Manual of American grape-growing

by U. P. Hedrick

The most popular package for the grape in eastern grape regions is the Climax basket made in various styles and sizes. These are cheap, easily packed and handled, nest well in shipment and are durable. Three sizes are commonest in use, the five-pound, the ten-pound and the twenty-pound basket. The five-pound basket usually holds only a little over four pounds; the ten-pound about eight pounds; and the twenty-pound rather less than twenty pounds. Two sizes of Climax baskets are shown in [Fig. 47]. It is commonly understood, however, that the packages are short in weight, and as grapes are retailed by the basket and not by the pound, short weight does not really deceive.

These baskets are made of thin wood veneer with a light wood binding at the top and bottom. The cover is of wood and is usually fastened on with staples. The handle is either of wood or of wire. When well made, the baskets are firm and symmetrical, without splinters and are clean and white. Packages carried over from year to year become dingy in color, but the wood may be whitened by fumigating in the storage-room with sulfur. The baskets also become yellow and discolored if left in the sun and must, therefore, be stored in clean, dark, dry rooms.

When grapes are sold by weight to manufacturers of wine or grape-juice, they are usually delivered in the picking trays which, if the market is near at hand, are always returned. If they are to be shipped far, they go to market in twenty-pound baskets or bushel baskets, although the latter are not regarded with favor by consumers.

Packing.

Grapes packed indoors, as has been said, are allowed to stand from a few to twenty-four hours after being picked to permit them to wilt. When thus wilted they are much more easily packed and do not shrink in transportation, so that the basket usually reaches the market well filled with fruit. Each bunch of grapes is placed separately in the basket after all unmarketable berries have been removed. The bunches are arranged in concentric tiers, the top layer being placed with special care. When the basket is filled, the grapes rise a little above the level of the basket, care being taken not to have the fruit project too much so that the grapes will be crushed when putting on the cover. In all this work, the berries are handled as little as possible, so as not to destroy the bloom. Care is taken, also, that the fruit is free from spraying material and is otherwise clean and fresh. Much less pains need be taken when the grapes are packed in trays to be sold by weight, but even in this there must be method in filling the trays, otherwise there will be many open spaces and corners between bunches.

Practically all commercial grape-growers now use labels on their packages. These not only add to the attractiveness of the packages, but are a guarantee of the contents, both as to name of the variety and the quality of the fruit. These labels are, also, a sign by which a grower's fruit may be distinguished and are, therefore, a valuable advertising medium. Some growers have registered their labels in the United States Patent Office in order to prevent others from using them. Obviously, it is not desirable or worth while to label a poor grade of grapes.

Storing grapes.

The commercial grape-grower now stores his grapes in cold storage warehouses if he keeps them any length of time after harvesting. There is no question but that keeping a part of the crop in artificially cooled houses is a great benefit to the grape-grower, since it prolongs the season for selling by some three or four months. Formerly, native grapes could be secured in general markets only until Thanksgiving time or thereabouts, but now American grapes are very generally offered for sale in January and February, while the European grapes from California are in the market nearly the year around. The grape-grower need make little or no preparation of his product in putting it in cold storage except to make sure that the product is first class in every respect. It would be a waste of money and effort to attempt to store any but clean, sound, well-matured, well-packed grapes. The grape-grower, however, seldom need concern himself with storing, since the crop is usually stored by the buyers.

Few small growers seem to have learned the art of keeping grapes in common storage, There are but few difficulties in keeping European grapes for several months after picking if they are stored under favorable conditions. Not all, but several of the native grapes may also be kept practically throughout the winter if proper precautions are taken. Among these varieties Catawba is the standard winter sort, but Diana, Iona, Isabella, Rogers' hybrids and Vergennes, all rather commonly grown, may be kept by the small grower.

To insure keeping, these native grapes must be handled most carefully. The fruit is picked a few days before it is dead ripe and the bunches placed in trays holding forty or fifty pounds. It is important that the temperature be reduced gradually so that there are no sudden changes. If the nights are cool, a valuable aid is to leave the grapes out-of-doors in crates the night after they are picked, placing them in a cool building or dry cellar early the next morning. The cellar or store-room should be well ventilated and should be such that the temperature is not variable, care being taken that the air in every part of the storage room is changed. Draughts, however, should be avoided or stems and berries will shrivel. If a temperature from 40° to 50° can be maintained, the varieties named may be kept until March or April. An expensive store-room is not necessary and ice to cool the room is not only unnecessary but undesirable.