PRACTICAL PAPERS—VINEYARDS. 
199 
In the selection of varieties that will mature their fruit, 
more will depend upon the location than upon the soil or the 
manner of training the vines, as the aggregate amount of heat 
differs materially in the same latitude. The adaptability of 
any variety for a given locality can only be determined by 
observing the conditions of heat necessary to bring it to per¬ 
fection. The Delaware requires an average temperature of 59 
degs. Fahrenheit for forty-five days from the starting of the 
leaf to the setting of the fruit. It will generally mature in 
one hundred and twenty days with an average of 68 degs., or 
an aggregate of 8000 degs. The Concord requires about 500 
degs. more than the Delaware. The Isabella needs an aggre¬ 
gate of 10,000 degs.; and the Catawba will not ripen with less 
than 11,000 degs., or an average of 68 degs. for one hundred 
and sixty days from the starting of the leaf to the ripening of 
the fruit. The Hartford Prolific, Creveling and Janesville re¬ 
quire an aggregate of 500 degs. less than the Delaware to reach 
perfect maturity. 
The tabulated reports, made by the general government, 
give the mean summer temperature at Janesville, for the past 
six years, as 71 deg.; that at Prairie du Chien, as 72 deg., and 
at Green Bay, as 68 deg. Hence I conclude that those varie¬ 
ties, the Concord, Delaware, etc., that ripen with them, are 
adapted to general cultivation in all sections where the mean 
summer temperature does not fall below their limit. Near 
large bodies of water, where the September mean extends into 
October without intervening frosts, the Isabella and other late 
ripening varieties may be safely planted. 
Where grapes are raised expressly for w T ine, no directions for 
harvesting are needed. When they are intended for market, 
the fruit should be picked with care when perfectly dry and 
fully ripe, and packed in boxes holding three or five pounds 
each ; these boxes should be arranged in convenient cases hold¬ 
ing from sixteen to twenty-four boxes each, and consigned to 
some reliable commission merchant. The knowledge and fa¬ 
cilities possessed by these commission men will enable them to 
dispose of the fruit in less time and at better rates than can be 
