October 23, 1886. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
379 
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19TII Sunday after Trinity. 
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Ealing and London Corn Exchange Chrysanthemum Shows 
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Highgate Chrysanthemum Show. 
GRAPES SHRIVELLING. 
OMPLAINTS of xipe Grapes shrivelling prema¬ 
turely have been far more numerous this autumn 
than usual, especially in the case of Muscats, 
and more or less of anxiety has been caused 
thereby to several gardeners and amateur culti¬ 
vators—the former lest the supply of firm fruit 
should fail too soon, and the latter through being 
haunted by a feeling of their having made some 
great mistake in management that they are 
unable to indicate. This circumstance of Muscat Grapes 
turning to raisins, not in whole bunches ia a natural way, 
hut in small portions of them, a few berries shrinking here 
and there, and now and then a shoulder collapsing, has 
caused the more disquietude because the origin of the evil 
has not been clearly traced. It is commonly understood 
that Muscat Grapes will not keep if the saccharine matter is 
not satisfactorily developed before the leaves fall; but even 
common understandings do not constitute inflexible laws, 
and it is quite possible that fruit that is in fairly good con¬ 
dition, yet the flavour not fully developed in October, will 
remain firm as long, if not longer, than will crops that were 
fully ripened and the fruit in superior condition six weeks or 
two months earlier. But it by no means follows that the 
late-ripened fruit will by any means equal the other in 
quality, while its colour may be dingy in comparison. 
The fact that late Muscats occasionally remain firm after 
the much earlier, richer, and better finished examples shrivel 
suggests that imperfect ripening is not the sole cause of the 
evil in question, even if it is the main cause. There can be 
little or no doubt as to the advisability of starting Muscats early 
enough, and providing a temperature adequate to finishing 
the fruit in the best manner attainable before the leaves of 
the Vines wither as the result of maturation, because it is 
difficult to see how the wood can be ripened and stored with 
nutriment in any other way for sustaining the vigour of the 
Vines and supporting future crops. But while admitting 
that, it does not follow that later, even if somewhat imper¬ 
fectly ripened, fruit will of necessity shrivel before Christ¬ 
mas, while the much earlier, more completely ripened, and 
highly finished crops will remain quite firm for several weeks 
beyond that time. 
During the process of ripening fermentation is active in 
the fruit by the conversion of gum or mucilage into tartaric 
acid, and this and starch into sugar. During this action the 
fruit of the Vine absorbs more oxygen than the leaves do, 
and all the time this great work is going on, and the labora¬ 
tory of the Grape is in full operation, distension is more 
likely to occur than a collapse and shrinking; indeed, it 
seems impossible that shrivelling can happen at this stage, 
and yet the fruit remain sweet. If from a check to the 
Vines, no matter from what cause, fermentation is arrested 
and the chemical changes in operation suddenly stopped, 
growth stops also, but with what result ? Certainly not 
sweet, but intensely sour Grapes, as in shanking ; indeed, it 
is almost certain that that is the way in which this greater 
evil than shrivelling is brought about. 
No. 331 .—Vol. XIII., Third Series, 
The shrivelling or drying up of Muscat Grapes that 
has been so prevalent of late is not “ shanking,” because the 
Grapes remain sweet. That would appear to be proof, not 
that they were unripe, but exactly the contrary. If their 
growth suddenly ceased before the acids and other consti¬ 
tuents were converted into sugar the fruit must remain sour, 
and any further change after that—for a shanked Grape is a 
dead Grape—must be in the direction of putrefaction ; but 
when shrivelled Muscats are sweet—and they are often 
sweeter than before—the conversion of acids into saccharine 
must have been complete before the shrinkage, hence the 
Grapes were ripe, for if otherwise it is very reasonable to 
suppose they would be sour. The non-ripening theory, then, 
does not seem to be a satisfactory solution of what appears 
to be regarded somewhat of a mystery—the premature and 
unexpected shrivelling, not shanking, of Muscat Grapes. 
Is there any mystery whatever about the matter ? What 
causes ripe Grapes to shrivel ? The answer is found in the 
preparation of raisins. The Grapes are simply cut and 
placed in the sun of Spain, choosing the darkest soil on which 
to spread them for absorbing the sun’s rays and retaining the 
heat during the night, for the greater the heat the greater 
the evaporation of water from and the concentration of sugar in 
the berries. Is it not the evaporation of moisture from the 
fruit that causes so many Grapes to shrivel in September 
and October in English vineries ? It is very certain that 
Muscats will shrivel in what is known as dry and “ roasting” 
fire heat, and what difference is there between that and a dry 
atmosphere from natural causes ? What was the nature of 
the weather in September and early October this year ? The 
first-named month may not have been abnormally hot, but it 
was extremely dry in most places, for when the sun was not 
shining, or whether it was or not, a parching east wind was 
blowing, depriving vegetation of moisture to a remarkable 
extent, causing the leaves of late Potatoes to shrivel a month 
before their time, and of Turnips and other root crops to stop 
growing. And the first week of October was phenomenal for 
its heat and absence of moisture in the air. During the 
Grape-Bhriveiling period named, so great was the scarcity of 
moisture through evaporation that farmers could not plough 
the ground for weeks in preparation for autumn sowings ; 
and gardeners know what a fine time it was for killing weeds 
and preventing the raising and planting of Cabbages. Why 
should moisture be extracted from pdmost everything, and 
thus cause inconvenience, and Grapes alone retain their 
juices ? Thousands of bunches of Muscats could not resist 
the strain upon them and remain fresh. They suffered the 
most in light dry borders, and the least in strong moist soil. 
They scorched the most severely where the foliage was thinly 
disposed, and shrivelled the least where it afforded partial 
shade to the bunches, and where the air of houses was as dry 
as that of a desert for finishing the crops. Some of them 
were “ finished ” only too completely through excessive loss 
of moisture by evaporation. Hence the shrivelling. 
So often has the formula been repeated that “ Muscats 
cannot have too much sun,” that it has almost become an 
axiom in Grape culture. But they can have too much sun, 
and do have too much if it shines directly on the fruit, 
extracting the moisture from the berries more quickly than it 
is supplied to them. The fruit will shrivel then just the 
same as the leaves of plants will droop from exhaustion under 
similar conditions. 
The fine Grape in question cannot well have too much 
light—diffused light—but very hot sun acting directly on the 
berries is often injurious. If intense and unobstructed sun, 
not on the leaves but the fruit, is essential to high finish, 
how is it that the average quality and finish of the Grapes 
grown in the cloudy north, and exhibited at Edinburgh, is at 
the least as high as those grown in the “ sunny south” and 
staged in London ? Possibly no better ripened, firmer and 
more glowing Muscats have been seen than some that won 
the chief prize in one of the great contests at Edinburgh in the 
No. 1987 —Vol. LXXV. Oij> Series, 
