GRAPE 



GRAPEFRUIT 



1391 



Muscat of Alexandria is the best of the white varie- 

 ties for general cultivation. It requires a higher tem- 

 perature and longer season than the Black Hamburgh 

 to come to perfection, and will Ivcep longer after cutting 

 than that variety. When well grown and ripened it many 

 be taken as a standard of quaUty. (See Fig. 1743.) 



Muscat Hamburgh is a black grape, probably a cro.ss 

 between the two above-named varieties, and presenting 

 marked characteristics of each. It has beautiful taper- 

 ing clusters of fine quahty. 



Barbarossa is a good variety for those ambitious to 

 grow large clusters and when well grown is of fine 

 quahty. It is a late black grape, requiring a long season 

 to ripen well, but repays for the trouble by keeping 

 thereafter for a long time. Clusters frecjuently grow to 

 8 or 10 pounds in weight, measuring about 24 inches 

 each way, and they have been gro^ii to more than 

 double this weight. 



Other large-growing varieties are the White Nice 

 and Syrian, the latter of which is said to be the kind 

 that the spies found in the land of 

 promise. Clusters of 20 to 30 

 pounds weight are common to 

 these two coarse-growing kinds, 

 but their quahty is so poor that 

 they are now rarely grown. 



Grizzly Frontignan is a beauti- 

 fully mottled pink grape, — quite 

 a deep pink sometimes, — and has 

 long, slender clusters. In quality 

 and flavor it is unsurpassed by any 

 other grape, and it ripens quite 

 early. 



Royal Muscadine is an early 

 white grape of fair quality and 

 good habit quite common in Eng- 

 lish houses. 



Gros Cohnan, a large black 

 grape of fine quahty and a late 

 keeper, is now grown largely for 

 commercial purposes in England 

 and sent to this side to supply 

 our wants in this line in spring. 

 The berries frequently measure 

 4} 2 inches around, and it there- 

 fore requires early and severe 

 thinning. 



AUcante is a black grape of 

 very distinct character, seeming to 

 depart somewhat from the vinifera 

 type, very juicy, and of fair quaUty, 

 skin, and is about the best for long keeping 



Lad}' DowTis is another late black grape of good 

 quality, but not adapted to all locahties. Rose Chas- 

 selas, a small red grape, is the earliest and very beauti- 

 ful. Trentham Black, the earliest black grape, has small 

 clusters, but large, soft berries quite hke AUcante. 

 Foster Seeding is a beautiful midseason, amber- 

 colored grape, with large clusters and berries some- 

 times Uable to crack. ISIadresfield Court Muscat is a 

 midseason grape — fine in quality, but also inchned to 

 crack. This trouble can often be controlled by twisting 

 or slitting the stems of the clusters, thereby checking 

 the flow of sap. D. M. Dunning. 



GRAPEFRUIT (Citrus grdndis). Rulacese. Figs. 

 975, 1744. Plate L. A large globose fruit having 

 slightly bitter acid pulp; it is used as a breakfast fruit 

 and also for salads and desserts. It is g^o^^^l in Florida, 

 California, Arizona, and the West Indies, and i."; now 

 extensively used by Americans. The name grapefruit, 

 under which this fruit ig known commercially, seems 

 to have come from the West Indies and owes its origin 

 to the fact that the fruits are often borne in clusters of 

 three or four to twelve or more, much like a bunch of 

 grapes. This fruit is also known as pomelo. The 



1743. 



It has a very thick 



shaddock or pummelo is a distinct strain, not grown 

 for commerce in this country. See Citrus (page 782) 

 and Pomelo. 



Grape fruit trees are large round-topped, with regu- 

 lar branches: Ivs. dark glossy green, ovate with broadly 

 winged petioles: spines slender, flexible, borne in the 

 axils of the Ivs.: fls. large, white, borne singly or in 

 clusters in the axUs of the Ivs.; stamens 20-25; ovary 

 globose, sharply set off from the style, which is decid- 

 uous: fr.^ale lemon-yellow, flattened spheroid or glo- 

 bose, 4-6 in. diam., segms. 11-14, filled with slightly 

 bitter acid pulp; seeds large, flattened and WTinkled; 

 peel 14-I 2in. thick, with numerous oil-glands. 



The grapefruit appears to have been introduced into 

 Florida by the Spaniards in the early part of the six- 

 teenth century and until a quarter of a century ago it 

 was grown only by the Florida pioneers. Since its 

 culture has been undertaken on a commerical basis, 

 the acreage planted to this fruit has rapidly increased, 

 1,061,537 boxes having been produced in Florida in 

 1909 as compared with 12,306 in 

 1899, and 122,515 boxes in Cali- 

 fornia in 1909 as compared with 

 17,851 boxes in 1899. The total 

 value of the crop in 1909, as 

 reported by the Census, was over 

 $2,000,000. . 



An excellent appetizer, the 

 grapefruit is the most popular of 

 breakfast fruits. It is also prob- 

 able that it possesses valuable tonic 

 properties, and it has been recom- 

 mended by physicians in cases 

 of malaria and bihousness. The 

 sprightly flavor of the fruit, due to 

 its shghtly bitter principle, makes 

 the grapefruit one of the most 

 refreshing of all citrous fruits. 



The grapefruit is more suscep- 

 tible to cold than ordinary citrous 

 fruits and its profitable culture is 

 consequently restricted to regions 

 below the frost fine. The selection 

 of a location is a matter of supreme 

 importance in Florida where the 

 occasional freezes have ^\Tought 

 so much damage in the past. The 

 grapefruit, like most citrous fruits, 

 prefers a hght, well-drained soil, 

 sandy or porous, though, because of 

 its dense foUage, it grows better on poor soil than does the 

 orange. The trees must be well fertilized in order to 

 produce the best results, for it must be remembered that 

 the care and fertilizer given are important factors in deter- 

 mining the qualit}' and character of the fruit produced. 

 Budded trees usually begin to bear in three to four 

 years and generally reach full bearing in about ten 

 years. They continue to bear for an indefinite period. 

 The trees niay be set from 18 to 25 feet apart, depend- 

 ing upon the stock on which they are grown. The seed- 

 lings make excellent stocks because of their well-devel- 

 oped root-systems and are extensively used for this 

 purpose. They are hardier than the rough lemon but 

 not so hardy as the orange. Grapefruits are usually 

 propagated by budding because of the variations in 

 the different varieties. 



One of the most ex-tensively grown varieties in 

 Florida is the Duncan: fruits medium to large, oblate, 

 light yellow; pulp a pleasant bitter acid flavor with few 

 seeds; peel medium, firm; a late bearer, fruits keep 

 well on the tree. The Duncan is one of the hardiest 

 grapefruits, especially when budded on trifoliate 

 orange stock (Poncirus Irifoliala). Among others grown 

 in Florida are Hall (Silver Cluster): fruits yellow, 

 pleasantly bitter, globose, medium to large, in large 

 bunches; a heavy bearer. Pernambuco: fruits large 



Muscat of Alexandria, bearing on spurs 

 (as explained in Figs. 1741, 1742). 



