678 



GRAPE 



GRAPE 



The training of the vinifera Grape is very unlike that 

 of the native Grapes. The stocks are kept to low, strong 

 stumps, and the bearing shoots are not trained or are 

 tied to stakes. Trellises are not used. Fig. 974 shows 

 3 epochs in the common style of pruning, the right-hand 

 figure representing the mature vine. 



Though hundreds of varieties of vinifera have been 

 introduced from Europe and Asia during the last half 

 century, only a few have survived cultural and commer- 

 cial tests and are now planted. For raisins the prevail- 

 ing varieties are White Muscat of Alexandria, and the 

 Muscatel Gordo Blanco and the Malaga, with the Sultana 

 and Thompson Seedless for seedless raisins : for table 

 Grapes, in addition to the foregoing, the Flame Tokay, 

 Emperor, Cornichon, Black Malvoise, Rose of Peru. 

 Black Hamburg, Chasselas varieties and Verdal are 

 chiefly grown, though, of course, a much larger list pre- 

 vails for local uses. In wine Grapes there is naturally a 

 larger list to meet local requirements of soil and climate 

 and to produce the various kinds of wine. 



Acceptable varieties for dry wines are : 



Red (Claret and Burgundy}. Zinfandel, Carignan, Mataro, 

 Mourastel, Petite Sirah, Petit Bouschet, Alicante Bouschet, 

 Grenache, Valdepenas, Cabernet Sauvignon, St. Macaire, Be- 

 clan, Mondeuse, Blue Elbling, Refosco, and Barbera. 



White (Sauterne. Hock, etc.). Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc 

 and Vert, Johannisburg Riesling, Franken Riesling, Traminer, 

 Chasselas Dore (Gutedel), Chauche Gris, Burger, Folle Blanche, 

 Feher Szagos, Green Hungarian, Palomino, White Pinot, 

 Thompson Seedless. 



Varieties for sweet wines are : 



Ports. Mission, Malvoisie, Grenache, Trousseau. 



Sherry and Madeira. Mission, Palomino, West White Pro- 

 lific, Verdelho, Feher Szagos, Sultana, Thompson Seedless. 



Angelica, Muscat, etc. Muscat of Alexandria, Muscatella, 

 Funnint (Tokay wine) . 



In regions of the Pacific coast north of California, 

 vinifera varieties are less widely grown, and locations 

 meeting their requirements must be selected with much 

 care and circumspection. The number of varieties is 

 much smaller than in California, as there is no product 

 of wine or raisins, but of table Grapes only, and they are 

 almost wholly early ripening kinds, which can mature in 

 the shorter growing season at the North. On the other 

 hand, the American varieties are widely grown, the 

 Concord, Delaware, Moore Diamond, Moore Early, Niag- 

 ara and Worden being most favorably reported. 



E. J. WICKSON. 



Grapes Under Glass. Under glass, the European va- 

 rieties alone are used. This species, Vitis vinifera, is 

 the vine of the ancients, and is indigenous to the more 

 salubrious parts of eastern Asia and southern Europe. 

 It is referred to in the earliest mythological writings of 

 ancient Egypt and thence on numberless occasions, no- 

 tably in the Bible and the New Testament. The story 

 of the spies from the promised land, with its generous 

 illustration, has excited the admiration and perhaps 

 questioned the credulity of many of us. It is only fair, 

 however, to state that the size of the cluster there rep- 

 resented has been amply borne out in recent years. 

 The type Vitis vinifera, if there ever was a type, has 

 become so merged and modified by cultivation in differ- 

 ent climates and countries that it is difficult to trace it 

 at the present day. Over 2,000 varieties have been de- 

 scribed, covering the widest range in size, color, texture 

 and flavor, general appearance and quality. 



For disparity of size, we have the diminutive Black Cor- 

 inth, from which the Zante currants are prepared, and 

 the giant Gros Colman, now extensively grown for com- 

 mercial purposes under glass in England ; and for con- 

 trast in color we have the beautiful Rose Chasselas and 

 the pink and white Frontignans and Muscats, with 

 their superb qualities and flavors, growing by the side 

 of the blue-black Alicante of thick skin and coarser 

 texture, but valuable for its late-keeping quality ; and 

 worth more than all the others put together, we have 

 the Black Hamburg, combining all the good qualities, 

 and easy of culture. 



Probably in no branch of horticulture is the garden- 

 ers' skill more generously rewarded than in Grape- 

 growing under glass. In England it has been an essen- 

 tial feature of horticultural work for more than a cen- 

 tury, resulting in fruit of a finer quality and flavor than 

 that grown in the open air, and very" often enormous 



, 



een 



clusters, weighing from 20 to 30 pounds. Started th 

 as a matter of luxury, it has become of late years 

 matter of profit, and vineries of large extent have be 

 erected for commercial purposes. Probably this work 

 has been retarded here by the introduction of the many 

 very excellent varieties of our native Grapes, so easily 

 grown in the open air and so constantly improved by 

 hybridizing with the European, and undoubtedly this 

 work will yet result in a much closer approach to 

 standard of European quality. 



The essential difference between American and Eu 

 pean kinds is that in the American the pulp separat 

 from the skin, is usually tough and more or less acid, 

 that it is disagreeable to remove the seeds, while in t 

 European the pulp adheres to the skin, is tender a 

 sweet throughout, and the seeds are easily remov 

 European Grapes, when well grown, are valuable a 

 agreeable for the use of invalids, and, undoubtedly, i 

 the judgment of the majority of people, surpass 

 quality any other fruit grown. 



The subject of Grape cultivation under glass may 

 divided under several heads, as follows : The Houses 

 The Border; The Vines; The Fruit. 



The Houses. These are mainly of two forms, s 

 roof and lean-to, with occasional modifications betwee 

 Unless one has ample time and a desire to study the 

 construction, it is better to have plans and estima 

 furnished by professional builders. 



Span-roof houses are adapted to large places wi 

 spacious grounds, and particularly when an ornament 

 effect is desired. On account of their exposure on 

 sides, they require very careful attention, especially 

 used for early forcing of Grapes. Where early work 

 not desired, or for use without artificial heat, their di 

 advantage is not so apparent. Houses without artifici 

 heat, known as cold graperies, were in earlier years 

 more general use than those with heat, but have ab( 

 disappeared with the introduction of the modern ec 

 nomical heating apparatus, and the very great 

 vantage in the use of "the same, if only to a limit 

 extent. 



Lean-to houses, on account of their snug construed 

 and protection from northerly or prevailing winds, a 

 especially desirable for early forcing of Grapes (Fi 

 975, 976). Often a stable or other building can 

 utilized for the north side, but generally a wall of bri 

 or stone is erected for this purpose. Such a wall can 

 covered on the outside with Ampelopsis tricuspidata, 

 Crimson Rambler roses, producing a beautiful and 

 namental effect. A good house, on a small scale, can 

 made of hotbed sash (Fig. 97G). 



Foundations for the other three sides'or for a 

 span-roof vinery can be constructed of ma- 

 sonry or wood. Masonry is preferable, as 

 the conditions of requisite heat and 

 moisture are very destructive to wood 

 work, especially near the ground. 

 With masonry, piers are 

 erected, starting from solid 

 ground and up to near 

 the surface. They 

 should be about 2 

 feet in length, 

 with spaces 



975. A good lean-to Grape house. 

 The roots run through the wall to an outside border. 





