f pink, and are borne in long, slender clusters. The
grapes ripen early and are unsurpassed in quality but are, all in all,
rather difficult to grow.
Barbarossa and Gros Colman are the two best late black grapes,
especially for those who are ambitious to grow clusters of large size
with large berries. Both are very good in quality. Neither of the two
is particularly easy to grow, since they require a long time to ripen;
but, to offset this, both keep longer than any other sorts after
ripening. Because of the large size of the berries, thinning must
begin early and must be rather more severe than with other grapes.
This variety is now largely grown in England for exportation to this
country in early spring.
White Nice and Syrian are two white sorts which attain largest size in
clusters, specimens weighing thirty pounds being not infrequent, but
are coarse and poor in quality and are, therefore, hardly worth
growing.
Alicante is a black sort often grown for the sake of variety, since it
departs from the Vinifera type rather markedly in flavor. The grapes
have very thick skins and may be kept longer than those of any other
variety.
Lady Downs is another late-keeping black grape of highest quality, but
difficult to grow. The bunches and berries are small in comparison
with other standard sorts, characters that do not commend the variety
to most gardeners.
Perhaps a dozen more sorts might be named worthy of trial in American
graperies, but the list given covers the needs of commercial
establishments and will meet the wants of most amateur growers.
PLANTING AND TRAINING
Two-year-old vines are most commonly planted. The vines are set inside
the house at least a foot from the walls and four feet apart. The
grapery must be built on piers with spaces of at least two feet
between, and the vines are placed opposite these openings in the
foundation. When planted, the vines are cut back to two or three buds,
and when these start the strongest are selected for training, the
others being rubbed off. The grapery must be strung with wires
running lengthwise of the house at about fifteen inches from the
glass. Greenhouse supply merchants furnish at a low price cast iron
brackets to be fastened to the rafters to hold these wires. As the
growing vines reach one wire after another, they are tied with raffia
to hold them in place. Usually, young vines will reach the peak of the
house by midsummer, and as soon as this goal i
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