152 MY SUMMER IN A GARDEN. 



which seemed to have been born and held in 

 reserve for this purpose, to cut the leaves. 

 They speedily made lace-work of the whole bed. 

 Thus everything appears to have its special ene 

 my, except, perhaps, p y : nothing ever 



troubles that. 



Did the Concord Grape ever come to more 

 luscious perfection than this year ? or yield so 

 abundantly ? The golden sunshine has passed 

 into them, and distended their purple skins al* 

 most to bursting. Such heavy clusters ! such 

 bloom ! such sweetness ! such meat and drink 

 in their round globes ! What a fine fellow Bac 

 chus would have been, if he had only signed 

 the pledge when he was a young man ! I have 

 taken off clusters that were as compact and al 

 most as large as the Black Hamburgs. It is 

 slow work picking them. I do not see how 

 the gatherers for the vintage ever get off enough. 

 It takes so long to disentangle the bunches from 



