Jane 8, I87S. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



441 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



THINNING GRAPES AND WEIGHT OF CROP 

 ON VINES. 



HESE are two of the most important con- 

 siderations in successful Grape culture, as 

 on the judicious regulation of the bunches 

 depends the ultimate quality of the fruit, 

 and very often the future success of the 

 Vines ; and it is impossible for the berries 

 to attain to perfection unless they are well 

 thinned-out from the first. 



AH superfluous bunches should be cut ofif 

 before thinning the berries is commenced. 

 It is a great waste of labour to thin many of the berries 

 on bunches which are removed shortly afterwards ; but 

 at the same time it is a bad plan to cut away any great 

 number of the bunches until it is clearly understood 

 which are hkely to be the best set and formed. With 

 Buch as the Black Alicante no great mistake can take 

 place, as it never faOs to set its berries well ; but varieties 

 of the Muscat tribe, particularly Canon Hall, cannot be 

 depended on, and it is impossible to tell which to select 

 until the berries are somewhat advanced in size. When 

 the bunches are evenly distributed over the Vine it will 

 never be necessary to allow two bunches to remain on 

 one shoot. Exceptions to this rule may be allowed when 

 there are many bunches on one part of the Vine and none 

 on another. Vines in good health very often produce two 

 bunches on nearly every shoot. The best of the two is 

 generally that nearest the spur, and unless this one is 

 very much inferior to the outermost one it should always 

 be preferred, as the further the bunch extends from the 

 main rod the more room is needed, or overcrowding 

 occurs. 



Having decided thus far with a Vine bearing many 

 bunches there need be no wavering in removing the worst 

 bunch of each two. Before going to this length in prac- 

 tice, however, there is the age and capabilities of the 

 Vines to be taken into consideration. Some Vines are 

 allowed to bear fruit the second year after being planted, 

 but their fitness for this entirely depends on the quality 

 of the Vines when they were planted and the progress 

 they make immeiliately after that. In this way some 

 Vines are as capable of bearing fruit the second year as 

 others are the third and fourth. When puny cheap canes 

 are planted it is neither wise to let nor expect them to 

 bear fruit for two or three years afterwards ; but when 

 strong well-developed canes, such as would fruit as " pot 

 Vines," are planted, they are not long in either producing 

 fruit or becoming able to bear it without injury to them- 

 selves. Supposing some strong canes to have been planted 

 last spring and made good progress throughout the sum- 

 mer, the young rod would be left sufficiently long at prun- 

 ing time to produce a number of side shoots. Many of 

 these would produce bunches this spring, and they should 

 be quite capable of bearing, at least two of them ; and the 

 stronger free-fruiting varieties, such as Black Hamburghs, 

 might be allowed to ripen three or four bunches. 



It is not wise to fruit young Vines heavily during the 

 No. 798.- Vol. SXX., Net Suns, 



first, second, and third years of their growth, as this 

 course has a tendency to cripple them prematurely ; but 

 it is a mistake to let vigorous young Vines become two 

 or three years old before fruiting. Perhaps the fuU capa- 

 bilities of a young Vine two years planted would be the 

 maturing of twelve bunches. I have seen those planted 

 as supernumeraries to bear heavy crops for two or three 

 years until the permanent Vines had gained strength 

 under light cropping, ripen this number of nice-sized 

 bunches well. As it is generally free-fruiting sorts which 

 are planted for this purpose they ehould be fruited severely, 

 especially if they are started somewhat early in the sea- 

 son, as a Vine with a heavy crop will ripen it thoroughly 

 more freely with the assistance of plenty of sun than in 

 the duU, cold, short end days of autumn. 



Any bunch which may appear on the leading shoot on 

 young Vines is seldom allowed to form part of the crop. 

 It is difficult to understand why it should not do so, as it 

 is very often one of the finest bunches. It is thought to 

 weaken the leading shoot ; this is rarely visibly the case, 

 as it may be observed that most leading shoots are nearly 

 if not quite as thick by the time the berries are beginning 

 to need any support as they are when the fruit is ripe, 

 and a bunch on the leading shoot does not interfere with 

 the ripening of the wood above it. 



But coming to a straight question — What weight of 

 fruit is a fair crop for an ordinary strong estabUshed 

 Vine ? From 3 lbs. to 31 lbs. to every 2 feet of main rod 

 is a safe and remunerative crop for all such Vines, and 

 those who are bad ocular judges of weight will not err 

 far by leaving a bunch on every other shoot up each side 

 of the rod. 



Vines in pots which are only to bear one crop and then 

 be thrown away stand cropping heavily — eight, ten, and 

 twelve bunches, according to the strength of the canes, 

 seldom prove too many when plenty of feeding in the 

 form of guano water and such like is applied throughout 

 the time the fruit is swelling. Pot Vines which are to be 

 fruited a second year should not be cropped so heavily ; 

 but this is not the most profitable way of dealing with 

 Vines in pots. 



Grape-thinning is a more tedious and difficult under- 

 taking during three or four weeks about this time than 

 it is throughout all the former part of the season. Many 

 late Grapes require attention now, and there is generally 

 as much work in thinning one dozen bunches of Black 

 AUcante as there is in three or four times that number 

 of any other sort ; Lady Downe's require more elerxring 

 than most other kinds. Where there are many to thin 

 and few hands to accomplish it, it is a good plan to begin 

 immediately the berries are formed, as otherwise many 

 of them will be too far advanced before they are reached. 

 The thickest-set bunches should be done first. At all 

 times the scissors require to be very carefully handled, 

 or the points may injure the berries which are left to form 

 the bunch. 



Varieties with enormous berries, or which swell to that 

 size, such as Duke of Buccleuch and Gros Colman, re- 

 quire to be much more thinned out than such as Royal 



No. I44C.— YOL. IiV., Old Sbuib. 



