'^^rl•■. C\N\!)i\\ HoKiK'ni I 



SECOND CxROWTH (; RAPES. 



337 



HAVE had this year an experience which, though perh.i[).-> inn uniciue, 

 I beUeve to be very unusual. I will briefly record it and will be 

 glad to know whether any of your viticulturist members have had a 

 similar experience. 



On the morning of 23rd May last my vines, sixteen in number, pre- 

 sented a most gratifying appearance ; there were an average of thirteen 

 upright canes on each vine, and on each cane about eight good strong healthy 

 laterals, and on each lateral from three to five clusters of flowers ; some, indeed, 

 had the young grapes partly set. The total number of clusters, then, were over 

 six thousand ! Of course not more than one-tenth of these should or 

 could be ripened. I was naturally jubilant at the prospect of such a crop. 



Hut as you know, "The best laid schemes o' mice and men gang aft aglee,'" 

 and certainly in my case I realized that, for that night a pretty heavy frost swept 

 over the greater part of our fair province, causing terrible destruction among 

 farms, orchards, gardens, etc., and my vines, which the day before had been 

 " things of beauty," were now a scene of utter desolation, and my grapes, flower 

 and berry, were entirely destroyed, and nearly every young shoot met the same 

 fate ; only where the friendly shelter of a neighboring tree had screened the vine 

 from the killing effects of the frost, had a few of the shoots escaped, but of the 

 grapes not one was left, a few of those on the sheltered branches appeared to be 

 unharmed, but very soon they, too, withered and died. I, of course, concluded 

 that my chances for a crop of grapes were nil for this year ; but, the weather 

 being favorable in a few days, the eyes that would, under ordinary condition.s, 

 have remained dormant until next year, began to move and soon two, three and 

 even four shoots shewed themselves. In process of time these were reduced to 

 one each and a profusion of flowers appeared ; these were attended to more as 

 a matter of course, than in the expectation of their reaching maturity, but as 

 time wore on, these young grapes grew so rapidly and showed such vigor, that I 

 began to hope that, if favored with a fine fall, there was a possibility — remote, 

 perhaps — of some of the earlier kinds ripening. But, Sir, you will doubtless be 

 surprised when I tell you that, with the exception of one vine, of whose name I 

 am not sure, but think it is the " Agawam," which has not ripened its fruit, all 

 the others have matured theirs well ! and not only that, but the fruit has been of 

 exceptional excellence both for size and quality, and taking into consideration 

 the loss of, at least, a month of the most active growing season and other cir- 

 cumstances, it is a very remarkable, and as it has ended, gratifying occurrence. 



I have gathered from fifteen of the vines, about 200 lbs. weight of grapes, 

 three of them having very little fruit of the second growth. 



86 Hmvard St., Toronto. J. L. Thompson. 



