CHAPTER IV. 



GRAPES 



THE huge quantities of cheap grapes imported every year from 

 the Continent threaten the prospects of the English grower of 

 this " queen of fruits," yet such is the superiority of the home 

 product in every detail that matters, that the best trade will 

 always belong to it. Placed side by side, the veriest novice 

 would mark the difference between the very best the Continent 

 can send us and a well-finished home-grown bunch of, say, 

 Gros Colmar. We make the foreigner a concession in naming 

 that variety, which is peculiarly his own. Even such an easily 

 grown and well-coloured variety as Black Hambro', which 

 might be thought to do well anywhere, puts on a deeper hue 

 and intenser bloom under English skies than it does in Belgium, 

 for whether it be Hambro's or Alicantes, black or white Muscats, 

 Colmars, or Madresfield Courts, the incontestable superiority 

 of the English fruit is evidence to the suitability of our climate 

 and the skill of our growers. We, of course, refer to our high- 

 grade fruit, for it must, alas ! be admitted that there are plenty 

 of English grapes no whit better, but in many instances worse, 

 than the Belgian or Dutchman would send over. Such fruit 

 not only does not pay the grower, but the placing of it on the 

 market is prejudicial to the highest trade interests and a distinct 

 disservice to the profession. 



We do not recommend grape growing to the ordinary market 

 grower. It is not a good subject for the " 'prentice hand," 

 but rather for the specialist, the man with an expert and intimate 

 knowledge of it, for it is exceedingly exacting. Even with 

 knowledge, those who have not special facilities for its cultivation 

 had better leave it alone. The man who undertakes to grow it 

 must be very sure as to his capabilities, for, unlike annual crops, 

 it ties the house or houses up for a term of years, during which 

 it claims a special treatment, whether the crop is a paying one or 

 not, because neglect during any one season has a direct effect 

 upon the succeeding season's crop. 



From the time the buds begin to swell until the pruning 

 season again comes round, the grower's care must never be off 



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