M»7 1, 187S. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



31^) 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



MAY 1—7, 187S. 



Meeting of Koyal and Linnean Societies. 



Valienerius 150171, 1661. 

 3 Sunday after Easter. 

 Meeting of Kntomolo^ical Society, 7 p.m. 

 Meeting of Zoological Society, 8.30 p.m. 

 Royal Horticultural tiociety's Rose and Azalea 

 [ Show opens. 



Son 



Bises. 



Son 



Sets. 



m. b. I m. b. 

 33 af 4 I 21 al 7 



22 

 24 

 25 

 27 

 29 

 SO 



'^^"- Son. Tear. 



Days. 



10 

 11 



m. s. 



3 4 121 



3 11 I 122 



8 18 



1-iS 



3 24 ' 124 



3 29 i 125 



3 34 120 



3 39 127 



From obHervations taken near London daring forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 62.P ; and its night temperature 

 ).4^. The greatest heat was 84 , on the 0th, 1862 ; and tho lowest cold 20-, on the 6th, 1805. The greatest fall of rain was 1.26 inch 



GEAPE-KEEPING. 



BELTON GRAPE ROOM, 1872 and 1873. 



' NDEB the above heading last spring in The 

 Journal of Hokticulture, vol. xxii., p. 80, 

 you published an account of my failure in 

 keeping Grapes in bottles of water in a room 

 erected specially for the purpose, and with 

 that account is a plan. I there stated par- 

 ticulars of the treatment to which the Givapes 

 had been subjected from the time of cutting 

 them, and asked for information on the 

 subject. In addition to the writers of pri- 

 vate letters, conveying information from many of the 

 highest authorities, I have to thank the following who 

 kindly responded — namely, Mr. Nisbet and Mr. Douglas 

 in No. 569, page 169, and Mr. Nisbet for his able article, 

 page 211, and in the following numbers Mr. Potts, Mr. 

 Eoberts, and Mr. Dodds. 



If the system of keeping Grapes in bottles of water in 

 rooms is to be of any value to the horticultural com- 

 munity it must be reduced to a safe practice, founded on 

 natural laws, so that, when the Grapes are thoroughly ripe, 

 and not tdl then, they may be all safely cut, and placed 

 at once in the Grape-room in bottles of water, each con- 

 taining a httle charcoal, there to remain until required 

 for use, be it in two, foiu', or six months, and this, too, 

 without involving so mvich watchfulness as is usually 

 considered necessary. Now, by the time a Vine has 

 thoroughly ripened its fruit, its principal leaves are ripe 

 also, and the support of the fruit in the shape of moisture, 

 from this time at least, gradually diminishes until, when 

 the leaves fall, very little moisture is received or required 

 by the fruit ; still the Vine continues to supply sufficient to 

 maintain the hemes and their footstalks in perfect con- 

 dition for months after being ripe if properly treated by 

 keeping them cool and dry. Any excess of moisture sup- 

 pUed to the hemes at this time and onwards, either thi-ough 

 the wood or air, is at the expense of the flavour and keeping 

 properties of the Grapes, and on tliis nicety in the supply 

 of moisture to the bunches when cut from the Vine and 

 in a room, as above mentioned, hinges the whole cause of 

 faUm'e or success in keeping them perfect for any length 

 of time. 



The best practical information is very frequently gained 

 through faUm-es, and having failed, as already stated, I 

 determined to institute a series of experiments in order 

 to arrive at a just and safe mode of supplying such an 

 amount of moistm-e to the bunches through the wood as 

 would suiiice to keep them perfect without the danger of 

 supplying too much — in short, to follow nature as closely 

 as possilale ; and this I have proved can be safely done, 

 simply by half-charring the cut end of the branch upon 

 which the bunch hangs before putting it into the bottle of 

 water. By taking this precaution a great amoimt of 

 watchfulness, care, and labour is saved. The half-char- 

 ring the cut partially closes the pores of the wood, and 

 only a limited quantity of water can pass to the fruit. 

 I made in the autumn of last year some alterations in 

 Ko. 631.— Vol. XXTV., New Series. 



the Grape-room at Belton, added two extra ventilators at 

 the lowest part of the room in the door and wall opposite, 

 with slides, stopped tlie one previously in the floor, where 

 I conceived moisture had gained access through the 

 grating, and laid a flow and return 2-inch pipe on the 

 floor round the room. Having done this I commenced 

 the experiment intended, and which I have been re- 

 quested by many gardeners to pubhsh, but to do this 

 would take up too much of your valuable space. How- 

 ever, it may be advisable to state a few failures by way 

 of showing "breakers ahead." Cu-cumstances enabled me 

 to keep the Grapes hanging on the Vines a month longer 

 than in 1871 ; therefore the first lot was cut on the 9th of 

 December. I had either to cut them then or lose them 

 through the wet contintially dropping, in some cases run- 

 ning into the bunches from the roof, therefore only those 

 bunches so circumstanced were cut at this time ; those 

 previously cut were for the purpose of experiment. 



The bunches were placed in the water at various 

 depths, some scarcely touching it ; these required much 

 careful watching, some being shorf, some having too 

 much water, and to keep them for a month or five weeks 

 until they were required for use entailed too much labour 

 in drawing them out and then putting them back into 

 the water, cutting-out berries, &c. So practically this was 

 a failure, although by constant attention they were fairly 

 kept for this short time. Left hanging on the Vine they 

 would all have disappeared in the four or five weeks. 

 On the 14th of December twenty-five bunches were cut 

 and put into the water, little more than touching it ; three 

 of these were weighed at the time, and proved to be 

 2 lbs. 10 ozs., 2 lbs., and 3 lbs. respectively. "When re- 

 weighed on the 0th of January they had gained in weight, 

 and by the 20th the largest bvmch had gained a httle 

 over half aa ounce, but there was no appearance of 

 cracking or moulding, and for fear of this occurring, they 

 were all taken out, and remained out of the water twenty- 

 four hours. I then had cement mixed with hot water 

 rubbed into the pores of the Vine wood, and some of it 

 charred ; after this all were returned to the water, and 

 they kept well for the remainder of the time. 



On the 18th of December another lot was cut ; half of 

 these had cement rubbed into the wood, and the other 

 half had the cut-end of the shoot half changed put into 

 the water. Three bunches were weighed, and then- stems 

 stuck deeply into large roots of Mangold. Three of the 

 cemented bunches were weighed, and three of the half 

 chaiTed. In four or five weeks those stuck in the Man- 

 golds were losing their footstalks, and in six weeks began 

 to shrivel ; they lost 1:^ oz. dm"ing the time. The three 

 cemented bunches when cut from the Vine weighed in 

 the aggregate 6 lbs. 10 ozs., and when weighed again on 

 the 14th of January then- weight remained the same ; 

 by February 14th they had lost tliree-quarters of an ounce, 

 but a few berries had been cut out. The three bunches 

 that were half-charred weighed in the ag.gregate .5 j lbs., 

 and had neither gained nor lost on tho 14th of January, 

 but by the 14th of February they had lost a little over 

 a quarter of an oimee in the three bunches. This is, 

 i No. 128S.— Vou XLK., Old Semeb. 



