40 
which must not be planted alone, are imperfect in the blossom having 
no pollen because of the abortion of stamens. In the self-sterile 
grapes there is ample pollen present, but it fails to be effectual 
upon the pistils of the same variety. Self-sterility in the grape 
was made a matter for extensive scientific study by S. A. Beach, of 
the Geneva, N. Y., Experiment Station,* and the results of his labors 
are reported in bulletins and reports of that institution. 
In the list of grapes recommended in this bulletin the varieties 
shown to be self-sterile are Barry, Brighton and Lindley. It may 
be observed that all three of these varieties are hybrids of the 
vinifera and Labrusca species, and this, from our knowledge of 
hybrids in general, accounts for their self -sterility. 
HARVESTING. 
The harvesting time of the grape is an anxious period for the 
vineyardist. The culmination of a year's labor is realized in the 
ripened fruit — tender, sweet and luscious, but if it is not carefully 
handled by the pickers the proprietor sustains a loss in profit and 
a more serious loss in reputation. The season of grape picking 
extends from September 1, to November 1, beginning with the early 
varieties like Green Mountain, Moore and Campbell, and ending 
with Catawba. In commercial districts, women are chiefly employed 
as pickers and are paid one cent for an S lb. basket. One hundred 
baskets per day is a good day's work, though some pickers, when the 
crop is heavy, will cut 150 baskets. The grapes are picked in the 
baskets in which they are sold, if for immediate shipment. Ten 
or twelve pickers are enough to harvest the crop of forty or fifty 
acres of Concords. 
The fruit should be fully ripe before picking. Some fruits will 
keep better if picked a little green, but this is not true of the grape. 
It will not improve in quality after it is cut from the vine. 
In the Chautauqua grape belt the fruit is picked into the briskets 
in which they are shipped, as it is the custom in that region to 
market the crop at once. In the Lake Keuka region the fruit is 
picked in trays delivered to the packing house and then by other 
hands is sorted and packed into baskets and stored. Throughout 
Pennsylvania generally the crops from vineyards are harvested and 
promptly disposed of in local markets as soon as the fruit is ripe. 
Two sizes of Climax baskets are used by grape growers. Some 
use the 0-lb. basket, which holds about eight pounds of fruit; others 
use the "pony," or nib. basket, which holds abonl four and one-half 
pounds of fruit. The choice of size is determined by the market to 
which the fruit is shipped. The Concords from the Chautauqua 
•Bui. IK" and Ififl N Y TCxp. Station, Geneva, N T. 
