1871 



THE POMOLOGIST AND GARDENER. 



313 



Cirapes of 1871> 



Bt S. J. Parker, M. D., Ithaca, N. Y. 



Ed. Pomologist and Gardener : — Nothing was 

 finer than the grape crop of this region, Ithica, N. 

 Y., until August 1st. Soon after that we noticed an 

 indisposition to ripen. Grapes colored very slowly 

 and those that ought to be ripe Aug. 18th to 20th' 

 went over into Sept., and then failed to be sweet' 

 Wyoming Hdsp. and "Walters were not sweet Sep. 

 tember 20th. From the 18th to the 20th of Septem- 

 ber, frosts, even solid freezing took place, and the 

 leaves were almost entirely killed. The conse- 

 quence is, that never, since the grape became an es- 

 tablished fruit, has our grape crop been so ruined. 



A few Isabellas, Concord, Roger's No. 15, 28, 33, 

 and 41 have been sold. His No. 4 was in excellent 

 condition. Diana Hamburgh, fair. lonas almost 

 a complete failure. Croton good. Ives' Seedling 

 the ripest of all, as was my new White Seedling. 



The ruin has not been as complete in all places 

 as here, yet the same frosts extended, with more or 

 less severity from the east to the great lakes. The 

 grapes are nearly useless for wine, they are good 

 for preserves and jellies. 



South of this the crop was early and fair. All 

 our fruit is poor — apples and pears as well a 

 grapes. Though pears have been, a few kinds, fair, 

 and sold well. South in Pa., Maryland and Dela- 

 ware, and Virginia, there was much excellent fruit. 



Fre«b Grapes at all Seasons. 



The Stockton (Cal.) Republican says: — "We once 

 knew a gentleman who supplied his table with fresh 

 grapes from one season to another. His plan was 

 to gather when quite ripe the largest and finest 

 bunches of grapes and pack them in saw-dust, using 

 in place of boxes common nail kegs which he pur- 

 chased for a trifle at hardware stores. After care- 

 fully packing the desired number of kegs, he buried 

 the lot in a trench dug in high dry ground beneath 

 a shed where the water could neither fall nor soak 

 in. Before using the saw-dust, he carefully dried it 

 either in the sun or in an oven until it was entirely 

 free from moisture. We never witnessed the pack- 

 ing process, but we know he always had the grapes 

 and in this way he told us he preserved them. 

 After being buried for months the grapes were as 

 sweet and finely flavored as if just gathered from 

 the vines. The process is cheap, and may be easil 

 tested. If it will preserve the grape, a new and 

 profitable business might be built up. Bunches of 

 fresh ripe grapes in the spring would be a novelty, 

 and being that, would command a high price. We 

 hope that some of our grape growers will try the 

 experiment." 



Grape Cultnre—Prnnlng— irine. 



Mr. L. J. Burrell, has a fine vineyard of 10,000 

 vines in the Santa Cruz Mountains, in our county. 

 He has made some wine, but is getting out of " wine 

 grapes " as fast as possible, by grafting to the White 

 Muscat of Alexandria, and the flame Tokay. These 

 he sells for shipment to the East. Last year they 

 brought five cents, wholesale, in Santa Clara ; the 

 year before eight cents. The Flame Tokay, owing 

 to its great beauty, brings twice the price of the 

 Muscat, but is not one-half as good a grape. He 

 has adopted a new method of pruning, as has also 

 his neighbor, Mr. Feely. They winter prune, leav- 

 ing about five canes, about five feet long, instead of 

 cutting back to two buds, as in the old method. 

 The summer pruning is simply to cut back the new 

 shoots to within eight inches or a foot of the last 

 bunch of fruit set on the leaders. The laterlas are 

 not molested. By this system, he says that he is 

 sure of getting full double the fruit from the vine 

 or acre as by the old method. This is an Item. 



Raisin and table grapes will pay from three to 

 five hundred per cent, better than to make into 

 wine. Two pounds of his White Muscats will 

 make one pound of extra fine raisins. Some of his 

 own make of raisins were exhibited at the fair last 

 year, and were equal to the hest foreign sorts. 



As to this system of pruning, our own experi- 

 ence, ten years ago, proved the productive value of 

 leaving more wood and buds than European style 

 allowed. We pruned a vineyard to our own no- 

 tion, leaving three new canes, about three feet long 

 to each stand. The knowing ones said the vine- 

 yard would not produce grapes worth having. We 

 did not summer prune at all. But the vines pro- 

 duced nearly as many again good grapes that year 

 as ever before ; indeed, bore so heavily that the 

 same parties declared that the vines were " bearing 

 themselves to death I" But they endured the trial, 

 and bore another equally good crop the following 

 year. But as we left that part of the State, the 

 vines got " scientifically pruned," and, of course, 

 didn't astonish the neighborhood afterwards. 

 — Santa Clara, (Cal.) Agriculturist. 



Training Grapes for the I^argest and 

 Sweetest Fruit. 



A correspondent of the Rural Pacific Press gives 

 the following sound reasoning on training grape 

 vines near the ground for the production of the 

 largest and sweetest grapes : 



" Some years since the writer found some bunches 

 of the Mission or California grape of extraor- 

 dinary size, well filled, equal to the Black Ham- 

 burg"; in solidity of flesh and appearance. The 

 bunches were lying directly on the ground. The 

 matter was somewhat mysterious. A few days 



