September 6, 1866. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUEK AND COTTAGE GARDENER. ( 



185 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



of 



Vny 



of 



Week. 



To 

 W 

 Tn 



K 

 R 



Sun 

 M 



SEPTEMBER 5—12, 18C5. 



Hawthorn berries ripe. 

 Mjir>h Gliis^swort flowers, 

 Smirtowor flowers. 

 .\nliumi eomnienee^. 

 Dot: Unse leaves full. 



IS Sl'NDAY AFTER TuiSITY. 



Yew beiTios ripe. 



Averaco TomperAtui'o '''il,^. 

 near London. ]^ ^^^^ 



Day. 



69.R 

 fti.fi 

 (;!).(! 

 (W.il 

 C8.8 



ia.4 



6H.4 



NiKht. 

 47.3 

 4C.0 

 47.1 

 47.S 

 4«.0 

 45.5 

 46.8 



Mean. 

 fiK.O 

 07.7 

 58.4 

 68.1 

 58.4 

 57.5 

 57.0 



DavB. 

 Ifi 

 17 

 17 

 17 

 17 

 19 

 10 



Snn 

 Rises. 



Snn 

 Sets. 



Moon 

 RiiieB. 



Moon 



Seta. 



21 af 



22 



m. h. I m. 

 SI llf C , 20 



M C 



82 fi 



!W 



28 (i 



25 G 



2S G 



51) 

 20 

 53 

 29 

 11 

 69 



m. h. 



4 at 5 

 20 ft 

 47 *J 



8 9 

 27 lU 

 41 11 



after. 



Moon'B 

 Age. 



Days. 

 O 



10 

 17 

 18 

 19 

 20 

 21 



Clock 

 after 

 Sun. 



1 29 



1 49 



2 9 

 2 !10 



2 50 



3 11 



Day 



of 



Year. 



248 

 249 

 250 

 251 

 2.52 

 253 

 254 



From observations taken near London durinR the last thirtv-eight years, the ftvorago day temperature of tho week is 67.2 , and its night 

 temiierature 40.9'. Tho gi'oatest heat was 83^ ou the" 5th, 184^; and tho lowest eold, 30", on , tho 6th, 1850. The greatest fall of 

 raiu was 1.09 inch. 



WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF GRAPES NOT 

 COLOURING ? 



F the art of horticulture it 

 may be tiiily said we Icni-ii 

 more every year we live. 

 Many jiroblems have been 

 solved ; man}' more remain 

 unsolved : much has been 

 accomplished by the lights that have gone before, but we 

 still, and must ever, see tlu'ough the horticultural glass 

 darkly and unpci-fectly, finding something that a combina- 

 tion of scientific witli practical knowledge has not before 

 revealed to us. There is not one, evenof the most expe- 

 rienced of modern horiicultmists. that does not experience 

 some imperfection m Ids crops wliicli cannot be satisfac- 

 torily aceoimted for. and there is no reason wliy any one 

 engaged m horticultural pm-suits should withliold from the 

 effort towards diminisliing the obsciuity mider which we 

 laboiu'. It has been said that when any one fails in pro- 

 ducing what others succeed Txith that he ought to be the 

 last to saj- anytliing about it ; but if our failiu'es can be 

 traced to no lack of sldll, care, judgment, or management, 

 surely too much caimot be said about it so far as regards 

 the searchuig for the cause and the remedy of tlie failiu-e 

 experienced ; and this leads me to eudeavoiu- to answer 

 tlie inquiry 



"Wliat is the cause of Grapes not colouring? It has 

 been attributed to — 1st, Hea\Tness of crop : ind. Too much 

 atmospheric nuiistiu-e ; ord. Deficiency of heat : 4th, In- 

 sirfficient ventilation : ."ith. Leaves partially deprived of 

 theu' powers of elaboration throngh attacks of red spider, 

 scorching, &c. ; lith, Roots deep, or in a cold wet border. 

 The essentials Imown, we can only attribute non-success 

 to mismanagement. Certaui it is, however, tliat imder 

 the very best treatment Black Hambm-gh Grapes are not 

 always the colour of Sloes, nor Muscats Like amber. Why ? 

 First, I am persuaded the reason of Grapes not colouring 

 at times is not laKAvn, or if it is the defect cannot be 

 avoided by pursuing treatment the opposite of the cause 

 assigned ; and second, the cause is not even seen until it 

 s too late for remedy. 



1. Hericine.is of Crnp. — This may be. and sometimes iBi, 

 the cause of Grapes not colouruig, but not always. I have 

 kno^vn a very heavy crop of forty bimches on 20 feet of 

 rafter colour perfectly, althougli the same Vine would not 

 coloar half a dozen bmicbes of less size in the previous 

 yeai'. In another uistance there were upwai-ds of tliii-ty 

 bunches on a Vine ; a few bimchcs at the top were colom-ed, 

 tliose in the middle were never otheruise tlian red and 

 streaked, wliilst half a dozen at the bottom of the same Vine 

 were like Sloes in colow'. It does occasionally occiu- that 

 with a hea^'y crop the berries are larger than usual, and 

 No. 232.— YOL. rx., New Series. 



all goes on well until the colom-ing process commences, 

 and in this they fail : tliey swell well, but are longer be- 

 fore they change colour than where a less crop is taken, 

 there being at least a fortnight or three weeks ditlbrenco 

 in the same house. The quantity of bunches left on a, 

 Vine should bo regulated, so that it may not be burdened 

 with more than it can biTJig to jierfection ; hut the precise 

 number to be left seems a point as yet undetermined, 

 and is so dependant on the health and vigour of the \me 

 as to become a question of jiulgment rather than of rule. 

 For a Vine in good health from twenty to t«-eiity-four 

 btmches, averaging 1 lb. each, are as much as it can be 

 expected to brhig to uiatiu-ity on 20 feet of rafter. It does 

 not matter wlictiier ^^■e take by the rod-system half a dozen 

 that will weigh 4 lbs. or more each, or six times that nmyi- 

 ber of smaller bunches : for a given amount of rafter will 

 not carry more than a certain weight of Grapes, and the 

 amoimt "above stated is the result of the experience of 

 several consecutive years. iNIore may be taken one year, 

 and the Grapes may be all that can be desu'ed, but it is 

 not to the present only that we must have regard, but to the 

 after-crops as well. The Vine may be so weakened by 

 the dentands of a heavy crop that it may not be capable of 

 caiTying one worth mention for some time afterwards, and 

 theii the (irapes may not arrive at the same degree of 

 perfection that they would have done had the Vines not 

 been overtaxed in previous years. Usually it is not m the 

 year that a heavy crop of fruit is taken that the resultant 

 "e%-ils are most manifest, and people think because a tree 

 carried a heavy crop of fruit one year it ought to do so 

 agam. Nothing can be more at variance with the future 

 well-beuig of a Vine than to overcrop it. ^Mien a hea^■y 

 crop is taken the whole \dtal energies; of the subject are 

 directed towards its perfection, little remauiiug for the 

 proper formation and matm-ation of those parts producing 

 fruit ui succeeding years. 



That too heavy a crop \rill prevent Grapes colouiing I 

 take as proved by tlie fact that some Vines \rith a hea\y 

 crop do not colour well, but others in the same house \rith 

 a fair crop do so perfectly. The solution of tlie question as 

 to how many bmiches a Vine will carry greatly depends ou 

 the health and vigour of the Vmes themselves, ou the size 

 of the bimches, and tlie space occupied ; but I tlunk it may 

 he laid do«ii as a general rule that 1 lb. of Grapes to every 

 foot of rafter occupied is a good crop, and as much as a' 

 Vun> in full health and vigour can properly mature — if 

 the Vme be weak, then less : if unusually vigorous, more. 

 It is well, however, to be on the safe side, and make sm-e 

 of a crop that will attain the liighest degi'ee of perfection. 

 Experience vnR be the best guide m determining how 

 many bimches should be left on the Vines when they 

 sliow ; one upon each shoot, and these at eveiy foot along 

 the Vme will be ample, and is very often more than Vmes 

 will properly mature. Heariness of crop is a conrmon 

 cause of want of colour m Grapes : but when it occm-s with 

 a moderate crop, and the Vines are healthy and vigorous, 

 we must look for some other cause, and may prob.ably 

 find it in 



2. Too much AiiiwujiJurie 3/<)i'.v?»rc.— This is certainly 



No. 8S4.— Vol. XXXIV., Old S-iRlES. 



