ChileanJAR

Cardinal variety of grapes is characterized by its tendency to overbearing, resulting in delayed maturity and a second quality product. In order to get information of the influence of cluster thinning over the quality, size of berries, date of maturity and general appearance of this grape, a trial was started in the Spring of 1956 in the Viticultural Experiment Station at Quinta Normal, Santiago.
Fórty vines of similar vigor and number of bearing buds were selected for trial. Twenty of them were cluster thinned just before bloom. One half of the cluster were eliminated in this ·operations. The other twenty vines were left as check without thinning.
On February 10, 1957, twenty kilos of both the treated and untreated vines, were harvested. 120 berries of each group were measured to have their total and medium weight, and Balling degree.
The berries of the cluster thinned vines weighted 68% more than those of the untreated. The mean Balling degree was 18,5 in the first group instead of the 15 degree of the second group.
The colour ofthe grapes of the treated vines was also much darker and the general apearance much better than those of the untreated vines.