THE 



GARDENER 



FEBRUARY 1873. 



RIPENING LATE GRAPES. 



E commend Mr Henderson's forcible and seasonable remarks 

 on the ripening of late Grapes in our present issue to tlie 

 particular attention of those of our readers who are in- 

 terested in the matter. It is a singular fact — and per- 

 haps one not sufficiently recognised and taken into consideration — that 

 our very highest flavoured Grapes are, with scarcely an exception, to 

 be found among those to which long practice has assigned a higher 

 temperature than is considered necessary for the general run of Grapes, 

 — such, for instance, as the ^Muscat of Alexandria and its varieties, the 

 Frontignacs, &c., which are beyond question in the front rank of 

 highly-flavoured Grapes when ripened under the influence of a high tem- 

 perature, abundance of light, and a dry atmosphere. But grown and 

 ripened under circumstances the reverse of these — i.e., started late in 

 the season and ripened late in a comparatively low temperature and 

 damp atmosphere, these very Grapes never take on that finish which is 

 a sure sign and accompaniment of high flavour and long-keeping quali- 

 ties. Badly-ripened ^luscats, as pointed out by Mr Henderson, are 

 amongst the most distasteful of Grapes, and never hang very long 

 without shrivelling. Yet, when highly coloured and ripened early, 

 there are few better keepers : we have known them amber-coloured 

 in August, and cut and sent to table in March. Is it not therefore 

 reasonable, and in accordance with facts, to suppose that many of our 

 best late Grapes are capable of great improvement in quality by acting 

 upon the points to which Mr Henderson directs attention ? We think 

 it is, and that the matter is one of very considerable importance in late- 

 keeping Grape-growing. The palate generally rebels for a time at the 

 flavour of such varieties as Gros Guillaume, Gros Colman, Barbarossa, 

 Lady Downes, Trebbiana, &c., after Hamburgs and Muscats have all 



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