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THE GARDENERS’ MAGAZINE. dbckmbkb 13,1913. 
i SELECT GRAPES 
FOR 
PLANTING. 
PRESENT 
The renovation of old vine borders, mak¬ 
ing new borders, and planting new vinos, 
are matters of present importance, there¬ 
fore a note on the most desirable grapes to 
grow may be useful to intending planters. 
Although new varieties of many fruits^ as 
well as flowers, are always appearing, 1 do 
not remember the addition of one new gi ape 
during the last decade, and even those in¬ 
troduced a few years earlier are not imlis- 
pensable. 
The newest variety. Prince of Wales, a 
sport from Mrs. Pince, is inot popular, 
and this is probably due to ignorance of 
its special requirements. It is seldom we 
see satisfactory specimens and so one is 
forced to the conclusion that, good grape 
though it is Avhen seen at its 'best, it does 
not find favour with growers. Lady Hast¬ 
ings, a sport from Madresfield Court, does 
not commend itself generally, and Melton 
Constable, although easier to colour than 
Gros Colmar, makes little progress in popu¬ 
lar favour. 
Black Hamburg^h. 
Black Hamburgh is, wdthout doubt, the 
most popular of all grapes. It may be 
ripened with ease in April, and crops may 
carry the supply well into October.In any 
form it is suitable. It succeeds as well in 
a .small vinery, or even a pit, as in a large 
house. Under warm treatment it is a sue. 
cess, and it thrives without artificial heat. 
As a grape for the amateur in his green¬ 
house or conservatory, it is as much at 
home as in the market-growing establish¬ 
ment. One vine will fill a house, large or 
small, with equal success. It has a strong 
constitution, is of free growth, and the 
wood produced is never excessive in size, 
and always ripens well under reasonable 
treatment. 
Unfortunately many persons crop Black 
Hamburgh vines too freely, and this results 
in failure, or partial failure, the grapes 
refuse to colour perfectly under such con¬ 
ditions, and occasionally shanking takes 
place, which means a loss of crop as well 
as disfigurement. The bunches are of 
medium size, averaging from 11b. to 21b. 
each in a general way, with broad shoulders. 
The berries set freely under any method of 
culture, are large, usually round, though 
sometimes they are roundish-ovate, gene¬ 
rally quite smooth, though occasion^illy they 
have a distinctly hammered appearance, 
which is regarded as a sign of high culture. 
The skin is deep bluish-black, covered with a 
fine bloom. We learn that the variety was 
imported from Hamburgh in the early part 
of the last century by a merchant, who 
established a vineyard in the ineighlxuir- 
hood of London. It has no fewer than 
twelve synonyms. 
Madresfield Court. 
Madresfield Court ranks next in popu¬ 
larity among black grapes. The strongly- 
marked muscat flavour is perhaps more 
appreciated than that of the Black Ham¬ 
burgh, but as a vine it is not so useful, 
being less amenable to various forms of 
culture, and the grapes do not ripen so 
early. It is a valuable grape, however, 
now’ that its culture is better understood. 
At one time growers complained of the 
manner in w’hich the berries split just as 
colouring commenced, and not a few gave 
up its cultivation. To remedy this weak- 
nc^ one must allow’ a more free growth 
of the laterals w’hen colouring commences, 
and at the same time maintain a more 
buoyant atmosphere. 
iSo grape succeeds better on the extension 
principle of increasing the numlKU- of rods 
yearly. I nder this method one vine will 
quickly fill a moderately-sized house, and 
b(‘ai- huge crops of exc*<dlent grapes, quite 
equal to those on vines restricted to one 
rod only. 
In the corner of a cool peach-house this 
gra 2 >e succeeds admirably, as its constitu¬ 
tion is of the best. The growth is mode¬ 
rately strong, the current season’s shoots 
invariably ripen w’ell, and so the bunches 
are freely f)roduced. The berries sw^ell and 
ripen quite easily, and seldom exhibit signs 
of shanking; they are also extra large, 
ovate, borne on stout footstalks, and they 
set freely. The flesh is thick, greenish, 
\ ery tender, sw^eet and rich. The late Mr. 
Meredith, at Garston Vineyard, near Liver¬ 
pool, w as the first to demonstrate how^ well 
this grape w’ould grow’ treated on the ex¬ 
tension system, and this style of training 
is follow^ed up by Mr. Shingler, at Melton 
Constable, in Norfolk. 
Alicante. 
Alicante is the most easily grown grape, 
producing a heavier crop per rod than any 
other variety. The bunches average from 
21b. to 61b. in weight, and are broadly 
shouldered, but, unfortunately, the quality 
of the grape is but moderate. ’The growdh 
is strong, vigorous, and free. The berries 
set w ell, almost too freely, and render thin¬ 
ning a difficult matter. As an amateur's 
grape for a cool house it is valuable, being 
exceptionally free from disease, and not 
subject to attacks of red spider. As a 
grape to use about Christmas-time it is 
useful, keeping w’ell when properly ripened, 
provided the berries are left wdde apart 
when thinned, thus enabling air to pass 
freely among them and quickly disperse 
condensed moisture. 
Lady Downes is one of the most 
valuable of late grapes, as the bunches will 
hang on the vine until January, or 
even later, and then they may be kept 
until June in a grape-room. The bunches 
are long and narrow’, with large, round 
berries, that generally colour easily and 
carry a dense bloom. The skin is thick, 
tough, and leathery. In flavour this 
variety is brisk and sparkling, sweet and 
rich. The vines carry a heavy crop of 
fruit, w’hich seldom shows any tendency to 
shanking, but the berries are liable to 
scald if there is any lack of attention in 
regulating the ventilation of the vinery. 
Appley Tow’ers deserves more attention 
than it receives as a late grape, l>eing much 
superior in flavour to Alicante, Gros Col¬ 
mar, Gros Maroc, Alnwhck Seedling, or even 
Lady Downes. In appearance, too, it is 
superior, as the bunches are shapely, w’ith 
large, even berries that colour quite easily 
and keep well into the New Year. As in 
the case of all other late grapes the ber- 
lies should be well thinned. 
Muscat of Alexandria. 
Among white grapes we have not nearly 
so much choice; indeed, few require more 
than one variety, and none more than two. 
The finest of all white grapes is, of course. 
Muscat of Alexandria, but as it does not 
ripen well before July, wffiere grapes are 
required all the year round an additional 
variety is needed, and Foster’s Seedling or 
Buckland Sweetwater are the tw’o best early 
sorts. Neither of these stand very high in 
point of quality, however. The former 
grow’s freely, and produces huge crops of 
fairly good fruit in May and June. The 
flavour is certainly third-rate. Bucklaiul 
Sweetw’ater does not succeed so well as the 
former ; its bunches are larger, but iiTegu- 
lar in shape and few’er in number, but the 
quality is superior to that of Foster’s StK'd- 
ling. 
Muscat of Alexandria, when well culti¬ 
vated, is perhaps the most esteemed of all 
grapes. The bunches should range from 
tw’elve to tw enty inches in length, and from 
21b. to 61b. in weight. The berries are 
large (according to treatment), but the 
variety is certainly a somewhat shy setter, 
and perhaps it is the most difficult of all 
grapes to grow really w’ell. There is no 
doubt soil has much to do with the ease or 
difficulty exj3erienced. The foliage, too, is 
much more robust in some localities than 
in others. It is rarely a success in a mixed 
collection, as a higher temperature is re¬ 
quired for setting and to ripen the fruit 
than is necessary with any other grape, 
therefore it should have a house to 
itself. 
No grape has been the subject of so much 
discussion respecting improved varietal 
forms, but, in my opinion, there is oiiily 
one of real w’orth, and that’is the original 
Muscat of Alexandria, grown in this coun¬ 
try probably for tw^o centuries. I do not 
even iittach any importance to the Bow’o<k1 
variety, and having grown this, as w’ell as 
the Escholata variety, I have found no dif¬ 
ference betw’een them and the type. 
E. Molyneux, V.M.H. 
Bishops Waltham. 
THE BEST-FLAVOURED 
NECTARINES. 
Having been asked which are the best- 
flavoured nectarines for early, middle, and 
late season use, it has.occurred to me that 
the reply might w’ell be given through the 
columns of The Gardeners’ Magazine. 
For early use, i.e., for forcing, prefei- 
ably in pots, I recommend Early Rivers 
before Cardinal, for unless the last-named 
be W’ell understood and carefully managed 
it is inclined to be a little woolly ” when 
fully ripe; in fact, it wants using imme¬ 
diately it is ripe, as it does not keep well. 
As a second, to succeed Early Rivers, I 
iidvise Lord Napier; tliis is a well-known 
and reliable variety. My third choice is 
Dryden, a very fine nectarine of high-class 
flavour, and one of the handsomest of alb 
Rivers’ Orange w’ould be a good substitute 
for Di^’den. 
The fourth, in my opinion, is Pine Apple, 
one that is w’ell know’ii, and one that k^ps 
so well in good condition w’hen it is ripe, 
and, moreover, one of the very finest in 
point of flavour. Humboldt I place fiftli 
on the list. It is a superb nectarine, and 
if I had to choose between the tw o I should 
give it preference over the preceding, but 
it is later, under the same conditions. My 
last in a list of six is Victoria, wffiich is 
one of the hardiest and, in my opinion, one 
of the best of the set. 
This list is drawn up on the understan^ 
ing that the neotaiines will be cultivatea 
under glass, but it w’oiild equally apply 
w^all culture outside, imder the best of con¬ 
ditions as to aspect, etc. 
Jas. Hudson, V.M.H. 
Gunnersbury House Gardens. 
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