Preserving Grapes through Winter and Spring. 195 



the past autumn, just as the grapes were ripe, I found that the method 

 was accepted as a great boon by some of the best gardeners in France, 

 and their system of keeping grapes has been altered accordingly. 



The best example was in the gardens of Ferrieres, the magnificent 

 country seat of Baron Rothschild. Here they have constructed, in 

 addition to very fine and well-filled fruit rooms, a grape room, 

 which is filled with stands thickly hung from top to bottom with 

 all kinds of grapes — those for present consumption as well as those 

 for use six months hence. M. Bergman, the head gardener, was 

 cutting down all his grapes in harvest fashion, and would in a few 

 weeks, as soon as the latest houses were ripe, have his many and 



Fig. 60. 



Fig. 6r. 



well-managed vineries to do as he pleased with : ripen the wood, 

 prune and clean the vines, or utilize the cleared space of the houses 

 for any purpose that might be convenient, not fearing as we do to 

 spiU. a drop of water or make any other use of the house. The grapes 

 are cut with a considerable portion of the shoot attached, much as if 

 one were pruning the vine; the shoot is inserted in a narrow-necked 

 and small bottle containing water, and these little bottles are fixed 

 firmly along, so that the bunches hang just clear of each other. 

 In the first instance are erected two uprights, pretty strong, and 

 each supported on three legs. Then from one to the other of these, 

 on both sides, and in an alternate manner, are nailed sets of strong 



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