June is, 1925 Environment and Chemical Composition of Grape Juices 1135 
Table II.— Pounds of plant food per acre in upper 6% inches (approximately 
2,000,000 pounds of soil) in Vineland, N. J. soils 
The average mean winter tempera¬ 
ture at Vineland is 33°, for spring 51.1°, 
for summer 73.9°, for autumn 55.4°, 
the mean for the year being 53.3°. The 
mean spring and summer temperatures 
are higher, the mean fall and winter 
temperatures lower than those at coast 
points such as Atlantic City and Cape 
May city, while the maximum and 
minimum temperatures show a some¬ 
what wider range than is the case 
nearer the ocean. The winters are 
much milder than those of northern 
New Jersey but are accompanied by 
high humidity, which often renders the 
cold very penetrating. There is usu¬ 
ally very little snow, and it seldom 
remains ’ long on the ground. The 
maximum temperatures for the year 
usually occur in July at Vineland, and 
are frequently accompanied by high 
humidity which makes them quite 
oppressive. July and August are the 
months of greatest rainfall, the total 
annual precipitation for the 50-year 
period averaging 46.59 inches. The 
growing season is considerably shorter 
than at coast points, averaging 185 
days in length. The average date of 
the last spring frost is April 18; that 
of the first fall frost October 20. 
PLAN AND HISTORY 
The experiment vineyard from which 
material for this investigation was ob¬ 
tained was established by the Bureau 
of Plant Industry in 1908, when a 
block of 10 acres was planted on the 
property of the Vineland Grape Juice 
Co. The experiments for which the 
planting was originally made were con¬ 
tinued for 11 years. They included a 
study to determine the best varieties 
for the region, a study to determine the 
best methods of pruning and training 
for the varieties under trial, and tests 
of cover crops, clean culture, fertil¬ 
izers, and spray mixtures. At the end 
of 1919 these experiments were ter¬ 
minated and the care of the vineyard 
was continued by the Vineland Train¬ 
ing School for the Feebleminded, which 
had acquired the property. In 1920 
the tract was purchased by Frank C. 
Bray. 3 The varietal collection was 
kept intact and the same methods of 
pruning and spraying employed prior 
to 1919 were continued, while the gen¬ 
eral methods of fertilization, cover 
cropping, and cultivation employed 
were those in use in the best commer¬ 
cial vineyards of the region. At the 
time the collection of material for 
analyses was begun in 1919 the vines 
were, for the most part, 11 years old, 
the principal planting having been 
made in 1908, with a few minor addi¬ 
tions in 1909 and 1910. They had 
received the best of care and had been 
in excellent condition up to the year 
1917. A very severe hailstorm on 
June 11, 1916, did considerable damage 
to vines and fruit. A rather serious 
attack of rootworm ( Phidia viticida ) 
in the year 1917 necessitated vigorous 
control measures during the following 
season and resulted in the death of a 
number of vines, while a few of the 
less vigorous varieties required several 
years to recover from the attack. On 
August 14, 1918, a very severe wind 
and rain storm, at a time when the 
ground was thoroughly saturated, did 
3 The writer desires to express his obligations to the authorities of the Vineland Training School and to 
Mr. Bray for the opportunity to obtain samples of fruit for use in this investigation, and for the facilities 
afforded him for the work. 
52244—25f-4 
