Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 3 Western Australia, Series 3
Volume 8
Number 6 November - December, 1959 Article 21
11-1959
Winter Grapes on the Gascoyne Winter Grapes on the Gascoyne
Robt. Harington
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Recommended Citation Recommended Citation
Harington, Robt. (1959) "Winter Grapes on the Gascoyne," Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 3: Vol. 8: No. 6, Article 21.
Available at: https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/journal_agriculture3/vol8/iss6/21
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Fig. 1.—A good b u n c h of Wortley Hall grapes ready for picking
in late J u l y
A N interesting experiment was carried out a t t h e Gascoyne Research Station
* * earlier this year, t o ascertain whether table grapes could be added to t h e list of crops which can be grown commercially on t h e Gascoyne.
Up to date, t h e growing of grapes in t h e Gascoyne area h a s been limited to t h e home gardens, where t h e strong vigour, healthy growth and good bearing habits of t h e vines have demonstrated t h e suit- ability of t h e area. However, t h e vines produce only during t h e summer months when a buyer's market is available, and this limits production to t h a t required for local domestic consumption.
Carnarvon receives comparatively little rain, and grapes must be irrigated throughout t h e year. Under normal water- ing a n d pruning procedure, grape vines behave just as they do in t h e Perth cli- mate, fruiting in summer and remaining dormant throughout t h e winter months.
The Carnarvon winter, however, is warm and sunny. This enables growers to pro- duce winter tomatoes and beans—so why not grapes?
With two experimental vines, a white Wortley Hall a n d a muscat—Gordo- Blanco, a dormant period was induced by withholding water for four weeks in February and March. During t h e third week t h e vines were pruned hard, spurs being cut back to two buds each.
After t h e four weeks resting period a light application of sulphate of ammonia was worked into t h e soil around each vine to a depth of two inches, care being taken to avoid contact with t h e stem and basal roots of t h e plant, and irrigation water was applied. Thereafter, watering continued on t h e normal summer schedule of 2J in.
per week.
During late June t h e best quality bunches were covered with paper bags, for protection against bird damage. This protection however, proved quite unneces- sary, as no damage was recorded on t h e
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Fig. 2.—One of the vines in the early stage of bunch development
other uncovered bunches. The absence of birds during this time of the year will certainly be of great advantage if winter fruiting can be commercialised,
Irrigation was discontinued when the grapes began to ripen.
During the last week of July, 20£ lb. of excellent quality grapes were harvested from the Wortley Hall vine. The bunch weights of marketable fruit varied from 1 lb. to 3 | lb. These grapes were sent to the Metropolitan Markets, were sold by private treaty, and realised a retail price of 3s. 6d. per lb. Such a price would be unheard of in the normal summer grape season, so there is some encouragement to further investigation along these lines.
While this encouragement came from the white Wortley Hall, it must be recorded that the yield from the muscat, Gordo- Blanco, was low, and the bunches too small for marketing purposes.
Further experiments will be carried out to determine which varieties will respond and whether commercial yields of market- able fruit may be expected. Treatments too, can be varied considerably in Carnar- von climate, and we must determine by trial, the best time and period of forced dormancy.
Where the method has been used over- seas, it has been shown that the life of the vine is somewhat shortened and yields materially reduced. This is to be expected of course, because the normally extended dormant period is reduced by about half.
Commercial possibilities would, therefore, be dependent upon the readiness of Perth consumers to pay a high price for grapes in winter time, and confirmation of this by trial consignments becomes just as important as the experiment concerning methods of producing the fruit.
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