GRAPES IN CHAUTAUQUA. 



NOTES FROM THE FORESTVILLE HORTICULTURAL INSTITUTE 



THE CHAUTAUQUA grape-belt is only about 

 four miles wide, but it extends along the 

 south shore of lake Erie from Angola west- 

 ward to Erie, Pennsylvania — a distance of 

 50 miles. Forestville, New York, is at the 

 eastern end of the belt, but the grape-fever is as preva- 

 lent here as in the heart of the district. The grape is 

 driving out all other crops, not even apples being ex- 

 cepted, and it seems quite probable that all available 

 lands will soon be covered with vineyards. 



The grape-growers about Forestville believe in clean 

 cultivation. No weeds are allowed to grow in the vine- 

 yards, even in fall. The vines are trained upon a modi- 

 fied horizontal-arm system. One stem is allowed to grow 

 nearly to the lower wire, and from this, on either side, 

 an arm is carried along the wire. These arms are not 

 tied to the wire, but twisted around it two or three times, 

 and thus securely held in place. Each arm is allowed 

 to bear from two to four canes only ; the rest are cut 

 away. The plants are set about eight feet apart in the 

 rows, but some growers have the arms only two or three 

 feet long. These arms are not renewed for years. 



The problem of shipping grapes to the best advantage 

 is one to which the Chautauqua grape-growers have given 

 much attention. During the last few years various or- 

 ganizations have sprung up, but they have now all been 

 merged into the one formed in the fall of 1891. It is 

 known as the Chautauqua and Northeast Grape Union. 

 Fully go per cent, of the growers in the district belong to 

 it. The advantages claimed for the union are that the 

 fruit can he shipped to market cheaper and quicker than 

 formerly. The union has a general salesman, whose duty 

 it is to distribute fruit to the best advantage, and a gen- 

 eral inspector, who examines it before it is shipped. 

 Grapes which do not come up to the required standard 

 of excellence are rejected. All the fruit is sold under 

 the trademark of the union, but in addition the grower is 

 obliged to put his name and address upon each basket, so 

 that if inferior fruit is discovered, either by the retailer 

 or consumer, it can be traced to its source, The growers 

 also require every packer to put his number upon each 

 basket, and thus the entire history of any basket can be 

 easily traced. Such a system should be productive of 

 excellent results. 



The Concord is still the favorite grape, and fully 95 

 per cent, of the plants now set are of this variety. Wine 

 grapes are but little grown. During the Farmers' Insti- 

 tute, held at Forestville September 22 and 23, in a tent pro- 

 vided for the purpose, were exhibited 62 different kinds 

 of grapes, the plates being filled with unusually fine 

 specimens of all the varieties. Norton's Virginia (fig. i). 

 not often seen here, was especially fine. Figs. 2 and 3, 



the Catawba and Niagara, give a fair idea of the charac- 

 ter of the grapes produced in this region. The leading 

 exhibitors were L. Roesch, S. S. Crissey, Hubbard & Co., 

 of Fredonia ; H. B. Clothier, J. J. Keyes, from Hanover ; 

 Henry Smith, and the Messrs Hamlet & Morrison, from 

 Sheridan. 



A number of valuable papers were read at this insti- 

 tute ; we give below condensed notes from some of them : 



EVOLUTION OF AMERICAN GRAPES. 



Professor Bailey, of Cornell University, gave a histor- 

 ical and philosophical sketch of American grapes, the 

 leading points of which follow : " The evolution of our 

 cultivated American grapes is interesting, because it may 

 be said to have arisen under pressure. The standards of 

 excellence in grapes are high. They are the European 

 standards — the outgrowth of centuries of careful cultiva- 



HiG. I.— Norton's Virginia. 



tion of a fruit which is essentially a dessert fruit and a 

 source of wine. In recent years, as grape-growers have 

 come to understand that our grapes are wholly different 

 in stamp from those of the old world, European standards 

 are in large measure forgotten, but in the early days of 



