WHEN GRAPES AKE BIPE. 245 



carry from year to year without injury. He 

 judges how much the vine will mature 

 thoroughly, and removes the rest at once. But 

 the bunches left are too compact to have 

 the berries all ripen at the same time, or to 

 admit of their being eaten conveniently; he 

 therefore removes a half or more of the berries 

 while they are very small, and as the result he 

 has a bunch quite as heavy as it would have 

 been without the thinning; but the thinning 

 has admitted light and air to all parts of the 

 bunch, and the vital force having a fewer num 

 ber of berries to act upon, they are made 

 much larger, and the ripening process is more 

 thoroughly performed. 



He wants the vine now to work principally 

 upon the fruit, and he therefore pinches out 

 the end of the cane a few leaves above the last 

 bunch, athallizes promptly, and thus concen 

 trates the action of the vine on the fruit and 

 the development of the buds for next year s 

 canes. The fruit swells rapidly, and recourse 

 is had to various means for securing handsome 

 bunches of fully-ripened and high-flavored 

 grapes ; and to this end, among others things, 

 water is applied in due quantity and at proper 

 intervals, and ventilation so regulated as to fur- 



