66 i 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 31, 1891. 
finish ; Trebbiano was good, large in bunch, and of a fine amber colour. 
Alnwick Seedling was in perfect condition ; also Muscat of Alexandria, 
■which were superior to many that gained chief honours at large shows. 
Black Hamburgh was nearly over ; what remained, however, indicated 
high culture of this good old variety, but it will soon be conspicuous by 
its absence at Madresfield,as the family prefer Madresfield Court,of which 
young Vines are commencing to crop up between the Black Hamburghs ; 
probably another year will see the end of them. Many find this Grape 
very difficult to manage owing to the cracking of the berries, Mr. 
Crump evidently has no trouble in that respect, for better Grapes could 
not be desired. In answer to a question Mr. Crump said that just before 
colouring commenced he left a little front ventilation, as well as top 
ventilation, and he believes that is the secret of his success. That such 
treatment is correct is strongly demonstrated by the large bunches of 
fine well coloured berries, without the least sign of cracking. 
Leaving the vineries we passed into the Peach houses, containing 
magnificent trees, qualified to produce the finest fruit. Pines are 
not much cared by the family, hence they are being gradually reduced, 
and the houses filled with fruit trees, such as Figs, Peaches, &c., which 
are more appreciated. One house formerly occupied with Pines con¬ 
tained some really grand Eucharises in the rudest health, and with 
foliage of immense size. In other houses a large quantity of Chrys¬ 
anthemums were on view, all grown on the large bloom system, and 
splendid they were, the plants very dwarf, and the blooms large and 
well grown. 
Time would not permit of notes being taken of the many choice 
Conifers, &c., in the extensive grounds; it will be sufficient to state that 
some of them are the finest of the kind in the kingdom. The avenue of 
Cedar of Lebanon is beautiful, but not equal to the one of Picea nobilis 
glauca, and which I believe has no equal. 
Mr. Crump now led the way to the young fruit trees which he raises 
by thousands for the tenants on the estate, and better grown 
trees it would be impossible to find in any nursery. Some 3000 were 
ready for planting this season, and if the Madresfield Court Estate does 
not become famous for its fruit the fault will lie with the tenants and not 
with the owner or his energetic gardener. All the very best varieties of 
Apples, Pears, and Plums are raised in bulk ; new kinds are very carefully 
tested, and treated according to their merits. In one plantation Mr. 
Crump has 200 varieties of Apples under trial, besides many others 
received from America and elsewhere which are receiving close attention 
in other quarters. It being now dark we looked in the fruit room by 
lamp light, and a grand lot of fruit was there, speaking volumes in 
favour of British fruit grown in good soil, favourable situation, and 
sound management. My pen fails to do justice to the good work going 
on, and to the beauties of the Madresfield Court Gardens and Estate. 
I left it with a feeling of gratitude to Mr. and Mrs. Crump for their 
kindness and hearty welcome, which had helped to render my visit 
very pleasant and interesting.—S. T. Wright. 
[The illustration (fig. 102). representing the avenue of Picea nobilis 
at Madresfield Court, was kindly supplied by Messrs. B. Smith & Co., 
who, we believe, supplied the trees.] 
KEEPING GRAPES. 
When once the leaves have fallen from the Vines the sooner 
the latter are also lightened of their load of bunches, pruned, and 
rested the better will it be for them. In addition to benefiting 
the Vines an early removal of the bunches is also a relief to the 
grower, as according to my experience Grapes can be kept more 
surely and with car less trouble during the winter and spring 
months in bottles of water than they can on the Vines. Grapes 
cannot long be kept in a plump presentable state in other than 
somewhat low and equable temperatures, and in spite of very close 
attention it is scarcely possible to prevent an injurious rise in the 
temperature of a vinery, whereas the case is very different with 
fruit and other rooms. 
With regard to keeping Grapes in vineries up to bottling time 
I find I am rather at variance with some of our leading authorities 
on Grape culture, and have been taken to task for recommending 
rather higher temperatures than are supposed to be advisable. We 
are told the temperature of a late vinery in which ripe Grapes are 
hanging ought to be kept as near 45° as possible, my old friend 
Mr. W. Taylor holding to this theory, and he certainly kept Grapes 
remarkably well when at Longleat. According to my ideas, how¬ 
ever, 50° ought to be nearer the minimum, a rise of 5°, or rather 
more, being allowed in the daytime. During November and 
December there are great fluctuations of outside temperatures, 
and which cannot well be prevented from affecting the interior of 
glazed houses. If, therefore, we allow the temperature of a house 
to fall to 45° in the daytime, a sudden change to cold during the 
night may lower the inside temperature another 5°, the berries, 
naturally very cold, becoming still cooler in consequence. Before 
either these or tha house can be warmed bright sunshine and 
warmer outside air may quickly raise the temperature to 60° or 
thereabouts, and a moist coat on the berries be the result, than 
which nothing can well be more prejudicial to long keeping. By 
the maintenance of higher temperatures, this necessitating keep¬ 
ing the hot-water pipes constantly heated, sudden fluctuations are 
far less likely to injuriously affect the Grapes, and the somewhat 
free use of fire heat is also conducive of a freer circulation of dry 
air. Whether I am right or wrong in my conclusion, there is no 
gainsaying the fact that our Grapes keep as plump and good as 
most, and nothing could well be more satisfactory than their 
present state. While the Grapes are hanging there is nothing to 
prevent the borders being freely watered whenever they approach 
dryness, care being taken to carry out this work in the mornings 
of fine days, and to ventilate freely. 
Towards the end of December is a good time to cut and bottle 
the bulk of late Grapes, and if these fail to keep satisfactorily it 
may be either owing to their not being properly ripened—the 
colouring having been delayed till October—or else to non attention 
to a few very important details. There are natural seasons of 
duration for all varieties, and it is very risky to try to keep them 
much beyond these times. Of so-called late Grapes the worst 
keepers are Gros Maroc and Alnwick Seedling. If these can be 
kept good till the end of November that is as much as need 
be expected of them, very few growers succeeding in keeping them 
any later. Black Hamburgh in some few cases is kept till mid¬ 
winter, but it must be ripened late to do this, and unless I am 
much mistaken there will not be many bunches to bottle this 
winter. Gros Colman is really improved by keeping, the quality 
being decidedly good in March, but with us, and in many other 
private gardens, it cannot be kept in quantity, for the simple reason 
that no other black Grape is considered good enough for shooting 
and other parties while their more showy rival can be had. This 
variety ought to be quite fit for bottling now, and so also ought 
Alicante and Gros Guillaume, all keeping better bottled than on 
the Vines. The last-named should be at its best at midwinter, and 
it is unwise to attempt keeping it much longer, unless indeed the 
bunches are much below the average in size. Lady Downe’s and 
Mrs. Pince’s Muscat are the two longest keeping vaueties in culti¬ 
vation, and should be taken care of accordingly, all other sorts 
being used up before many of these are sent to the table or market. 
Both keep well till May. The Muscat of Alexandria will keep 
good till March, and Mrs. Pearson and Golden Queen still longer. 
Trebbiano I do not grow, but have known it keep plump and good 
till the middle of March. 
In each case it will be found that freely thinned medium-sized 
to small bunches invariably keep the best, the reasons for this 
scarcely needing iteration, and I will only add that it is advisable 
to keep these to the last, using the larger and very compact clusters 
first, the latter being most liable to decay wholesale, owing to a 
single unsound berry not having been seen and cut out in time. 
All alike should be perfectly free of any rubbish, or anything that 
would start a spread of fungus in the footstalks, an open interior 
being also most desirable. Both before and after bottling a daily 
look out ought to be kept for decaying berries, the timely removal 
of one of these frequently saving the best part of a bunch. 
The question now arises, What is to be done with the Grapes 
where there is no regular store-room for them ? But this is a 
difficulty easily overcome in many cases, though perhaps not 
generally. Modern fruit rooms are not as a rule the best places 
for keeping Grapes, the majority of them being far too well heated 
or else too airy to meet the requirements of the case. Heaps of 
Apples especially are scarcely fit associates for Grapes, though if 
kept clear of all decaying fruit it is doubtful if Apples greatly 
interfere with the keeping of the bunches. 
It must be understood that I have seen many failures as well 
as successes in keeping Grapes, and have well tested a great 
variety of storing places. None that I have tried in the way of 
makeshifts for regular Grape rooms, or as good substitutes for the 
same, have answered so well as an unoccupied bedroom facing north. 
The walls are all thick, the ceiling comparatively low, the window 
tight-fitting, and the floor free of currents of cold air. There is a 
fireplace in this room, but this is never used—but, on the contrary, is 
blocked to prevent draughts as much as possible ; the room is further 
darkened, the window never opened, and the door opened as seldom 
as possible. Beyond this no attempt is made to prevent fluctua¬ 
tions of temperature, and, as may be imagined, these frequently 
fell below freezing point last winter. In spite of this our Grapes 
never kept better, the last of Lady Downe’s being used about the 
middle of May, though they would have kept still longer. Grape 
rooms ought, therefore, to be constructed or selected on somewhat 
the same lines indicated, everything being done to guard against 
rushes of either cold or warm air, the latter being particularly to be 
guarded as containing most moisture at this time of year, extremes 
of heat and damp being also guarded against. 
When there are a large number of bunches to be bottled, either 
a series of rails for suspending bottles from, or better still racks for 
resting them in a sloping direction, ought to be fixed, no great 
amount of ingenuity being needed in the matter. If the fruit 
room has to be utilised, then the simplest plan is to cut notches in 
