256 



weight of the bunches necessitates some care in thinning and not 

 over-cropping an error of treatment which is soon apparent in the 

 wan-t of colour. Requires spur pruning. In damp soil, or when 

 highly manured with organic fertilisers, the berries split and become 

 mouldy. 



ALMERIA (syn. Daria). A Spanish variety of splendid 

 shipping qualities and largely exported from the ports of Almeria 

 and Malaga to London and New York. Vine vigorous ; leaves 

 medium size, and lightly lobed, smooth on both faces ; teeth obtuse 

 and alternately large and small. Bunches evenly set ; loose berries, 

 medium to large, long oval, flattened on the ends, hard and fleshy, 

 which prevents them from drying up ; strongly attached to the 

 stalklet or pedicel. If a single berry is pulled off the bunch the 

 pedicel breaks clean off from the main stalk and remains attached 

 to the grape, saving it from decay. Flavour indifferent. The vine 

 requires a warm locality and large development, with long pruning. 

 It is sent out from Spain, packed in cork dust or little chips of 

 cork of about inch in size. This prevents packing and does 

 not favour the growth of mould. This grape is successfully shipped 

 to England from Western Australia as well as from the Eastern 

 States. 



CHOICE RED WINE GRAPES. 



ARAMON (syn. Fontainebleau in W.A.). Round, black, vinous 

 grape, popular in the South of France and Algeria, on account of 

 the heavy yield of common wine it produces. Season : mid-season, 

 or third period of grape ripening. Merits : second-rate, and fre- 

 quently only third-rate; produces a common red wine of quick 

 maturity; made also into a liy:ht white wine, which is either 

 sold as such, or distilled for brandy. Vine: Stem strong and 

 very vigorous in rich soils ; spreading habit of growth, producing 

 wherever stopped a great mass of young shoots, which are remark- 

 ably brittle ; requires more trimming and stopping than any other 

 vine. Shoots of a light-red colour in summer ; greyish in winter. 

 Buds of a dirty-white colour ; much developed. Rods strong, short- 

 jointed. Leaves large ; not deeply indented ; upper side glossy, under 

 side covered with loose down ; petiolar sinus open ; dies off yellow. 

 Fruit bunches large and long, almost cylindrical, or slightly 

 shouldered with a brittle herbaceous stalk, which remains green 

 after the ripening of the grape ; very regularly but closely set. 

 Berries large, round. Foot-stalks thick. Skin of a dull, purplish- 

 black colour, with a thin bloom ; very thin, thus exposed to bursting 

 and rotting in damp soil. Flesh tender, juicy, with a very brisk, 

 rich or strong vinous flavour, when well ripened, and tolerably good 

 for table. 



Cultural Notes. A remarkably free fruiting vine wherever 

 grown, requiring a considerable amount of heat to ripen the fruit 

 thoroughly. On rich, deep, and free alluvial soil, and under irriga- 

 tion, over 3,000 gallons of must have been obtained per acre ; does not 

 do well in poor and cold soils. On account of the brittleness of the 



