326 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



should be set on moist ground. Man}' writers recommed setting on high 

 gravelly soil, but this advice has caused many to go out of the business as 

 unprofitable. Three years ago I sold from a little over one-third of an acre 

 of Wachusett Thornless blackberries $325 worth, besides using and canning 

 quite a quantity. — G. W. Goddard, Hillshoro County, N . H. 



GRAPES. 



KEEPING GRAPES DURING WINTER. 



THE cultivation of out-door grapes for domestic use has become so 

 general that the subject of keeping them for winter use, and the best 

 method, may profitably claim attention. The past season I selected 

 from over one hundred varieties in my grounds, forty of those in general 

 cultivation, and a few very recent introductions, to test their keeping 

 qualities. It is the generally received opinion that the thick-skinned native 

 seedlings are the only keepers. This is correct so far as regards preserving 

 flavor, but several hybrids of foreign blood are the best keepers known. 

 The varieties intended to be laid up for winter use should be those only, 

 which adhere well to the stem, and are not inclined to shrivel soon after re- 

 moval from the vine. They should be allowed to remain on the vine as long 

 as they are safe from frost ; a clear dry day is necessar}^ for picking ; care- 

 ful handling andsh allow baskets, are important. The room in which they 

 are to be kept for awhile should be well ventilated, and the fruit laid out 

 in single layers on tables or in baskets, where the air freely circulates, 

 closing the windows at nights and in damp weather. In about ten days the 

 stems will be dried out sufficiently to prevent moulding after they are laid 

 away. When danger from this is over, and the stems resemble those of 

 raisins, the time for packing has arrived. I have used baskets for permanent 

 packing, but much prefer shallow trays or boxes of uniform size to be placed 

 one above the other so that each box covers the one below, the uppermost 

 only needing a cover. Until very cold weather the boxes can be piled so as 

 to allow the remaining moisture to escape through a crevice about the 

 width of a knife blade. Before packing, each bunch should be examined, 

 and all injured, cracked and rotten berries removed with suitable scissors; 

 if two layers are packed in a box, a sheet of paper should intervene ; the 

 boxes must be kept in a dry, cool room, or passage, at an even temperature. 

 If the thermometer goes much below freezing point, a blanket or newspaper 

 can be thrown over them, to be removed in mild weather. Looking them 

 over once in the winter and removing defective berries will suffice, the 

 poorest keepers being placed accessible. Under this treatment the best 

 keepers will be in good eatable order as late as February, after which they 

 deteriorate. — W. M. Pattison,of Clare?iceville,P.Q.,in American Agriculturist. 



