June is, 1925 Environment and Chemical Composition of Grape Juices 1157 
nations were not made by Alwood in 
his more extensive studies of grapes 
from the eastern districts, so his results 
give no information as to the variation 
in these constituents from year to year 
or when grown in various localities. 
The outstanding fact brought out by 
the determinations of astringency is 
that there is very considerable fluctua¬ 
tion in total astringency in all varieties, 
Cynthiana. Franklin, Martha, Norton, 
and Wilder being exceptional in that 
they are comparatively constant. 1923 
was a year of notably low total astrin¬ 
gency, 42 varieties showing the mini¬ 
mum amounts while only two, Cleve- 
ner and Wilder, had their highest as¬ 
tringency. .1922 was a year of mark¬ 
edly general high astringency, 35 varie¬ 
ties showing the maximum for the 
period in that year, while only four 
varieties—Catawba, Clevener, Dioge¬ 
nes, and Franklin—had their mini¬ 
mum. 1921 occupied an intermediate 
position, 11 varieties showing maxi¬ 
mum, while only three—Isabella; Laffi- 
pasas, and Wilder—have the mini¬ 
mum. 
While the records of the total as¬ 
tringency at pressing cover only three 
years and are therefore insufficient to 
warrant extended generalizations, it 
may be pointed out that the results 
show a parallelism with the acid deter¬ 
minations. The comparisons for acid¬ 
ity cover five years’ results, those for 
astringency only three, but the ten¬ 
dency to fluctuate together is clear. 
1923 was a year characterized by mini¬ 
mum or next-to-minimum acid con¬ 
tent in more than half the varieties, 
while more than four-fifths show the 
minimum in total astringency. 1922 
was a year of high acidity, 36 varieties 
out of 49 showing maximum or next- 
to-maximum acid content for the five- 
year period, while 35 had the maxi¬ 
mum total astringency encountered in 
the three-year period. In 1921 the 
acidity for the great majority of va¬ 
rieties was intermediate, few varieties 
appearing at either extreme, while 32 
have total astringency figures interme¬ 
diate between those of 1922 and 1923. 
As might be anticipated when the 
diversity of the substances determined 
as astringent rfontannins is considered, 
the part contributed by these to the 
total astringency reading fluctuates 
considerably from year to year in most 
varieties. Contrary to expectation, 
the fluctuations in nontannin astrin¬ 
gency found in white varieties, such as 
Colerain, Diamond, Dutchess, Elvira, 
Niagara, Noah, and Pocklington, are 
proportionately as wide as those in 
heavily pigmented varieties, though 
the absolute amounts are considerably 
smaller. Broadly speaking, total as¬ 
tringency and true tannins rise or fall 
together, 33 varieties having maximum 
tannin in 1922, while 20 had minimum 
tannin in 1923. Twenty-seven had 
maximum astringent nontannins in 
1922, while 44 had minimum astrin¬ 
gent nontannins in 1923, so it seems 
that the amount of these constituents 
rises or falls with the total astringency 
but not necessarily to the same degree. 
While determinations for a 3-year pe¬ 
riod do not warrant dogmatic conclu¬ 
sions, it would appear from the data 
that there is a considerable degree of 
correlation between acidity, total as¬ 
tringency, and tannins and astringent 
nontannins, and that all these factors 
respond to seasonal conditions in like 
manner but in varying degree. 
CLIMATIC CONDITIONS AT TINE- 
LAND FOR PERIOD OF EXPERI¬ 
MENT 
The Weather Bureau has maintained 
a station in Vineland since 1868, and 
the data as to rainfall, sunshine, and 
temperature for the period have been 
taken from the published reports for 
that station in Climatological Data: 
New Jersey section for the years 
1917-1923, inclusive. More detailed 
records of the stations at Trenton and 
Atlantic City, N. J., and Philadelphia, 
Pa., as published in the Monthly 
Meteorological Summary, Form No. 
1030, by each of these stations, have 
been furnished through the kindness 
of the meterologists of these stations; 
and a transcript of the record kept at 
Wilmington, Del., was supplied by the 
street commissioner of that city. Com¬ 
parative study of the detailed records 
at these stations has been of assistance 
in interpreting the less detailed Vine- 
land records. 
The first four years of the period 
covered by the work has been char¬ 
acterized by the meterologist for New 
Jersey (60) in the following words: 
In the State, as a whole, there has been from the 
year 1917 to date (November, 1922) a steadily in¬ 
creasing deficiency of precipitation. The years 
1919 and 1920 were slightly above normal in pre¬ 
cipitation, but all the other years, or almost any 
one of them, more than made up for those two years 
of excess. The lack of water supply, then, must be 
attributed to more than the deficient rainfall of the 
past few months. 
This statement might with equal 
truth have been written a year later, 
and with specific reference to condi- 
