RINGING GRAPES. 



of wood and foliage with the deadly 

 mixture. 



You must fertilize, cultivate, spray, 

 prune, and thin in a new and improved 

 fashion, until you learn how to produce 

 the largest and finest fruit in the world, 



and then you will find fruit culture not 

 only inviting, but quite as remunerative 

 as any other line of agriculture. 



L. WOOLVERTON, 



in O. A. C. Review. 



RINGING GRAPES. 



THE question of allowing ringed 

 grapes to be entered in competition 

 for prizes has long been debated, 

 and in many cases judges have ruled 

 adversely. We believe the advisability 

 of the practise is not yet sufficiently set- 

 tled to justify such action. Indeed it 

 has been claimed by some growers that 

 ringing is a benefit even in the commer- 

 cial vineyard, not only ripening the fruit 

 from ten days to two weeks earlier than 

 when not ringed, but also considerably 

 improving its sweetness. 



Experiments have been in progress at 

 the Massachusetts Agricultural College 

 since 1877, and have gone to show that 

 the practise is advisable and does not 

 injure the vine. An analysis by Dr. 

 Goesmann showed the increase of sugar 

 in juice as follows : 



In 1877. Ringed. Not Ringed. 



Concord. . . 19 per cent. ... 13 percent. 

 Hartford . ...12 " .... 8 " 



In 1889. 



Concord 8 " 6 " 



Dr. Jabez Fisher also made some pri- 

 vate experiments. In July, 1888, he 

 ringed some Concords when the berries 

 were about a quarter of an inch in diam- 

 eter and the ringed fruit showed color 

 August 24th and the unringed Sept. 2. 

 On July 2, 1889, he ringed two bearing 

 arms on sixty vines, taking out a ring of 

 bark from one half three-quarters of an 

 inch wide, near the trunk. The result 

 was increase of size about 30 or 40 per 

 cent., and about ten days' gain in ripen- 

 ing. 



2 97 



In 1890 he ringed nearly an acre of 

 Concords, which showed color Aug. 17 

 and those not ringed August 25. The 

 former were marketed Sept. 22, the lat- 

 ter Oct. 3. Twenty-two specimens of 

 each sent to Dr. Goesmann showed 9 

 per cent, of sugar in ringed and 7 per 

 cent in those not ringed. 



Mr. Fisher observed, however, a 

 weakening of the vines so treated, 

 which made him question the ultimate 

 benefit of the procedure. Perhaps if he 

 had confined his work to branches 

 which would need removing at the next 

 pruning, instead of operating on the 

 two main arms, he would not have weak- 

 ened his vines so much. 



Prof. Bailey quotes a writer in the 

 valley of the Hudson, where a good 

 many growers have been practising this 

 custom, who says : 



11 That girdling destroys the flavor of 

 some varieties has been well shown ; 

 that others, when girdled, never seem 

 to ripen, or in other words remain sour, 

 is also true. A girdled Catawba rivals 

 a cucumber pickle for acidity, and a 

 Delaware so treated never gets sweet. 

 Empire State loses all its character when 

 girdled, while Martha and Wyoming 

 Red suffer no less in quality. Concord 

 and Champion are girdled freely with- 

 out bad effects. Worden and Lady 

 sometimes crack badly when girdled ; 

 both are very thin skinned varieties. As 

 a general rule the more delicate flavored 

 grapes, especially if they contain for- 

 eign blood, deteriorate most by girdling 



