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SOME FACTS ABOUT GRAPES. 



RAPES prefer southerly exposure, with a well-drained, 

 fertilized and cultivated soil. The beginner would 

 scarcely credit the difference careful cultivation makes, 

 not only in the appearance, but in the flavor of the fruit. 

 The vineyards in the famous grape region from Erie, 

 Pa., to Brocton, N.Y., in August are as free from weeds 

 and as carefully kept as the daintiest flower garden in 

 the land, and the vines cling to the trellises perfectly, with no vagrant branches 

 to accuse their owners of carelessness. There is no other fruit requiring more 

 delicate handling than the grape ; if the bloom is rubbed off or the clusters are 

 in any way disfigured, the market value is seriously reduced. As soon as the 

 fruit has ripened, the labor of picking and packing begins. The picker is 

 supplied with wooden trays, each of which holds about 30 pounds when a little 

 less than even full. These trays are made so that they can be piled up in tiers 

 on the grape wagons. The picker takes each cluster by the stem and cuts it 

 from the vine with sharp-pointed grape scissors, and lays it carefully in the tray. 

 The clusters are handled entirely by the stems, and the careful picker lays them 

 in the tray with stems up, so that packers find no trouble in taking them out by 

 the stems. Grapes are usually assorted by the packer into three or more grades. 

 The Niagara Company, says the Rural New Yorker, puts a certificate of excel- 

 lence on its first-quality fruit, and nothing goes into these boxes that is not 

 absolutely perfect. The clusters must be large and shapely, and the berries 

 large, well-ripened, and of good color. The second-quality boxes contain 

 smaller clusters, but all imperfect berries are clipped out, and all webs and other 

 foreign matters are removed. No loose clusters are packed in these boxes. If 

 fruit is scarce and high, a third quality may be packed with profit, but the fruit 

 left from the second selection is usually made into jellies, catsup, or fermented 

 and unfermonted wine. It is said that grapes may be produced at a fair profit 

 for two cents per pound, but unless sold in bulk the margin from such sales 

 must be very narrow. The care necessary to pack the grapes for market render 

 this part of the work expensive, as cheap labor cannot be utilized. True, a great 

 bulk of fruit may be raised per acre, but the average packer will not ordinarily 

 put up more than 500 pounds per day. — Prairie Farmer. 



Root crops can be kept best by being packed in sand and placed in the 

 cellar. 



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