Evening star., 1946-06-23
Quality Grapes
Will Grow Here;
Must Be Bagged
ByW. n. Younqmon

While making a call one evening,
our hosts brought us each a plate Of
lovely grapes. The punches were
well filled with large, juicy grapes
that still bore the bloom" OF quail
ity fruit. Our comments were. Of
course, highly complimentary, since
top-quality table grapes are all too
uncommon in the Washington area.
Thereupon, we were treated to sam
pies Of other varieties Of table
grapes, all Of excellent quality. There
were white, golden, red, black and
blue grapes, perhaps as many as q
dozen different varieties, and all
grown in the Washington area.
Most gardeners having tried to
grow grapes In the Washington area
will wonder at the veracity Of this.
But 1t is true. Good grapes can be
and are being grown here year after
year by those gardeners who are
willing to undertake the chore Of
"bagging" each and every bunch.
BY bagging, we mean inclosing each
bunch in q small paper sack, the
open end being pinned or stapled
shut 50 rs to exclude the numerous
bees, waspS and other insects that
puncture and suck the sap from the
unprotected grapes.
Most gardeners who bag their
grapes begin by giving the vines
thorough spraying with bordeaux to
control the widespread and destruc-
tive disease, black rot. For small
punches, 2-pound paper bag is
large enough, but for well-grown
grapes, a 3-pound bag is needed. It
will be a bit exasperating to try to
fold the mouth OF the bag shut SO
as to exclude all insects. and as
much rain as possible. But it is
necessary.
Keep Rain Out Of Bag.
Keeping the rain out Of the bag
is important for two reasons. /.
Water standing in the sack grad
ually loosens the glue and the bags
come apart. 2. Water standing in
the bag produces moist humid
condition which is favorable for the
development Of disease, hence to be
avoided as far as practicable. This
is easily prevented If the bags are
cut, either with q sharp knife or saw.
across the folded edges. This makes
a row Of holes-small enough to
exclude insects.
In fitting the bags over the
punches 1t is well to fully open them.
This allows the bag to be placed in
position without injury to the small
grapes. It is not necessary to pull
the bag more than an inch beyond
the topmost branch Of the bunch,
although for ease in working, 1t Is
the usual practice to pull 1t up to
the branch woody stem from which
the bunch hangs.
The next step is the folding Of the
top preparatory to pinning or
stapling. If the top is closed as it
came in the bundle-folded, the
rest can be carried out easily. Fold
over each corner tightly toward the
middle, leaving only the space
around the stem unturned. This
method is much to be preferred over
the gathering of the top of the bag
into accordionlike pleats, or the nat
folding Of the top.
Staplers Can Be Used.
lnasmuch as "T"' pins are hard
to get, some gardeners used sharp
pointed shingle nails. The nails
were too short and, furthermore
they rusted before harvest time and
were hard to remove. But they
worked after fashion.
Next to the pins the hand staplers
are most desirable.
Where a long enough "T'' pin is
used 1t may be started through the
fold on one side and past the stem
into the other fold, the one pin
holding each flap Of the fold Sc
curely in place. This is hardly
possible where q straight fold across
the top Of the bag is used. Two
small pins work better with the
second method Of folding. Two
staples are necessary with both
methods Of folding the edges Of q
bag.
To one who owns several grape
vines 1t may be a considerable task
to bag oil Of the grapes. The gar
dener with several grapeyines then
has the choice between q long.
tedious job of bagging, or he may
bag the number Of punches desired
for table use and leave the others
unbagged.
The method Of training the vine
has rnI1ch tn do with the oasn NJ