TREATMENT IN SUBSEQUENT YEARS 63 



this desirable object various means have been employed 

 heretofore, and in some places are still resorted to ; such, 

 for instance, as a rabbit's tail tied on to the top of a stick 

 three or four feet long, this light substance being passed 

 gently over the individual bunches between eleven o'clock 

 and noon to effect pollination that is, the conveyance 

 of pollen from anther to stigma. Others pass their 

 hands gently over each bunch from top to bottom ; 

 others with the same object in view tapping the vines 

 with the hand, or more frequently with a stick long 

 enough to reach any portions of the rods, a shower 

 of golden dust following each tap until the berries 

 have set ; while others attain the same end by syring- 

 ing the grapes with a fine spray at the time mentioned 

 above. The last two methods of procedure are the 

 simplest, quickest, and most efficient means of securing 

 a good set. Moisture, but in less quantity, should be 

 distributed in the house during the flowering stage, 

 especially under and between the hot-water pipes and 

 the front and end walls in order to ward off the attacks 

 of red-spider. Vines in a wild or cultivated state out 

 of doors set their berries in moderately low and moist 

 atmospheric temperatures satisfactorily enough nature is 

 our safest guide in the forcing of plants, fruits and 

 vegetables and to succeed in this direction the culti- 

 vator should first consider the conditions under which 

 the finest examples of each have been produced naturally 

 out of doors, and then take as his standard, in the way 

 of soil, heat, and moisture, the most favourable known 

 conditions under which these examples were obtained. 

 The horticultural artist can improve not only the pro- 

 ducts of nature, but also in many instances the conditions 

 under which the same have been found growing in their 

 natural habitat. 



