310 Diary of the Cultivation of tJie Grape Vine 



We cannot do better than to quote Mr. Roberts's own words 

 detailing his practice : — 



'' The time of thinning I recommend, is when the berries 

 arc well set, or attain the size of No. 2, or 3, shot, beginning 

 at the bottom of the bunch, leaving the leading berry if pos- 

 sible, and according to the kind of grape, having care to thin 

 judiciously, as there is great difference between the Cannon 

 Hall Muscat and Frontignacs as to size. As you proceed 

 thinning upwards on the bunch, say, for an inch or two, more 

 or less, from the bottom, you find the peduncles, or footstalks, 

 or what more technical term you may apply to them, to con- 

 sist of three berries (the leading one, and one on each side), 

 my practice is to leave the lead or centre berry, taking off the 

 other two. As you approach higher up the bunch, or ap- 

 proaching the middle part, such sorts as the Hamburghs form 

 a sort of secondary shoulders, and upon the sides of these you 

 will find them set on in threes ; proceed to thin, as for the 

 bottom, leaving the leading berries, taking off the side ones as 

 before, proceeding upwards to the top of the bunch to the 

 main shoulders, suspending or raising the shoulders with 

 strands of soft matting, and thinning the same as before men- 

 tioned, taking care to remove all inside berries, as they scarce 

 ever color well, and if the grapes have to hang long on the 

 vine, they contribute to mouldiness in damp weather. The 

 above system of thinning leaves a bunch equally balanced, 

 each berry acting its own part, and not robbing another, will 

 be found to assunae a strong bold footstalk, and be regular as 

 to size in every part of the bunch." 



If a bunch of grapes is carefully examined, it will be seen 

 that Mr. Roberts has adopted the only proper mode of thin- 

 ning, — a mode which keeps the peculiar form as well as the 

 size of the cluster, while, at the same time, they are more 

 thoroughly thinned than in the ordinary way, as the central 

 berries, which often do not color, and frequently rot before 

 the clusters are ripe, are all removed, and room allowed for 

 the others to swell up. In performing the operation, care 

 should be taken not to injure the berries. They should be 

 handled as little as possible, and if the hands of the operator 

 are moist, from great perspiration, he should wear a glove, or. 



