are put on the top and a sheet of paper, on which the lid shuts 

 down with pressure sufficient to prevent the bunches from shifting. This is 

 very imjjortant, especially when they have a long journey to make, as in the 

 hurry of getting parcels out at various stations the baskets are not always as 

 gently handled as they should be. In a general way we use what are termed 

 " pea-baskets,'' that is to say, such as come from abroad early in the spring, 

 filled with green peas. These hold about 15 pounds, but for a long journey 

 I should not care to put more than 10 pounds together. This year we have 

 used some of the cross-handled baskets which the Jersey men use. The 

 handle in a manner necessitates mild usage, as it is so much easier to lift 

 them about in this way that no one would give himself the trouble to pitch 

 them about roughly in the way square hampers often get served. An excel- 

 lent plan is to fix a stout rope to the tops of baskets; this enables the rail- 

 way officials to lift them easily without handles; whereas if no grasp is visi- 

 ble he per force seizes them in both arms, and naturally experiences some 

 difficulty in lowering them gently to the ground. 



Grapes ox Trees. — From the AVestern Rural we gather the following 

 interesting comments on the suggestion of one of our valued correspondents : 



There have been recently going the rounds of the press the remarks of 

 Mr. Crawford, of Cuyhoga Falls, Ohio, upon the success of growing grape 

 vines on trees. There is nothing in it that is new, but it serves to call the 

 attention of many who may never have thought of it to an interesting fact. 

 It is well known that a grape vine on a tree, whether the tree is alive or 

 dead, will grow more rapidly than if on a trellis. It will not answer, how- 

 ever, to conclude that all that is necessary for success is a vine and a tree. 

 There are proper conditions, and we must have them, and we must learn 

 what they are from nature and experiment. Mr. Crawford says that grapes 

 thus grown rarely fail, and that the most astonishing crops are produced in 

 this way, even on vines that receive no care. The most successful cultivators 

 in the world plant trees and vines together, so that the latter may have a 

 suitable suj^port. Many unskilled farmers have blundered into the same 

 method, and have had abundant success. A vine will make twice the growth 



