13 



be the larger. Well finished, medium-size! clusters are worth 

 more than poorly finished, larger ones. Nothing is lost by re- 

 stricting the crop but sometimes a great deal in the way both of 

 weight and quality is gained by it. The crop left on should be 

 distributed over the entire area of the vine as evenly as possible. 



THINNING THE FRUIT. 

 Mr. Cradwick in 1897 wrote as follows :— " A properly 

 ripened bunch of grapes is one in which every berry is ripened at 



one time. ... . 



" With reference to the grapes which I have seen growing in 

 Manchester and St. Elizabeth on the Savannahs at the back of 

 Alligator Pond and on to Lititz, a black grape [Gros Guillaume, 

 or Black Barbarrosa] growing into magnificent vines in an in- 

 credibly short space of time and producing bunches up to six 

 pounds in weight, I did not see a really properly ripened bunch, 

 as none had been thinned, so that only half the grapes were eat- 

 able, but this of course could be easily remedied as the grape 

 mentioned really does not set very many more berries than could 

 be ripened." 



" The Rev. Mr. Griffith writes :— " After the fruit has set, no time 

 must be lost in thinning. Free setters such as Frontignan, Foster's 

 Seedling, Gros Colman, Royal Ascot and others will be irreparably 

 injured by delay. Muscat of Alexandria, Bowood Muscat and 

 Cannon Hall Muscat are shy setters, and thinning in their case 

 may be safely delayed a while longer until it is seen what the set 

 is. Ordinarily it is safe to say that from one-third to one-half of 

 the berries may be cut out, but an experienced grower, more anxious 

 for quality than quantity, would go yet further and take out fully 

 two-thirds. In the case of long, loose straggling clusters, the 

 bottom berries seldom are worth anything— they fail to develop 

 and are slow to ripen — it is best to remove them and so have a 

 shorter and much better looking cluster. Some varieties are 

 heavily shouldered whilst others are destitute of shoulders. At 

 the time of thinning these shoulders should either be carefully 

 tied up or else cut out ; to allow them to remain and press upon 

 the body of the cluster will do mischief." 



And again : " The next important duty is thinning out the young 

 grapes as soon as possible after the fruit has set. Some varieties 

 give little trouble in this direction. Muscat of Alexandria will 

 require a light thinning ; Muscat Hamburgh requires none, but 

 Gros Colman and a host of others require from fifty to seventy 

 per cent, of the set berries to be thinned out. The larger number 

 is the safer, but few amateurs have the courage to go this length 

 and when too late to mend matters they are sorry. 



The operation should be performed with a pair of clean, sharp, 

 fine-pointed scissors, and should be repeated when the fruit is 

 about the size of a pea. On no account must the cluster be taken 

 in the hand, but with a smooth bit of wood as fine as a match, and 

 about six inches long, lift up and open the bunch so that the in- 

 terior berries may be reached and cut out. A bone crochet needle 

 with the hooked point removed does nicely. The principal thing 



