140 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



test the matter carefully, soon as the 

 fruit was well set in early Summer, I 

 put a few bags on each vine of every 

 variety in our experimental vineyard, 

 leaving bunches unbagged side by side 

 with the bagged ones, and the results 

 in the Fall were such as to encourage 

 me to repeat the experiment the next 

 year on a larger scale, and for the ]>ast 

 two seasons we have bagged all our 

 best grapes and shall continue to do so 

 in the futui-e, for by so doing we get 

 more perfect bunches, berries of larger 

 size, ripening more perfectly, and a 

 more perfect bloom than the unbagged 

 fruit. As to quality, four years' test 

 has failed to show me that it is either 

 improved or injured by the bagging. 

 Mildew has been very prevalent this 

 season, and on some varieties we should 

 not have had a single perfect bunch 

 had it not been for the bags. They 

 also serve as a protection against frost. 

 We have had several hard frosts, and 

 yet every day now we are enjoying 

 many of our best varieties fresh from 

 the vine, and in a perfection of fresh- 

 ness that we have never seen at this 

 season in grapes not so treated. So 

 much in favor- of and nothing against 

 the system, except the very light ex- 

 pense of the bags and pins, and the 

 labor of putting them on. I believe it 

 will pay well to bag the fruit in a 

 market vineyard, and I know that for 

 family iise the satisfaction of having so 

 much better appearing fruit more than 

 compensates for the slight expense. — 

 J. H. Hale. 



IN ILLINOIS. 



Last year I bagged a few clusters of 

 Concord and Diana grapes as an ex- 

 periment. It proved so satisfactory 

 that I this year bagged most of my 

 Champion, Concord, Diana, Brighton 

 and Lady grapes. All those bagged 

 ripened evenly, were free from specks 

 and blemishes, and wei-e covered with 

 ;V beautiful bloom, but in the midst of 



nearly every cluster a species of small 

 spider had spun a dense web, which 

 had to be removed before they were 

 presental^le. 



About two-thirds of those left un- 

 bagged were punctured or wholly des- 

 troyed by gi-asshoppers, which were 

 very numerous and very destructive 

 this year. I could see no difference in 

 the time of ripening between those 

 bagged and those not. We used quite 

 a lot for dessert, and I noticed that the 

 bagged were always selecte^l for that 

 pur|)ose ; and though the red and white 

 varieties were somewhat lighter in 

 color than those exposed, the general 

 opinion of the family was that they 

 were better flavored — more "spark- 

 ling." Bagging made no difference in 

 the color of the black grapes ; they 

 were simply black and covered with a 

 heavy bloom. — Fred. Grundy. 



IN NEW YORK. 



We have for several years past prac- 

 ticed covering clusters of grapes with 

 small paper bags. We usually place 

 these bags on the grapes when about 

 half grown, fastening them with a pin, 

 having first drawn the top of the bag 

 about the stem closely, and having slit 

 the lower corner of the bag with a 

 knife to let out any water that might 

 gather in the bag during a rain. Our 

 object in bagging grapes is to preserve 

 specimens of the different varieties in 

 the best possible condition. In locali- 

 ties where rot is prevalent bags are 

 used for the purpose of preventing rot 

 with good results. The grapes reach a 

 higher perfection of color and quality 

 in the bags than without. The bloom, 

 which is a prominent feature in the 

 grape, is undisturbed in the bags, and 

 is ap])arently more noticeable when 

 tlius protected. The only specimens of 

 Lady Washington grapes we have ever 

 succeeded in ripening on our farm, 

 were those enclosed in paper bags, as it 

 has been proven too late for this 



