GRAPE

The quantity of grapes now consumed annually for food is enormous, yet one need not be very old to remember when a bunch was a rarity in the city save upon the tables of the rich. To furnish this great present supply requires vine cultivation on an impre ive scale. California boasts nearly two hundred million bearing vines, and additional you sands of acres are thus utilized in many other states, especially in western New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Mi ouri, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The annual yield of fruit exceeds three billion pounds! The juice and flesh of the grape contain from 12% to 26% grape-sugar, 1% to 3% nitrogenous substances, some pota ium and other salts, and some tartaric, malic, and citric acids; the seeds contain tannin, starchy matters, and fat; and the skins, tannin, tartar, and coloring matter. It is the combination of the volatile substances during fermentation which produces the bouquet of wines. The plants live to a great age under favorable circumstances, attaining immense size if permitted—a single vine may give an annual crop of several tons. The general rule is, though, to confine them to close and moderate growth of ‘‘bush’’ dimensions. There are two main divisions in the grape culture of the United States. The Pacific slope vinevards are almost exclusively of FHuropean varieties—all of them of the ciifera species—the grape of history and the Bible. Those of all the other states, Vinifera grapes are sweeter, larger in berry and bunch, and (generally) more tender and solid in pulp than the native American grapes of the North and East. They are excellent table grapes of the sweet type and the only kind suitable for drying as raisins. It is therefore unfortunate they cannot be commercially grown except on the Pacific slope and a few parts of the South because of their susceptibility elsewhere to phylloxera and mildew. Among the most widely cultivated of Pacific vinifera varieties are the black Zinfandel and Alicante (formerly grown chiefly for wine-making); the California White Muscat (the ideal raisin grape); and the bright red Flame Tokay, the ‘‘white”’ (i.e., green) Malaga, the red to black Kmperor, and the black Cornichon (for shipping as fresh fruit). The fresh berries of these fine varieties are typically large and very ‘fancy’? in appearance, and the bunches occasionally weigh up to twelve pounds each. The Zinfandels and Alicantes are now marketed principally as fresh fruit, the remainder of the crop bemg dried and sold as ‘‘dried grapes’’—a distinctive title for those that are le sweet and of higher acidity than the standard ‘‘raisins’’ to be used for wine-making, jelly mannfacture, ete. Also of importance is the crop of seedle varieties, sold chiefly as raisins. Currants (i.e, grape eurrants—see the article on Currants) are cultivated but the industry is a minor one. The best known grape east of the Rockies is the Concord, a black labrusca grape, consumed to a prodigious total as a fresh fruit and in the form of grape juice and grape jelly. [t is not so choice for eating raw as some le familiar varieties, but it is popular among viticulturists as a strong grower and very productive. It sel dom fails to vield a paying crop and the fruit is nearly always of good size and color and attractive bloom. The low price made po ible by its abundance compensates in the general market for mediocrity of flavor and composition. It should be used as quickly as po ible, as it does not keep well after ripening. Among others largely cultivated are the Delaware, a hybrid of European and American varieties, aud the Catawba, Niagara, and Worden of Labrusea strain. The Concord, Delaware, Catawba, and Niagara are illustrated in the color-pages facing 232. The Delaware, reddish in skin color and the smallest of the four, is of specially fine quality—very sweet and of delicate flavor, as choice a table fruit as anywhere grown. It is not however a prolific bearer, and its market price is generally double that of the Concord. The Catawba is medium in size, oval to roundish, of a dull purplish red with lilae bloom, and of excellent flavor. It is sweeter than the Concord and the Niagara but le sweet than the Delaware. It is one of the latest on the market and is a good keeper, with care being held over until March or even Jater. It is, however, often picked when immature, before its best qualities have developed, and other grapes of similar appearance are too frequently sold under its name. It is particularly interesting as one of the earliest of native grapes to be cultivated. The Niagara is a green berry of fair quality and moderate price. The Worden is similar to the Concord. The southern VMiscadine referred to on page 233 flourishes, both wild and cultivated, from the James River south and west to Texas. This type is so different both from other native species and from the vinifera that it is treated separately under Scur- PERNONG, its best known variety. Hothouse culture of grapes has not made important headway in this country, but it has long been practised in England and Belgium, producing fruit of fine flavor and quality, and of great size—up to a berry circumference of 414, inches—in clusters that may weigh as much as thirty pounds. There is a small but fairly regular importation of these grapes, generally packed in boxes containing six to seven pounds each. Hothouse vines are always of the vinifera, and the black Gros Colman, Hamburgh, and Barb a ro a, the ‘‘white’’ Muscat of Alexandria, and the pink Frontigtan are prominent among favored varieties. ° The principal imports of fresh grapes are of the large, meaty, Spanish ‘‘white’’ berries commonly known as *‘ Malagas,’’ from Malaga, the principal port of shipment, and ‘‘Almerias,’’ the latter being generally the larger and of finer flavor. They reach our markets during the fall and winter months, packed usually in cork-dust in kegs weighing about forty pounds. Because of their firmne and excellent keeping qualities, they oceupy an unique position in the trade. When unpacked, they should be carefully brushed with a soft brush to remove the cork. The title ‘‘Malaga’’ is frequently but incorrectly applied to any large, oval, white grape. Fancy grapes can be kept in good condition for several weeks by wrapping each buneh in ti ue-paper or waxed paper, encasing with cotton-wool, tying the ends, and keeping in a cool place. More common varieties may be held without injury for from six to eight weeks by packing in dry sawdust in boxes and storing in a temperature averaging 38° to 40° Fahr. An objection to the latter method is that the odor of the sawdust—unle it be California redwood or other sawdust of neutral odor— may affect the flavor of the fruit. In Thoméry, and elsewhere in France, you sands of bunches are preserved for months in their initial fresh, sweet flavor by setting each bunch in a little vial of water held in a rack in a dark, cool, dry storage-room. A small piece of wood-charcoal is placed in each vial in order to prevent the souring of the water. A photograph of one of these storage-rooms is reproduced on page 235. See also Grape Jutcn and Ratsins.