404 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
May  12,  1904. 
Altlioueh  tlie  early  and  midseason  crops  have  already  been 
thinned,  the  late  ones  have  yet  to  be  done,  and  probably  during 
the  next  month  more  Grapes  will  be  thinned  m  this  country 
than  during  any  other  month  of  the  year.  It  is  of  the  greatest 
importance  that  the  work  be  done  as  soon  as  the  berries  begin 
to  swell,  for  it  is  only  by  thus  concentrating  the  energies  of 
the  Vine  on  the  berries  retained  that  they  can  be  grown  to  the 
largest  possible  size.  In  market  establishments  work  is  kept 
under  control  by  the  engagement  of  extra  hands  during  the 
thinning  period;  but  in  private  gardens,  where,  as  a  lule,  no 
extra  help  can  be  obtained,  the  bulk  of  the  Grape  thinning  is 
done  during  early  morning  or  in  the  evening,  and  it  is  undoubt¬ 
edly  more  pleasantly  performed  at  such  times  than  during  the 
heat  of  bright  sunny  days.  To  the  credit  of  gardeners  generally 
let  it  be  set  down 'that  many  extra  hours  of  labour  are  thus 
given  for  the  benefit  of  their  employers,  and  no  other  reward 
IS  sought  than  the  satis'faction  of  knowing  that  the  work  was 
done  at  the  right  time  to  ensure  the  best  results  in  the  future. 
Before  commencing  to  thin  the  berries  each  Vine  should 
have  the  superfluous  bunches  cut  off,  so  that  those  retained  may 
be  distributed  as  evenly  as  possible  over  the  whole  surface.  In 
selecting  the  bunches  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  is  not 
always  the  largest  that  are  the  best.  Those  of  good  shape, 
short  in  the  shoulder,  with  even  berries,  are  preferable  to  larger 
examples  which  have  size  alone  to  recommend  them,  but  if  they 
have  tlie  good  quaiitjes  already  defined,  the  larger  they  are  the 
better. 
Medium  sized,  compact  bunches  seldom  require  the  shoulders 
to  be  tied  up,  but  others  of  larger  proportims  are  much  im¬ 
proved  by  the  practice.  Long  shoulders  w’ill  require  two  or 
three  ties  to  keep  them  in  position,  and  prevent  the  sterns  from 
being  cut  by  the  weight  of  the  berries  as  they  increase  in  size. 
This' part  of  the  work  being  done,  thinning  the  berries  should 
commence  wdiile  dry,  and  the  bunches  may  be  steadied  with  a 
smooth,  thin  stick  held  in  one  hand,  while  the  other  deftly 
guides  the  sci.ssors  in  cutting  out  the  berries.  Commence  at  the 
bottom  of  the  bunch,  where  two-thirds  of  the  berries  generally 
require  cutting  out. 
Those  retained  should  be  as  even  in  size  as  possible.  It  will 
generally  be  found  that  the  central  berry  of  each  smail  cluster 
is  best,  and  the  only  one  necessary  to  leave  in  the  lower  part  of 
tlie  bunch.  As  the  thinner  approaches  the  top  the.y  should  be 
left  closer  together,  as  the  berries  of  those  varieties  having  long 
footstalks  force  each  otlier  upward  and  outward  as  they  increase 
in  size,  and  thus  fill  up  the  shoulders.  A  frequent  mistake  made 
in  thinning  bunches  with  long  footstalks,  is  to  cut  out  too  many 
berries  near  the  top.  When  this  is  done  the  bunches  often  look 
very  well  while  hanging  on, the  Vines;  but  when  cut  and  placed 
on  the  exhibition  board,  or  the  dessert  dish,  instead  of  retaining 
their  form,  the  shoulders  spread  out  in  consequence  by  their 
want  of  solidity.  The  aim  of  the  thinner  should  be  to  allow 
every  berry  just  room  to  fully  develop,  and  yet  enable  the 
bunch  to  retain  its  shape  when  cut.  To  accomplish  this  a  know¬ 
ledge  of  each  variety  is  necessary,  and  not  only  do  they  vary  to 
a  great  extent  in  size  of  berry,  but  the  footstalks  also  differ  in 
length  and  stiffness,  and  therefore  require  differential  treatment. 
Black  Hamburgh  invariably  sets  w'ell,  and  ought  to  be 
thinned  freely  at  the  base  of  the  bunch,  but,  as  a  rule,  scarcely 
anj'  need  removing  from  the  shoulders,  except  in  the  case  of 
very  compact  bunches.  The  style  of  bunches  produced  by  this 
popular  variety,  when  grown  under  different  conditions  of  cul¬ 
ture,  vary  so  much  that  I  have  known  instances  in  which  it  was 
not  necessary  to  remove  a  single  berry  except  the  small  seedless 
ones. 
Muscat  Hamburgh,  Muscat  of  Alexandria,  and  Mrs.  Pince 
frequentl.v  produce  many  stoneless  berries,  and  for  that  reason 
.should  not  be  thinned  quite  so  early  as  other  varieties.  The 
small  berries  should  then  be  first  cut  out,  and  the  others  thinned 
to  form  compact  bunches.  If  gaps  occur  in  any  part,  the  berries 
around  .should  be  left  a  little  closer,  and  the  chances  are  they 
will  quite  fill  up  the  blanks  by  the  time  the  Grapes  are  ripe. 
Gros  Colman  and  Gros  Maroc  both  produce  very  large 
berries,  yet  require  different  treatment  in  thinning.  The  first 
named  has  short,  .sturdy  footstalks,  and  the  berries  are  pro¬ 
duced  freely  on  the  shoulders.  Bunches  growing  on  strong 
Vines  not  heavily  cropped,  ought  to  have  the  berries  thinned 
to  l.l;in  apart;  in  fact,  this  grand  Grape  requires  more  thinning 
than  any  other.  Gros  IMaroc  requires  thinning  nearly  as  much 
at  the  point  of  the  bunches,  but  the  top  should  be  sparingly 
thinned,  as  it  is  a  frequent  occurrence  to  see  this  variety  with 
loose  shonlders,  as  the  foot.stalks  are  often  long  at  that  part. 
Buckland  Sweetwater  does  not  often  require  much  thinning,  it 
generally  being  only  the  .stoneless  berries  that  need  removing. 
Gros  Gu'illaume  resembles  it  in  this  respect.  Madresfield  Court, 
with  its  grand  tapering  berries,  should  be  freely  thinned,  special 
pains  being  taken  to  remove  tho.se  from  the  centre  of  the  bunch, 
which  are  always  a  source  of  danger  if  cracking  takes  place. 
Alicante  and  Lady  Downe’s  have  short,  sturdy  stems,  and  need 
regular  thinning  'to  about  lin  apart. — Onwaeds. 
Some  Sources  of  the  Strawberry  Supply. 
Reports  from  the  French  export  produce  centres,  especially 
Brittany,  prove  that  during  the  coming  season  we  shall  ha,ve 
unusually  large  quantities  of  Strawberries  sent  into  British 
markets.  In  France  this  fruit  is  grown  on  a  most  extensive 
scale.  In  the  environs  of  Paris  are  to  be  seen  some  wonderfully 
prolific  Strawberry  gardens.  The  method  of  culture,  as  far  as 
the  general  outdoor  crops  are  concerned,  is  rather  different  to 
that  adopted  by  leading  Knglish  growers.  The  latter  make  use 
of  ranges  of  fields,  and  do  not  pay  as  much  attention  to  the 
wants  of  individual  plants  as  the  French  cultivators  do.  The 
output  of  the  British  Strawberry  fields  shows  a  poor  average 
in  comparison  to  what  it  might  be  made.  Though  the  fruits 
are  the  finest  of  their  class  grown  anywhere,  yet  the  average 
yield  is  75  per  cent,  less  than  it  might  be.  If  our  growers  paid 
anything  like  the  attention  to  their  crops  that  the  Paris  Straw¬ 
berry  raisers  do  to  theirs,  the  average  output  of  the  fields  of 
Britain  would  soon  be  doubled.  The  leading  Strawberry  districts 
of  France  are  located  in  Verrieres,  Sceaux,  Chatenay,  Bourg-la- 
Reine,  Clamart,  and  Marly  by  Paris.  Further  afield  at  Orleans 
and  Angers  the  fruit  is  raised  on  hundreds  of  farms.  At  Hyeres, 
Toulon,  Nice,  and  Bordeaux,  the  crop  is  a  most  important  one. 
Bordeaux  fruit  has  a  good  name  for  earlinesSj  and  for  some 
years  it  has  been  sent  into  Covent  Garden  in  shadow,  flat,  cross- 
handled  baskets.  In  Brittany  the  climate  is  particularly  favour- 
able  to  the  growth  of  the  Strawberry.  Brittany  fruit  is  exported 
to  England  in  quantity.  From  all  the  centres  named,  the  large 
cities  of  France,  and  especially  Paris,  are  well  supplied  with 
Strawberries.  In  few  cities  in  the  world  do  choice  giant  Straw¬ 
berries  command  higher  prices  than  they  do  in  Paris.  They 
are  sold  for  weeks  at  Is.  6d.  and  2s.  6d.  a  pound  in  the  Halles 
Centralles  first  hand.  This  is  due  to  the  influx  of  visitors,  and 
the  desire  of  hotelkeepers  to  place  the  finest  samples  of  berries 
obtainable  upon  the  tables  for  dessert. 
Plougastel  is  famous  for  the  production  of  huge  supplies  of 
early  Strawberries,  and  is  known  all  over  France  as  the  premier 
Strawberry  growing  district.  It  is  to  that  country  what 
Orpington  and  Southampton  are  to  England  in  the  Strawberry 
season.  This  year  we  are  to  have  special  shipments  of  fruit 
sent  us  by  the  Plougastel  growers.  This  month  the  first  fruits 
will  be  sent  into  Plymouth  for  distribution  throughout  the 
country.  It  is  expected  that  100,000  packages  of  Strawberries 
alone  will  be  exported  within  the  next  six  weeks.  The  season 
is  a  little  later  than  usual  this  year,  but  the  plants  give  every 
prospect  at  present  of  a  huge  yield.  Plougastel  exporters  in¬ 
form  us  that  they  never  had  their  plants  in  such  fruitful  con¬ 
dition  before.  Special  attention  has  been  devoted  to  the  crop 
with  the  object  of  putting  a  better  sample  of  Strawberry  upon 
the  English  markets  this  season.  The  shippers  are  in  a  position, 
under  favourable  circumstances,  to  consign  from  20,000  to 
30,000  packages  of  Strawberries  to  Plymouth  week  after  w’eek. 
Not  every  one  in  the  trade  is  acquainted  with  these  facts.  In 
the  pa.st  seasons  difficulty  has  been  experienced  in  getting  the 
berries  upon  the  markets  in  perfect  condition.  Too  often  they 
have  a  gone-off  appearance,  which  militates  against  their  sale, 
otherwise  50,000  packages  could  be  sent  weekly.  In  some 
seasons  on  an  average  as  many  as  40,000  packages  a  week  in 
May  and  June  have  been  sent  into  Plymouth.  In  1900  for 
instance,  up  to  the  end  of  the  first  fortnight  in  June,  over 
70,000  packages  were  sent  out  from  Plouga.stel.  Last  year  the 
total  for  the  same  period  was  164,864  packages,  showing  an 
average  of  over  40,000  a  week  for  one  month.  The  use  of  the 
small  package  has  had  much  to  do  with  the  success  achieved 
by  French  Strawberry  shippers. 
We  do  not  import  fresh  Strawberries  largely.  The  arrivals 
for  1903  were  32,000cwts.,  and  there  has  been  a  considerable 
decline  in  the  imports  of  this  fruit  during  the  last  three  years. 
In  1902  the  receipts  exceeded  40,000cwts.  On  the  other  hand, 
we  pay  considerably  more  for  foreign  Strawberries  than  tlie 
official  tables  disclose.  Quantities  of  the  fruit  are  shipped  in 
the  form  of  pulp.  Then  French  and  German  Strawberries  pre- 
served  in  svrup  are  sent  us  in  bottles.  These  fruits  are  chiefly 
handledHiy  grocery  firms.  If  we  put  the  latest  annual  imports 
of  fresh  and  preserved  Strawbenies  at  50,000cwts  we  shall  be 
w’ell  within  the  mark.  The  fresh  fruit  does  not  much  interfere 
with  the  sale  of  English  Strawberries.  The  continental  arrivals 
come  to  hand  early  in  the  season,  and  are  by  no  means  of  high 
quality.  They  suit  a  cheap  class  of  buyer,  and  pastrycooks 
take  to  them  pi’etty  readily  in  the  bu.sy  districts  of  London. 
