VINEYARD WORK FOR APRIL.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume VI, Issue 3, 15 March 1913, Page 327

VINEYARD WORK FOR APRIL.

S. F. Anderson.

March and April are busy months with the winemaker. Provided the - good weather continues the Pinots (Gris, Meunier, and Noir) and Golden Chasselas. will be ripe this month, followed by Malbec, Shiraz, Pinot Chardonay, Carbenet Sauvignon, Pedro Ximenes, &c., a little later.

It is no new statement to make that ripe grapes contain all the elements for making a sound and good-keeping wine, provided the utensils used are clean and the methods employed are such as one would expect in making an article for consumption.

Every winemaker should be provided with a saccharometer, to enable him to tell the. saccharine-content of the grapes. Any grape showing up to 20 per cent, by this instrument will make a wine that will keep—that is, a good dry wine. Many kinds of grapes will in a dry season exceed this, such as the three Pinots above mentioned, Pedro Ximenes, Shiraz, &c., but they must be quite, ripe. Rainy weather and the depredations of birds very often cause the vinegrower to commence the vintage before the fully ripe stage is reached. It is, however, doubtful whether the loss by birds and rain is as great as the loss in quality of the wine by gathering the grapes too soon. The making of wine from grapes thoroughly ripe is simple, rapid, and every way satisfactory in our climate, compared with that of making wine from grapes insufficiently ripened, and where sugar has. to be added to the must to bring up the saccharine to the normal requirements. In the case of the former fermentation is over in from forty-eight to seventy-two hours, in the latter it may last a month. • -

Where the quantity of grapes is not largesay, from 1 to 3 acres—it is a good plan after picking to spread out the grapes on a floor for twenty-four hours or longer, to let them cool and evaporate any moisture. If the sugar-percentage is low and . a drying wind. blowing, they might be left some days before crushing.

•. Vine-house Work for April. With the exception of the late grapes, most of the vine-houses will be cleared this month. If it happens to be warm and mealy-bug

exists, an opportunity occurs for dealing with this pest by cyaniding. The usual formula may be used, but the gas can be left on all night. The mildew may also receive a final sulphuring. A good dressing now may considerably lessen the chances of trouble next season. It happens sometimes that a new house may be very bad with mildew for the first year, and if well sulphured may not be troubled for years afterwards, but it is a safe plan to be before it in the spring with the sulphurator. Vines should now be left to grow all they will until winterthe more rampant the better, as they are recuperating after the heavy cropping and stopping of the foliage during the fruitingperiod.

The Sulphuring of Vines under Glass. Mildew (Oidium Tuckerii) may always be expected, and this grape season it has been more than usually prevalent. The most effectual remedy known for this fungoid disease is sulphur. There are only two ways in which sulphur can be applied to vines without injuring the foliage. The first is by dusting or blowing the flowers-of-sulphur direct on to the foliage and fruit, making it come in contact with every, portion of the plant. The second is where a vine-house is heated by hot-water pipes. In this case the pipes may be coated with a paint made of lime-water and sulphur. The heat of these pipes will not exceed 212° Fahr., and it will probably range from 160° to 200°. Between these temperatures sulphur is slightly volatile, and is driven off and deposited in very fine particles on the vines. Where a vine-house is heated by flues or steam-pipes the heat would be greater than 212 C Fahr., and this coating of them with sulphur would cause sulphur-dioxide fumes, which is the same as burning sulphur, and is very destructive to vegetation. The mistake of burning sulphur in a vine-house to stop ■ mildew is rather frequently made, but always with the result of - destroying foliage and fruit. A light dusting with the hand or a sulphurator soon after the leaves unfold, and at intervals up to the colouring of the berries, is the most effectual remedy known, and no harm can be done.

The new orchards around Nelson, especially the great extension about the Moutere Inlet, are looking particularly well this season. A Canadian horticulturist who recently visited the district was very much struck with the remarkable growth made this season, which was, he said, in marked contrast to the annual growth made by apple-trees in Canada. He was much impressed with the possibilities of the district from a fruitgrowing point of view.