18 



AKNALS OF HORTICULTURE. 



yard and another, and on account of the variation in the qual- 

 ity of grapes. The bulk of the crop is handled by the Chau- 

 tauqua and Northeast Grape Union, which markets the fruit of 

 the members on a pooling or co-operative plan. It is the out- 

 come of a vast deal of experience in marketing fruit. In the 

 early days of the grape industry, the growers found that the 

 excessive profits of commission men should be saved. Later 

 on, the growers also found that the only way to receive good 

 prices was to ship first-class fruit. Several associations were 

 formed in different localities to accomplish these ends, but, 

 owing to their lack of proper support, they made little head- 

 way. Two years ago, the local unions were combined into one 

 strong body, known as the Chautauqua and Northeast Grape 

 Union, with headquarters at Brocton. This union is a repre- 

 sentative body of growers from different sections of the belt. 

 Besides the usual offices of president and secretary, the two 

 important officers are general salesman and general inspector. 

 The former official employs traveling salesmen to canvas the 

 various grape markets, while the chief inspector appoints sub- 

 inspectors to examine the fruit of the shippers. Without going 

 into details, we may say that the laws of the union are such 

 that the crop of the belt is controlled, and that few growers, or 

 none, can ship inferior fruit without being found out. The 

 stamp of the union is a guarantee of the quality of the grapes." 



American Grapes Abroad. — In 1892,* a large consignment 

 of Chautauqua Concords was shipped to England with encour- 

 aging results. The past season, two carloads were exported, 

 but the fruit arrived in such poor condition that some of it was 

 seized by the health authorities of London, and some of the 

 sales did not cover the cost of freight and charges. 



Spraying European Grapes. — Each year witnesses a fur- 

 ther popularizing of the copper sprays for combating the dis- 

 eases of the grape. In the grape districts of New York and 

 Ohio, the practice of spraying has now come to be one of the 

 established operations of the vineyard. It is also drawing 

 attention to the possibility of growing some of the varieties of 

 Vkis vinifera, as Black Hamburg, in the open air m the East, 

 by keeping the diseases, to which they are particularly subject, 

 within control.! 



Strawberries.— The strawberry crop was light in the 

 upper Mississippi valley, but Louisiana and adjacent regions 

 report a good yield. In the East, the yields were variable, but 

 do not appear to have been large over any great extent of 



* Annals for 1892, 20. 



t See Annals lor 1892, 20 ; Garden and Forest, v. 618, ana vi. 68, 



