File:American gardening (1892) (18151362421).jpg

Title: American gardening
Identifier: americangardeni131892newy (find matches)
Year: 1892 (1890s)
Authors:
Subjects: Gardening; Horticulture
Publisher: New York : Rural Pub. Co
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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GROWING GRAPES UNDER GLASS. 717 the houses 18 feet wide and of various lengths. The preparation of borders, method of planting, and general care and culture of vines under glass has been so thoroughly gone over from time to time that it seems unnecessary to repeat it. Certainly, no one can expect to succeed in this work -without first giving the subject careful study and attention, and there must also be a large amount of enthusiasm and love for the work, to insure the continued care and culture abso- lutely necessary if satisfactory results are at- tained In this country, with its great advan- tages of longer days and more sunshine in the early part of the year, grapes can be grown under glass much easier than in England. I find elaborate preparation of borders not at all necessary here, as vines will do well in any good, well-drained garden soil, provided they are abundantly fed from the surface during their period of growth. My first vinery was started in 1884, and -was 28 feet in length, giving room for 6 vines ; and I selected 6 different varieties of grapes, as follows: Grizzly Frontignan, Royal Muscadine, Muscat Hamburg, Barbarossa, Black Ham- burg and Muscat of Alexandria. Grizzly Frontiffnan is a beautifully mottled pink grape—quite a deep pink when grown to perfection—and its long and slender clusters often weigh two pounds. In quality and flavor it is unsurpassed by any other grape ; is early, following closely on Black Hamburg, but un- like that variety, it will not hang upon the vine for any length of time after it is ripe with- out shriveling. One vine of it is almost in- dispensable where early grapes are desired. Royal Muscadine.—An early white grape of fair quality and good habit, but on account of the superior quality of other varieties, I do not regard it with high favor, and intend to re- place it with a cane of Muscat Hamburg now growing beside it. Muscat Hamburg (fig. 4) is in great favor with me, on account of its bountiful crops of fruit of the best quality. It is a black grape, having beautiful, tapering clusters, almost al- ways heavily shouldered and often weighing three or four pounds. It requires careful and attentive treatment, first to get it to set fruit well, and then to bring it to perfection with- out shanking or shriveling. One of my vines is carrying 19 clusters—about 60 pounds of fruit—on 20 feet of cane, and is still throwing out vigorous laterals. This is a heavier load than I care to give a vine with this length of cane, but the vigorous condition of this one has caused the clusters to grow much larger than we expected. Fully three-fourths of the clusters were removed, and three-fourths of the berries were taken from the clusters that remained. For several years the vine has produced crops ouite as heavy as this one, but
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Fig. 4.—a Muscat Hamburg at Mr. Dunning': hereafter I shall not allow any of my vines to bear more than two pounds of fruit to a foot of cane. By thinning

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